Review of Meet Cute by Helena Hunting

I decided I’d enter the Romance Book Reading Challenge after all. This month’s selected genre is Contemporary Romance. The four prompts to choose from, within this genre, were:

• 2019 favourite
• January new release
• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee
• New to you author

I chose the Goodreads nominee and went with Meet Cute by Helena Hunting. It was already on my kindle and I’m cleaning up the kindle TBR this year! Here’s what the story is all about…

Kailyn Flowers was always calm, rational, and controlled–until she ended up sprawled all over Daxton Hughes, the former actor she totally crushed on as a teenager. Then she did the unthinkable: She became a mortifying fangirl in five seconds flat, which may or may not have included professing her undying love. And oddly, he didn’t run away. In fact, their meet cute led to a friendship she never saw coming. Of course, she never saw his betrayal coming, either…

Now Dax needs her help. As guardian to his thirteen-year-old sister, he’s in way over his head. And though Kailyn hasn’t forgiven Dax, she isn’t heartless enough to make him fend for himself, either. Soon their friendly meetings turn into flirty dinner dates, and Kailyn can feel their chemistry is as explosive as ever. But how can she possibly let down her guard again to a guy who has heartbreak written all over him?

The opening of this story is so cute yet incredibly cringe-worthy. Within just the first couple of pages I was invested enough in Kailyn to feel fully embarrassed for her when she trips over Dax and then unabashedly fawns over him. It’s awkward but endearing and totally drew me into the story.  

As much as I enjoyed the story, there is one major flaw, for me. Kailyn puts up a block against Dax because of his “betrayal” during their law school years. After reading the blurb I was expecting something with a lot more impact. Instead, it was an innocent mistake, something Dax was unaware of and that, in the grand scheme of things, did not have a major impact on Kailyn’s life. Perhaps that element could have been made more dramatic for both main characters.

Kailyn’s animosity towards Dax, therefore, seems almost irrational and she comes across as immature and whiny at times. However, thankfully, many other facets of her character are explored and developed. She really makes for a fun heroine in the end. She’s kind, talented and determined and willing to use her skills to help those who are less fortunate. She enjoys the benefits of her high-paying job but knows she ultimately wants more out of her life. Having lost her parents in earlier years, she is sympathetic to Dax and his sister and is not just willing to help them, but able to as she relates to them so well. I enjoyed this character, flaws and all and was able to root for her as she fell in love and dealt with all the personal and professional repercussions that followed.

As the hero of this story, Dax is everything you’d want in a romance story. He’s drop-dead gorgeous, hard-working, confident and vulnerable too. I love how the story opens with Dax, the golden boy, and eventually delivers us Dax, the hurting soul, who only wants to protect and do what’s right for his younger sister. The relationship between Dax and his sister is charming and well-written; from the comical moments to the heart-tugging ones. How he finds a way to forge a new way forward for his reduced family, is a delightful element of this story.

Throw in a little mystery and tension in the form of an aunt who is trying to serve her own interests, and you’ve got a very entertaining (at times steamy) romantic read. 

I give Meet Cute 4/5 cutie-pie espresso shots.