10 Resolutions. 2 Friends. 1 Shot At Love
I’ll admit, having nine New Year’s resolutions makes me twitchy. After all, I’m Allison Gottlieb; overthinker, overachiever, hot mess extraordinaire. I’ve spent my entire life trying to be the best but for some reason, I’ve always fallen short. When a near meltdown (and maybe too much champagne) lands me in front of an old friend, things finally start … finally start looking up.
If Mateo Ramirez, personal trainer, self-discipline junkie, and the Internet’s favorite smoothie-making underwear model, offers to help you, you say yes. We haven’t seen each other in years but if anyone can help me turn my life around, it’s him. His smokin’ hot body is cold, hard proof of that.
Don’t judge me; I’m a lawyer. I like proof. A lot.
Mateo promises to test my limits and help me face my fears. He’s even feeding my neurosis by giving me that wonderfully even-numbered tenth resolution. But what I don’t know is that, in the midst of helping me check each item off my agenda, he has some resolutions of his own. And they all lead to one thing: becoming more than friends.
Eleven romantic comedy authors have teamed up to bring you Happy New You, a sexy, funny, heartwarming story about friendship, perseverance, and finding love in this crazy thing we call life. Oh, and the magic of onesie pajamas.
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Fun story, each chapter written by different authors in a very good collaboration. If you like friends to lovers romances, this is a good story for you. Childhood friends are reunited and renew their “friendship.” There was no shortage of heat and chemistry, but a little more actual dialog between the characters would have made the story just a little better. Overall, this book gives the reader just what they are looking for: a good story, fun characters, heat, romance, and humor! A wonderful compilation of contributions by very talented authors. One last thing: I would have enjoyed knowing which authors wrote which chapters for the simple reason that there is a noticeable difference in styles and that being said, I might have followed up on other books written by them.
Happy New You is a sexy, sweet second-chance romance that will start your year off right! I wasn’t sure when I started reading how it was going to work with 11 authors all writing together. It turned out perfect! The writing is so crisp and clear and seamless it’s like watching a movie! I loved Allison and Mateo! Their story is one that will stick with me. Their flaws had me rooting for them to work everything out and find their happy ending. I’m so glad I took a chance on this book!
I wasn’t sure how a collaboration among so many authors would turn out, but I shouldn’t have worried, because Mateo and Allison’s story was fantastic. Their styles all meshed wonderfully and I didn’t feel any choppiness between chapters or confusing breaks in the book.
Allison is a workaholic who has zero social life, zero time for others, and zero ANYTHING outside of work. She overhears her boss being less than nice about her at a party on New Year’s Eve, is saved by a friend from making a scene (a friend who she doesn’t recognize as a friend yet because of the cutthroat environment in which they work), and then runs into an old friend/crush, Mateo (while liberating a bottle of champagne for later). Mateo offers to help her with her resolutions, and so begins a whirlwind year of change.
Mateo has been in love with Allison since high school, but he’s sure that she’s only ever seen him as a friend. While helping her write her list of resolutions, he writes one more for her, but doesn’t let her see it. (Don’t worry, we learn what the final resolution is later in the story, but not without a lot of progress and regression along the road to a new Allison.)
Mateo pushes Allison when she needs it, even if she doesn’t WANT it, and supports her above all else. Allison makes some hard choices during her year of transformation, learns what true friendship is, and finally breaks free of the narrow life she’s found herself stuck in, just in time to prove to Mateo that yes, she really did learn how to just be ALLISON, and not what everyone else expects to see or get from her.
I love how Allison truly works for a new her and how she learns just how special true friends are. Dani, the friend she didn’t realize she had, Mateo, and even Mateo’s slacker-ish roommate, Seth, all help her find herself, bit by bit. She and Mateo work hard to find their HEA and truly make this a story worth reading.
A sweet, funny, slow burn to love by 11 authors/collaborators about 2 high school friends that come back together when one is needed by the other so badly. All 11 did a fantastic job of pulling this love story together.
This is one of the funniest things I’ve read all year. Since we’re not even a full week into the new year, that’s maybe damning the story with faint praise, but don’t take it that way. I have laughed so hard my ribs and abs are going to continue to hurt all day tomorrow. I don’t think I’ve ever read a collaborative book that is held together as tightly as this one. I couldn’t tell where the transitions happen from one author to the next. That may be because I was so thoroughly caught up in Al and Matty’s story that everything else stopped having an impact on me. But it really felt like the team behind this book spoke with a single voice in order to tell their story. I don’t know how painful it was for them to put this together, but it was an absolute joy for me to read and I hope they do it again soon.
I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book from the authors.
OMG! This book is everything! It has the right mix of humor and swoon.
Mateo and Allison have been friends since high school. Mateo fell in love with her at the time but felt that Al always pushed him into the friend zone so friends they remained. They went to college together until Matty dropped out in exchange for his true calling. Personal training. Years have gone by since then where they haven’t really seen each other until one New Year’s Eve party. Matty catches Al sneaking out of a party and follows her and their friendship picks up where it had left off.
