Title: The Best I Never Had
Author: Amy Buchanan
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Thea Pappas has always been the storm in her own life—fiery and unpredictable—traits that led her and her younger sister, Addy, through a series of foster homes. But with Addy’s whirlwind engagement, Thea is determined to be the perfect maid of honor, even if she finds it odd that she hadn’t heard of the fiancé until the ring was on Addy’s finger. She believes she can survive a week in the Blue Ridge Mountains with a group of strangers without causing any trouble.
But upon arrival, Thea realizes these aren’t strangers. Among the familiar faces is Owen Hayes—the man who, three years ago, paid her to pretend to be his girlfriend at a family wedding. Now, he’s looking at her with the same panicked expression.
Owen’s life has always been about control—managing his mother’s matchmaking schemes, his family’s expectations, and the career path he never truly chose. Thea was his one rebellion, a beautiful lie that ended with a “heart-destroying” fake breakup. Now, with his younger brother’s wedding underway and his mother on the prowl, Owen begs Thea to reprise their roles. One week. Same fake breakup. No feelings.
But as old sparks reignite and the lines between pretense and reality blur, Thea and Owen will have to choose: carry on their greatest performance yet or admit the truth—that it was never fake at all.
The family issues in this story were over-the-top—like the Pappas family in general. I actually loved the family as a whole and how they showed up for each other was fantastic to see. Owen’s mother was pretty horrible, though. The layers of manipulation and emotional abuse that woman dished out made me want to scream.
Thea is like the embodiment of my inner voice: she blurts out the first thing that pops into her head, without even a half second’s pause for thought, but her feeling of being unworthy/less than is probably how a lot of us feel. And Owen is also entirely relatable. I loved seeing them grow out of their old selves and into their new, stronger selves together.
Amy Buchanan lives in Florida. The Best I Never Had is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press | St. Martin’s Griffin in exchange for an honest review.)
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