Synopsis
Love, romance, second chances, fairy-tale endings…these are the things Annika Dev believes in. Her app, Make Up, has been called the “Google Translate for failing relationships.”
High efficiency break-ups, flashy start-ups, penthouses, fast cars…these are the things Hudson Craft believes in. His app, Break Up, is known as the “Uber for break-ups.” It’s wildly successful—and anathema to Annika’s life philosophy.
Which wouldn’t be a problem if they’d gone their separate ways after that summer fling in Las Vegas, never to see each other again. Unfortunately for Annika, Hudson’s moving not just into her office building, but into the office right next to hers. And he’ll be competing at the prestigious EPIC investment pitch contest: A contest Annika needs to win if she wants to keep Make Up afloat. As if it’s not bad enough seeing his irritatingly perfect face on magazine covers when her own business is failing. As if knowing he stole her idea and twisted it into something vile—and monumentally more successful—didn’t already make her stomach churn.
As the two rival app developers clash again and again—and again—Annika finds herself drawn into Hudson Craft’s fast-paced, high velocity, utterly shallow world. Only, from up close, he doesn’t seem all that shallow. Could it be that everything she thought about Hudson is completely wrong? Could the creator of Break Up teach her what true love’s really about?
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Review
After reading several suspense novels, I decided to take a break and read something light and fluffy. Make Up Break Up was just the book to read. It is filled with miscommunication, sexual tension, women in STEM, and a happily ever after ending.
Annika has a brilliant idea for an app and is working hard to develop it, along with her best friend June. These two women embody women in STEM and there is even a part of the story where they speak to some high school students and encourage the girls to pursue their dreams in coding. It is really a great message that nothing has to hold you back other than yourself.
Hudson has created an app that is the opposite of what Annika is creating. His app will send someone (a terminator) to end a relationship that you don’t want to be involved with anymore. I wondered how and why he came up with this app and the answer to that is near the end of the book so you will have to read it to find out.
Annika and Hudson had met in Vegas at a conference and sparks flew during that week. But then they went their separate ways until Hudson ends up as Annika’s neighbor in an office building in Los Angeles. Hilarity ensues between these two with the pranks to knock each other off their game. But what they didn’t expect was to feel those sparks again.
I am not sure how much I liked Annika. She is a tough woman with a passion for her app, but some of her actions are childish. Granted she is in her early 20s, but it still seemed a bit immature. Not that Hudson was much better. It is also a little vague as to how she can afford this nice office in Los Angeles. There are conversations with a banker so it is assumed she has a loan from that bank. but it isn’t ever really confirmed outright. June is her partner in crime, a master coder, and apparently very wealthy. I was surprised that Annika refused her help monetarily to get them out of the hole they currently are in, but if she did accept the financial help it would have taken the story in a different direction. I did feel like Annika did start to mature towards the end of the book when certain events occurred.
Annika has a great relationship with her father other than he wants her to attend medical school and become a doctor. That is not her passion and I wondered if her father would ever realize that becoming a doctor is not her dream. Small spoiler, he does but it takes a long time. But the journey to get to that point is two-fold for him and an intriguing subplot.
Hudson has his own issues too. He has become very successful with his app, but he isn’t happy. There are underlying issues that Annika helps him uncover at various points during the story. Hudson does seem too perfect, but in reality, he is just as flawed as Annika, and perhaps that is what makes these two a perfect couple. Once they can get past their hangups.
The book made me chuckle and there are a few “oh no” moments, but we get our HEA and all is right with the world.
We give this book 3 1/2 paws up.
About the Author
Lily Menon has always been enamored of romantic comedies and happily-ever-afters in all shapes and sizes. Her very first love story, written at age nine, was about a handsome young boy who wooed the heroine with books, chocolates, and a very fat puppy. Now Lily lives with her own handsome boy (who indeed wooed her with books, chocolates, and fat puppies) in the mountains of Colorado, where she spends her days dreaming up kissing scenes and meet-cutes.
Julienne Brouwers worked as a pharmaceutical scientist and medical physicist before becoming a writer. She lives in the Netherlands, with her husband and three children, where she has published two successful thrillers, and lived in the UK and US for a total of four years.
“Everything has to be reconciled eventually.”
L. K. Simonds is a Fort Worth local whose debut novel, All In, was published in 2019.
Mystery author Dorothy St. James was born in New York but raised in South Carolina. She makes her home on an artsy island community in South Carolina with her husband, a crazy dog, and fluffy cat. Though writing has always been a passion for her, she pursued an undergraduate degree in Wildlife Biology and a graduate degree in Public Administration and Urban Planning. She put her educational experience to use, having worked in all branches and all levels of government including local, regional, state, and federal. She even spent time during college working for a non-profit environmental watchdog organization.
Mike Ely has logged thousands of hours over more than forty years as a professional pilot. He holds an airline transport pilot certificate with multiple type ratings and a flight instructor certificate. Mike has taught people to fly in small single-engine airplanes, gliders, turboprops, and corporate jets. As a freight pilot and an international corporate pilot, he has flown through all kinds of weather, to many places, both exotic and boring. His love for writing was instilled by his father at an early age.
