Hooking Up
by Helena Hunting
Series: Shacking Up #2
Also in this series: I Flipping Love You
Published by Macmillan, Swerve on November 7th, 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Point of View:Alternating Third Person
Pages: 444
Format: eBook
Source: Gifted
Buy It: Amazon|Barnes & Noble
Add It: Goodreads

Amalie Whitfield is the picture of a blushing bride during her wedding reception–but for all the wrong reasons. Instead of proclaiming his undying love, her husband can be heard, by Amalie and their guests, getting off with someone else. She has every reason to freak out, and in a moment of insanity, she throws herself at the first hot-blooded male she sees. But he’s not interested in becoming her revenge screw.

Mortified and desperate to escape the post-wedding drama, Amalie decides to go on her honeymoon alone, only to find the man who rejected her also heading to the same tiny island for work. But this time he isn’t holding back. She should know better than to sleep with someone she knows, but she can’t seem to resist him.

They might agree that what happens on the island should stay on the island, but neither one can deny that their attraction is more than just physical.

Filled with hilariously scandalous situations and enough sexual chemistry to power an airplane from New York City to the South Pacific, Hooking Up is the next standalone, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy from Helena Hunting, the New York Times bestselling author of the Pucked series and Shacking Up.

Hooking Up is the second book in Helena Hunting’s Shacking Up series and it features Bancroft’s older brother, Lexington and Ruby’s best friend, Amalie.

Amalie is engaged to Bancroft and Lexington’s cousin, Armstrong and when she finds out what a piece of shit he is, Amelie goes on their honeymoon without him and runs into Lexington…a guy that keeps showing up everywhere she goes. He also has a tendency of taking care of her and Amelie is attracted big time to Lex but it’s inappropriate and she needs to keep him at arms length while she untangles herself from his cousin.

Lexington saw and wanted Amie first but his cousin slid into her DM’s when he wasn’t looking and Lex knows that Armstrong doesn’t deserve her and the day of their wedding, Armstrong proves it big time. Amie’s been through so much and when they meet up on her way to her honeymoon, Lex tries to be the friend she desperately needs only they end up becoming so much more…

Rowena: Gah, I’m so glad that you chose this book for review. I enjoyed it so much. There was a scene in the beginning of the book that I wasn’t too wild about but aside from that, I really enjoyed the back and forth between Lex and Amie. They were great characters a part from each other and I really enjoyed seeing them fall in love with each other. What a fun read this turned out to be.

What did you think, Ames?

Ames: I’m so glad you liked this book Wena! I’ve been a fan of Helena Hunting for a while now and I’m just tickled pink that you liked this book.

We first meet Amelie in Shacking Up and already in that book you know Armstrong is wrong for her. So although it was painful for her to find out how wrong he was for her, it definitely led to some personal growth for her because she was letting some bad choices from her past dictate her future…which also led to a bad choice (Armstrong). And I loved Lex. Just straight up loved him. I could see that his past with Armstrong would bite him in the ass when it came to Amie but it wasn’t dragged out and made into this whole big thing, so I really appreciated that. And I liked that they said they would be friends with benefits and stuck to it. Like she left. She hated to leave, but she left. She took some time for herself and I liked that.

Rowena: I thought Lex and Amie had a grown folks kind of romance and I was pleasantly surprised with it. I tried reading Pucked a while ago and couldn’t get into it so I was expecting more of the same with this one but I didn’t have the same reading experience. I enjoyed this one a lot more.

Lex was a great hero. Their first meeting was such a cute one and I was so bummed that Lex was caught slipping and Amie slipped through his fingers. Seeing him at Armstrong and Amie’s wedding and the shenanigans he got into there had me laughing and then raising my eyebrows and then laughing all over again. This was such a fun book!

Amie was a solid heroine too. The back and forth thing she had going with Lex was kind of annoying but more than anything, I understood it. She felt that considering everything she was wrapped up in, a relationship with Lex was inappropriate and I liked seeing her figure her shit out while lusting after Lex.

Their romance was fun, it was sexy and I really need to go back and read Bancroft and Ruby’s book. But dude, what is with all of the names in this series? Armstrong? Bancroft? Lexington? Those are all last names. Haha.

Ames: The Pucked series humor is a bit more…I don’t want to say raunchy but it is (and I love it). LOL So I know that series isn’t for everyone.

This romance was fun and sexy. Man did I ever want to go away to a tropical location. Especially now that its freaking cold here.

All right. I really enjoyed this book so I’m finding it difficult to say anything more. It’s so much easier to go on and on with books we don’t enjoy. Hooking Up gets a B+ from me. You?

Rowena: Same. It was a great romance with great characters. The writing style was great and the humor really shined for me so there isn’t much more to say that isn’t redundant. I give this book a 4.25 out of 5. That’s the same as a B+.

Final Ratings

Ames: B+
Rowena: 4.25 out of 5

Shacking Up Series