Natalie Debboun

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5 Overall

🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️/ 5 Spice

Alright everyone buckle up because you’re in for a review of one of the craziest stories I have ever read.

This review will contain slight spoilers about characters, however I will not reveal the main action points, climax, or ending. After this review you will still be able to read and enjoy the book at your own leisure.

Plot Overview: Till Summer Do Us Part is a romance novel focusing on Scottie and Wilder. Scottie works at a golf company as a copy editor where everyone is happily married it seems. After she lies about being married, and is caught in the act by a colleague, she keeps playing along with her original lie by saying that her and her husband are going through a rough patch. Her boss, concerned, takes Scottie aside and recommends she see a marriage counselor, or better yet her husband who is supposedly one of the best marriage counselors in the US. And luckily he has an appointment the next day at 9:00 AM sharp.

This means Scottie must find a fake husband in the next 24 hours and fortunately her best friend’s brother Wilder, who has nothing better to do, is ready to play the act. In fact, he and Scottie are so convincing of their ‘marital dysfunction’ at the therapy session that they are invited to a 8 day couples retreat, which Wilder agrees the so-called couple to.

The book then focuses on their time at camp where they are assigned to the ‘special cabin’ for the most problematic couple, which is essentially a sex dungeon filled with lewd pictures and NSFW items, as well as couples therapy sessions to work through their relationship.

Who will enjoy this book? If you enjoy books heavy on the banter and heavy on the spice, this one is for you. Millenial and General Z readers will appreciate this rom-com book because there are so many references to nostalgic 2000s shows and movies including High School Musical, Parent Trap, and even Friends.

There are also sex jokes and innuendos galore. Just for your information – the very cutest pink cover on this book is VERY misleading. In a significant portion of this book’s banter, sexual innuendos are said. Personally, for me it was a bit too much, but if you read to indulge your sexual fantasy this one is for you.

If I am being honest part of the reason I gave this book a 3-star rating is because it is heavy on the spice. I have read other novels by Meghan Quinn and expected some intimate scenes but this had way to much for my personal liking.

I did appreciate the banter. For example bonding over nerds clusters (I have to say I am a huge nerd cluster fan), and fights over Pokemon characters (nerds unite – no pun intended!).

There were also some laugh at loud scenes. For example I did laugh at loud at one scene where Scottie was scared their sex dungeon cabin was wiretapped and they were expected to have sex, so she loudly faked having sex with Wilder. So if you’re looking for a book that will make you laugh, this one is for you.

Overall Writing: For character development, I thought both main character’s back stories were developed enough, but could have had more depth.

Let’s start with Scottie. I appreciated Scottie’s character, but at the same time I felt she was a bit immature. However, I give her grace as she is only in her 20s and she is still healing from her previous marriage. Before the events of the story, Scottie was married then divorced to a so-called ‘man child’, so the camp brought up some traumatic memories for her which she began to work through at camp.

I greatly enjoyed Wilder’s character. He was a pretty funny character, living a very ‘go with the flow’ kind of life. Wilder is the one who got Scottie wrapped up in attending the marriage counseling camp because of his love for improv.

And he truly does practice his improv. For example,  The first therapy session they have the craziest conversation, which I don’t understand how the therapist doesn’t know they’re play acting. It goes from bedtime activities to buying pads to hatred of the word bologna. It’s kind of bizarre. To me it makes the story almost unbelievable, but I mean it’s pretty unbelievable someone would go to marriage camp and counseling with a fake husband. And I give that grace because I believe this book was meant to be a fun beach read.

The Romance: The sexual tension between Wilder and Scottie starts off strong and continues to build during the novel. The novel has a great build up to the realization that both Scottie and Wilder like each other through a steamy camp session. Like couples, they also do have bickering arguments over the slightest things which many can relate to in real life. I think Meghan did a great job developing the romance aspect of the novel and if you love cheesy romance books this one is for you

Overall: If you like romcoms like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, but spiced up, this is for you. Readers who prefer heavy on the banter and heavy on the spice with a sizzling romance will greatly enjoy this book. However, if you don’t like spice or banter that almost is unbelievable in the real world , I would skip.