Lana has had enough. Her ‘perfect’ sister is getting married. In Australia. On Lana’s 30th birthday and no one seems to have noticed. To make matters worse, she’s been given a list of rules she must follow so she doesn’t upstage the bride. Well, rules are meant to be bent right?
She’s found a killer dress, now she just needs the most inappropriate wedding date she can find. But where to start? All her attempts at online dating are simply disasters, and not in the right way! Too boring/married/easily intimidated! But then her drop dead gorgeous ex Ethan suddenly reappears in her life. With the power to make her dizzy with excitement she reminds herself why they broke up. Together they literally attracted chaos until their relationship imploded. They couldn’t make it work. But could Lana make this work in her favour… just for the wedding?
However, when they arrive in Australia Ethan seems to have forgotten he’s only there to help cause bedlam. Instead he’s off the charts charming, nothing like she remembers and not playing by her rules. She’s here for revenge, not a rekindled holiday romance…but Ethan has other ideas! (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)
I thought Wish You Weren’t Here was a super cute, fun romcom experience! The premise behind it, with Lana purposely ‘bringing home’ a rough around the edges kind of guy to meet the ‘rentals (a word used by one of the characters in the book) and family was an interesting concept, and exciting to witness as it unfolded. Lana doesn’t want to ruin her sister’s wedding, per say. She just wants a little more respect and appreciation–and unfortunately, no one in her family believes that she’s capable of behaving like a responsible adult. If the assumption is that Lana will act the fool and cause chaos, why not lean into that, if even just a little?
Lana gets a lot more than she bargained for. Initially, she attempts to find the most unpolished character she can find. Someone who just can’t help but be mischievous. But she never expected that the person who fit the job would be none other than her ex, Ethan, a man she had to distance herself from nearly two years back due to the explosions that always seemed to occur when the two of them got together, and not in a good way. Fires. Broken beds. It’s like a nuclear bomb with Ethan.
Lana is convinced her family will feel the uncomfortable wrath she’s methodically planned out for them, but in turn, it was hilarious to see just how much her family finds Ethan just as irresistible as she does! He’s even making an effort, but it seems no one can look past Ethan’s charm. The plot thickens when Lana feels the familiar pull to Ethan, despite knowing what could potentially happen if they even try to make their relationship official. And it doesn’t help that there are other possible suitors she can look to–if only Ethan wasn’t in the way of that.
Throughout the book, I felt protective of Lana. Her family isn’t at all supportive and treats her like she doesn’t belong, but I felt that Lana really stood her ground much of the time and clapped back when she was blatantly being mistreated. Even when at times it wouldn’t seem to make a dent in things, as much as Ethan is conflict, he’s also a huge support to her. He helped Lana’s family to see things differently, and there are other secondary characters who aid in that as well. It was most important for Lana to come to terms with the fact that despite what they think and what they try to impose on her, that she can live the life she wants–and be with whoever she wants to be with, because it’s HER choice and no one else’s. For me, it’s another five-star experience from Portia!
Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the book in exchange for an honest review.
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Formerly a journalist, Portia has left the city, swapping the music biz for the moors, to live the (not so) quiet life with her husband and her dog in Yorkshire.
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