Title: Good On Paper
Author: Jennifer Millikin
Series: Standalone
Publisher: SNM LLC
Publication Date: March 6, 2019
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review

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Rating: 4 stars

Natalie Shay never imagined a day like this would come. She did what she was supposed to do: graduate college and marry her handsome, popular college sweetheart. With the ink still drying on their divorce papers, Natalie tries to move on from an ending she thought would be happy.

When she feels a spark with her stubborn, charming best friend Aidan Costa, Natalie’s life becomes even more unrecognizable. Aidan has been her best friend for years, stood beside her when she got married, and has a notorious aversion to relationships. As confusion and denial overwhelm them, their spark grows.

Held back by a secret he has been keeping his whole life, Aidan decides to ignore his feelings for Natalie. Natalie’s discovery of his secret pushes them past the boundaries they’ve carefully constructed around their friendship.

For Natalie, this could be a second chance at her happily ever after. But when a person from Aidan’s past reappears, everything he has built with Natalie is threatened.

Review:

“Anyone who has ever said that love should only feel good, is a fool.”

Natalie and Aidan have been best friends since high school. They are two people who understand one another better than most. Fast forward to them a little more than 10 years later, and at 28 Natalie is finalizing her divorce from her college sweetheart and Aidan is still living a life of casual sex and no relationships.

Somehow this divorce sparks some feelings and some questions about this friendship between the two of them and they contemplate crossing that friendship line they’ve had in place for so long. And so begins a friends-to-lovers romance.

“Sometimes, the very best in life is what’s taking place in the background while we are busy focusing on what we think is right for us.”

For the most part this was a good book and I did enjoy it. However, I did take issue with the pacing. The first 60-65% of the book was pretty standard. Not much was happening except for one thing Natalie had said to Aidan. From then on though it was like one thing after another in quick succession and while I enjoyed the ending, it all happened so fast and I would have much preferred having all of those big life events explained in detail than a first half with nothing special going on.

The plot was good. Friends-to-lovers is usually a trope I’m into so it was enjoyable. I really liked the stuff with Aidan’s parents and the whole thing that threatened Natalie and Aidan’s relationship, but like I said, I would have loved for it to have been explored in more detail than it being so rushed.

Overall, this was a decent read. The pacing was off, but I still liked it. It was also a pretty quick read, so if you’re looking for a friends-to-lovers novel to fill a weekend, pick this one up.

About Jennifer Millikin:

Jennifer Millikin is a contemporary fiction author of five full-length novels and a contributor for Scottsdale Moms Blog. When she isn’t writing she can be found cooking, hiking, or in downward dog.

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