The Savvy Edit Book Club: A Review On Not So Meet Cute and The Way I Hate Him
Since last month was love month and all, we decided to squeeze in two rom-coms to celebrate.
In our Savvy Edit our book club, we read two Meghan Quinn books, The Way I Hate Him and Not So Meet Cute.
If you've read any of Meghan Quinn's books, you'll figure out that they are all roughly connected, through sharing characters and overlapping storylines, making them even more fun to read to connect the puzzles. So, these two books are not in the same series, but you can read her other books to connect the dots between them. And...heads up these are SPICY.
Here are our team's thoughts on these two books!
Briana’s Review
Not So Meet Cute
10000/10! Huxley Cane is my FAVORITE book boyfriend. This book had no business being this cute. I loved everything about it. The character’s banter, the humor, THE SPICE 🥵 I need this as the next Netflix romcom and if you see me running through a rich neighborhood, MIND YOUR BUSINESS. I’m looking for my Cane brother.
(Also, there are two more books in this series about the other two brother’s romances, so I’m about to devour these next)!
IF you liked this book, read The Hating Game by Sally Thorne next (there’s also a movie!)
The Way I Hate Him
I was very hopeful going into reading this one since I was so obsessed with A Not So Meet Cute by Meghan. This was…underwhelming. It started off decent. Small town, hallmark romcom vibe, but I did not like Hattie’s character at all. She’s doing too much and she comes across as very attention seeking (when she was shaking her butt in front of Hayes and asking if he liked it 🤮) Even from the beginning when her boyfriend broke up with her and she had to seek revenge on him and get him fired (he don’t want you, move on, you’re doing too much).
I love a strong female main character and she just seemed weak when Hayes kept rejecting her and turning her down and she kept begging for more. Unfortunately, not my favorite Meghan Quinn book.
Harmony’s Review
Not So Meet Cute
If you don't instantly fall in love with the Cane Brothers through this book, I'm not sure we can be friends. I think this goes down for the quickest book I've ever read, and it might have been because the spice level is all the fire emojis I can type times 1.5 mil....and also my disclaimer not to read this on an airplane 😅 I would HIGHLY recommend this one, it's a 4.8 for me! Now, I’m off to read the rest of this series because I don’t think you can stop at just this one after reading it!
The Way I Hate Him
So, I've read two others in this series, Bridesmaid for Hire and The Reason I Married Him, and loved both. This book connects with both of those, and I was super excited to see the younger sister's POV (especially being the youngest myself and connecting to the book in that way!). Out of all the books in this series, this one falls in last place for me but still in love with the way Meghan writes rom-coms! I loved Hattie and Hayes' connection, the build-up of their relationship, and seeing the characters from her POV.
But there was just something about this book that didn’t sit right with me! It did feel a bit repetitive in the middle, especially after reading The Reason I Married Him and reading from her older sister's perspective. I'd recommend this read if you read the rest of the series, but I'm only giving it a 3.2!
Maddie’s Review
Not So Meet Cute
LOVE, OBSESSED with, and DEVOURED this entire series, all within February. With that being said, let me just say Lottie and Huxley's love story was, and still remains, my favorite out of the three books. However, I can promise you that you will fall in love with each Cane brother for their own reasons.
I am giving A Not So Meet Cute my first 5-star rating for 2025. This book will have you laughing out loud and maybe craving some, err... alone time, if you know what I mean. 🥵 If Pretty Woman is one of your all-time favorite movies (as it should be), run, don’t walk...this book is for you.
I also want to add that I would love to see this series become a rom-com trilogy, and I'm nominating Reese Witherspoon's production company, Hello Sunshine, to produce it. As for who I’d cast to play each brother, I’m still working on it, but I would personally love to see Chase Stokes as JP. If you've read this book, tap in, who would you cast as Huxley, JP, and Breaker?
The Way I Hate Him
I hate to say it, but I think I might have hated this book. I’m not sure if it’s because I skipped the first two books in the series, something I didn’t even realize until reading Harmony's review, or because it felt about 519 pages too long. For that reason, I'm giving this book a 2.5-star rating, which pains me because I usually LOVE Meghan Quinn's writing. I liked Hattie and Hayes' characters, and I loved the way Quinn painted the small town of Almond Bay, but it was just very repetitive. The spice level is DEFINITELY there if you like a slow burn, age gap, and forbidden love.
While this book wasn’t for me, I know Meghan Quinn has a loyal fan base for a reason. If you love small-town romance and don’t mind a longer read, it might still be worth picking up. But if you’re looking for a tighter plot, this one might not hit the spot.