Al has been working her butt off for years in hopes of making partner at the law firm she works at. When some news reaches her ears at the New Year’s party she makes plans to change herself and her life. With the help of longtime friend Matty, she makes ten resolutions that she needs to complete by next New Years. What follows is a mix of humor, steam, swoon, emotions. I wanted to cry at one point so yes there is an emotional roller coaster. I loved this story so much and look forward to what these authors have to bring us next.
Happy New You is a sweet friends to lovers romance between Mateo and Allison. The story flowed perfectly and you would never know that eleven author wrote this together. Love that Allison and Matty have a past and even though she has always put him in the friend zone he has always wanted so much more. This is a great way to start the New Year with a well written, entertaining book about resolutions.
Allison’s world is all about her job at a prestigious law firm and climbing its partnership ladder, but she has no personal life or personality outside her work ethic. That is until Mateo Ramirez comes back into her life. They’ve known each other since high school, and Mateo’s loved her since then, but Allison firmly placed him in the friend zone all those years ago, and he’s stayed there ever since.
Mateo knows just what Allison needs to push herself outside her comfort zone, but will he be able to push her into his arms for the relationship he knows they both deserve? Will Alison be able to find that balance between the work she loves and the life she wants, and, if she does, will it be enough to prove to Mateo that she deserves a second chance?
Mateo is the type of partner we can only hope we have, and Allison’s quirky nature may remind us of the awkwardness we may have experienced when trying to establish who we are in life. Together they are so delightful and fun. It takes time for them to reestablish their relationship, but the slow build just increases the anticipation, making their story that much more enjoyable. This is a wonderful love story full of humor, lots of feelings, emotional ups and downs, sexy passion and a lot of heartwarming moments. I highly recommend this charming and engaging romance.
I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. This uniquely written read worked so well. A fun storyline that was filled with humor and emotion. Allison and Mateo’s romance will have you laughing and your heart melting. Mateo was hot, charming and swoon worthy. Allison came across as so Type A, but mostly it was just armor because she had such a soft center. With powerful messages about true friendship, being true to yourself and letting yourself see what is right in front of your face, this beautiful romance is a wonderful read.
Allison and Mateo… I think I am in love with Allison and Mateo. What a way to start the New Year by reading this well written book that had my favorite authors collaborating on a witty, swoon worthy, romantic book. I was surprised as each chapter flawlessly flowed into the next. You didn’t know where one author started and one stopped. The characters were so wonderfully written that I found myself forgetting that they were in a book. I felt as though I was watching them fall in love from a far.
4.5
I liked it!
Jami Albright and Sylvie Stewart are two of my go-to rom-com authors.
What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
The humor
Friends to lovers
Dual POVs
Standalone
HEA
Epilogue
I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC.
What a great collaboration of authors. The chapters run so smoothly it doesn’t feel like a group of eleven authors contributed to the text. The story is witty and moving. Al and Matty have been friends for years. However, due to Al’s workaholic nature she has cancelled every chance to meet up over the last four years.
One lucky New Years Eve they reconnect and spend the year completing her resolutions. Makes one think about our goals and how sometimes we forget to enjoy the moment and experience life. Great HEA.
I’m not in a contemporary romance period, so when this book landed in my kindle, I did not know what to do with it, I know and like the work of some of the authors, so I gave it a try.
Mateo is a walking dream comes alive, he is any girl fantasy, he is not only gorgeous but also kind and caring, always thinking of the others before himself. He was the anchor in the Al-Matty relationship, putting his heart and soul at 1000% in when Allison was only half-commit in it.
Allison is the selfish ego centered one, weeping because the others see her as an empty shell, all work with no life outside the office. When Mateo comes back in her life, after she was the one to put him out, he tries his best to be there for her, helping her to get life on tracks.
But never she stood for him, never she thought only about him, she asks, she demands and takes but gives nothing.
By the end of the book, I disliked her more and more.
She never groveled as she should have for all the pain and hurt she inflicted him.
I’m sorry but I would have loved to see Mateo find love with someone else, someone who deserved him really, not a girl then a woman who used him for most of his life for her sole benefit.
I give this book a 4 stars rate for Mateo, the great storyline outside of the usual billionaire/PA trope and the nice secondary characters.
Sweet love story of high school friends who lost touch and find each other again. Allison is a workaholic lawyer trying to become a partner in the law firm she works at, while Matteo is a fitness entrepreneur trying to open his own gym. Two complete opposites but these authors make them work. I loved Matteo, his love and support of Allison through all of her hang ups is something everyone needs in their lives. I had a love hate relationship with Allison. For as strong willed and determined Allison was in her career she refused to use that determination towards a relationship with Matteo. But I guess what they say is true you don’t know how good you have it until you no longer have it. For as many authors that wrote this it was good, a little more dialogue and less inner dialogue would have been better but good nonetheless.
This was my first book by this author. It was a good read, I loved how it all worked out in the end. My only drawback is I am not crazy about stories that jump from person to person to me that distracts from the story