Thank You, Next by Andie J. Christopher is entertaining second chance romance with interesting concept

Thank You, Next is enjoyable second chance romance with an interesting concept but didn’t work for me, it lost its charm by the end of the book.

Disclaimer – Many thanks to Berkley for eARC via NetGalley.
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Synopsis

Alex Turner is never The One–but always the last one an ex dates before finding love–and now she’s determined to find out why in this hilarious new rom-com.

Single divorce attorney Alex Turner is watching reality TV when she sees her latest ex’s new fiancé picking out her wedding dress. Yet again, the guy she dumped went on to marry (or at least seriously commit to) the next person he dates after her. Fed up with being the precursor to happily ever after, she decides to interview all her exes to find out why.

Up-and-coming chef Will Harkness mixes with Alex like oil and vinegar, but forced proximity growing up means their lives are forever entwined. When Will learns Alex and her friends are going on a wild romp through Los Angeles to reconnect with her ex-boyfriends, he decides to tag along. If he can discover what her exes did wrong, he can make sure he doesn’t make the same mistake with Alex.

On this nonstop journey through the streets of LA, Alex realizes the answer to her question might be the man riding shotgun…

Review

entertaining second chance romance with interesting concept

Thank You, Next is an entertaining and fun romance that revolves around divorce attorney Alex Turner going on quest to find answer to why all her exes married or committed right after breaking up with her and rising chef Will Harkness, who is family but not exactly family, tagging along to Alex’s quest to figure out what mistakes her exes made so he doesn’t make the same mistake. The story is about self-discovery, effect of bad parenting, commitment issues, second chance, avoidant attachment, friendship, family, and love.

Writing is engaging, entertaining, and fast paced with third person narrative. Plot is most interesting. I loved the way book started and the concept of cynical heroine with commitment issues. While I found this interesting and promising I have mixed feelings for this book.

Alex is smart, intelligent, confident and independent divorce lawyer whose family had bad relationship history and her profession made her more cynical about love and the constitution of marriage. She couldn’t commit to relationships or rely on men or anyone in life. She believed in no strings attached relationships and if things start getting serious which mostly happens she will break up with the person without looking back or any regrets.

I liked reading why she felt that way and I mostly agree with her thoughts. When we witness so many broken relationships it affects our view of it. Her childhood, her parents’ divorce, her father’s narcissistic constant critical and unloving behavior, didn’t help her cynicism. To make things worse the person she truly loved in her teens rejected her. Yup, that was Will. I liked how she went looking for answers that made her want to move on in life, take a leap of faith and give a new relationship with Will a try. Her development and her struggle is realitstic.

Will is as interesting as Alex as there is so many similarities in their nature- They both have shared history, have issue in letting someone in their life, had a struggling and unloving childhood, and avoid confrontations or communications to resolve the issue. He is smart, intelligent, recently divorced up-and-coming chef. His relationship with Alex and her grandmother Lexi is unique and complicated. His father married Lexi and then they got divorced but he stayed with Lexi so that kind of make him family. His love for Lexi is lovely and admirable. I like him for understanding Alex, caring for her, and being patient with her, giving her as much time as she needed to get used to their new relationship.

I liked both Alex and Will but I didn’t love them or rooted for them, at some point they were annoying too. I loved supporting characters more. Both Alex’s best friends Lana and Jane are amazing. I loved their support and honesty. Lexi is fantastic. She quirky and eccentric old lady who had countless lovers and married many times. She is lively, fun and wise woman with open and welcoming nature. She kind of steal the show but didn’t overshadow main characters.

Romance is a little slow and mostly happens in second half of the book. There is hate to lovers arc, strong attraction and some hot sex scenes. It is also a second chance romance as Will and Alex shared history. I liked they took time to get together and understand each other keeping each other’s vulnerability and issues in mind but at the same time it felt dragged.

The climax is good but not too surprising. I wanted to end story here but it kept going on and on and I was tired of both characters but at the same time it was realistic and I liked how they tried to make things work. It was good this isn’t a happily ever after thing but still, the end is satisfying and lovely.

Why 3 stars-

I get Alex’s attraction reigniting after all these years as she didn’t exactly forget her feeling for Will but I don’t get Will’s behavior and attraction. First he rejected her as he didn’t want to lose Lexi but claimed to have feelings ever since he met her later. So based on “he always had feelings” I don’t get why he married and how he forgot about Alex! and as soon as he is divorced his feelings are back, and then acted jealous and overbearing when Alex went to talk to her exes! it doesn’t make sense.

I also didn’t like how easily he was forgiven. I mean Alex literally hated him and avoided him for how he treated her and broke her heart and then after one kiss she is all matured and says ‘oh we were just teens, it’s good you rejected me and it was childish to hold it against him’!! 🙄 Instead of them talking about their history and heartbreak, they kiss first and then talk about unresolved issues which didn’t make it convincing.

Alex had a younger sister but we don’t meet her throughout the book! Why she has to be in the story is beyond me.

As I said story started well and concept is promising but after some point it lost its charm, romance is a little dragging. It felt like story was lost in internal monologues and all monologues and conversations on same topic or theme made things repetitive.

Overall, Thank You, Next is enjoyable and entertaining second chance romance with interesting concept and theme but it lost its charm by the end of the book.

I recommend this if you like,
Biracial and diverse characters
Found family
Hate to love arc
Second chance romance
Commitment issues
Character with avoidant attachment style
Slow romance

Book Links

Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon.in | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

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