Name: kels's review of The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa
Item: The Worst Best Man
Rating: 3
Author: kels

Mia Sosa

USA TODAY BESTSELLER! "A romantic comedy that's fun and flirty, young and fresh." – PopSugar One of Oprah Magazine's 21 Romance Novels That Are Set to Be the Best of 2020, EW's 20 New Books to Read in February, and PopSugar's 25 Brilliant New Books Hitting Shelves. A LibraryReads Pick for February and Amazon Best Romance of the Month! Mia Sosa delivers a sassy, steamy #ownvoices enemies-to-lovers novel, perfect for fans of Jasmine Guillory, Helen Hoang, and Sally Thorne! A wedding planner left at the altar? Yeah, the irony isn’t lost on Carolina Santos, either. But despite that embarrassing blip from her past, Lina’s offered an opportunity that could change her life. There’s just one hitch… she has to collaborate with the best (make that worst) man from her own failed nuptials. Marketing expert Max Hartley is determined to make his mark with a coveted hotel client looking to expand its brand. Then he learns he’ll be working with his brother’s whip-smart, stunning—absolutely off-limits—ex-fiancée. And she loathes him. If they can nail their presentation without killing each other, they’ll both come out ahead. Except Max has been public enemy number one ever since he encouraged his brother to jilt the bride, and Lina’s ready to dish out a little payback of her own. Soon Lina and Max discover animosity may not be the only emotion creating sparks between them. Still, this star-crossed couple can never be more than temporary playmates because Lina isn’t interested in falling in love and Max refuses to play runner-up to his brother ever again... "The Worst Best Man is rom-com perfection. . . Sosa has a gift with words that’s infectious and wry, one that keeps the pages turning in delight." — Entertainment Weekly

A Novel

The Worst Best Man

taci

I shiver at the small contact. Again, damn him. "Honestly, I'm hoping you'll be epically bad at this. I want this to be the worst sex I've ever had. That would solve a mountain of problems." He lifts his head and raises a brow. "Because then you can walk away easily?" There's no point in denying it, so I nod. "Yes." His lips quirk up at the corners. "So what you're saying is, if the sex between us is incredible, you'll be disappointed?" I bare my teeth sheepishly. “Perverse, right?" He raises a brow. "Then there's just one thing left for you to do." "What's that?" "Prepare to be disappointed."

"Psst," I say to him. "Wrong class, buddy." He stares straight ahead. "No, it's not. I'm a first-timer, too." Jaslene groans. "You two are a mess." I fire off my questions out the side of my mouth. “What do you mean? Didn't you tell me you were taking this class already? Are you kidding me right now?" He whispers his response: No, I said I take a class. I'm here. It's a class. And I'm taking it. All true. Just so happens that I'm as much of a novice as you are."

Today's been a crash course on what makes you tick, so I know plenty I also know you wanted to marry my brother at one point. I can figure out your Myers-Briggs personality type based on that info alone. ISTJ. Insensitive. Stubborn"

Omw thats just mean 😅 I think Dean is awesome 

Eslie

When God was handing out best friends, I should have asked more questions about this one’s qualifications.

That fucking question. It has a pulse and fingers and is currently digging into my chest as though it wants to pull my heart out and hand it to her.

I can picture my single-sentence epitaph now: He never saw it coming.

Holy shit, this is everything I’ve ever wanted in a single text: forgiveness and cake

Lina looks from Jaslene to Natalia, and the latter nods as though she’s the Godfather, silently putting a hit out on someone. What an odd trio.

Lyndsy Argento

Keira 💫

Maria Elena Vitale Zelaia

this was a great concept but was lacking a bit in execution. i wouldn’t dissuade anyone from reading it, but i wouldn’t recommend it either.

kels

Ilham

Chloé

Ana Luiza

esqueci de fazer resenha e agora não lembro porque desgostei tanto kkkkk
esses livros de romance de hoje em dia parece que são copia e cola um do outro, só muda a profissão de cada personagem e o nome
primeiramente, as referencias ao brasil foram insuportáveis, muito mal feitas. segundo, o casal tinha foi muito mal desenvolvido, não tava nem ai se eles iam terminar juntos ou não. não lembro mais mas só sei que é ruim (ou eu que não to na vibe romance)

mila

honour

this was ..... ok? at some points nearer the beginning i thought it was gonna be a 2 stars and at one point (although only for a very Short amount of time) i actually slightly considered dnfing. i guess i’m glad i didn’t? 

pros !! :)
- i loved reading about lina’s heritage and her family!! all her family and friends were really great.
- the way max and lina communicate is so mature and just like, great? miscommunication angst is not really my style, not when it’s all romance books plot points for the drama between the two main characters, and i feel like this book really did a good job of avoiding that. we love characters that can actually use their words like well functioning adults for once.
- i liked the fact lina brought up the fact she cannot be seen to be emotional as a black, brazilian woman and that it wasn’t just glazed over but was something that was shown to severely affect her!
- i felt like the sex scenes were done well. i’m not really a fan of overdrawn sex scenes or lots of unnecessary ones but i feel like all of the ones in worst best man were all used to take the plot further or in a different direction and to show us more about the characters and how they were feeling about both themselves and each other!
- i loved some of the scenes. the one where they take the capoeira class together and she realises max just used it as an excuse to bait her into spending time with him? loved it. the pettiness with the peppers? phenomenal. the couples retreat? ground breaking. 
- not really a pro but max and the banana cab was one of the funniest parts for me. leave the poor yellow volvo alone.

cons :(
- i feel like, although max and lina were pretty decently fleshed out, especially for such a short rom com, some of the other characters (e.g. andrew) could have been written about in more detail.
- another thing that could have been written about more: lina and max’s work together. i get it, it’s a romance, we’re meant to focus on that, but i was expecting at least a little more work based drama when i went into this and i was sort of let down. maybe that was just my own misconceptions though.
- a lot of it was sort of just pretty generic. i feel like i could have watched it as a 90 min long movie rom com that i found at the bottom of one of netflix’s romance movie lists and i would have gotten the same experience from it. except maybe with an all white cast instead, so the books definitely got that going for it.
- i had to take a few seconds to remember what lina’s name was for this review and considering i like, Just finished reading the book, i feel like that’s not the best sign.

Soha

Voted for this book under the Romance category in the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards (Opening Round). 

******

“Thing is, there’s no single way to be a badass. Your mother and aunts coming here and making new lives for themselves? Badass. My mother running her own firm even after she and my father divorced? Badass. You facing the obstacles in your path and reinventing yourself in the process? Badass. There’s room for different kinds of greatness. Even if you cry doing it. Hell, especially if you cry doing it.”

I am a big fan of romance novels. Bonus points if they have well-written sex scenes that don't make me cringe.

I'm going to list down some things I loved about it:

#1 - Lina. She's confident, mature, emotional, strong, sassy, sexy. All of it at the same time. I refuse to believe someone can't be all of this (and more) at the same time. Humans are complex and  Mia Sosa did a great job fleshing out Lina's character.
 
#2 - Max. He's sweet, mature, emotional, strong, sassy, and sexy. I just want to type SWOON a hundred times. Did I already say SWOON? I'll say it again. Max is very attractive.

#3 - Lina's family and her relationships with them. Lina is Afro-Latinx so I got a glimpse into a culture that is not my own :) I love how her family plays a bigger role in the story than just being background characters whose only job is to push the protagonists together. It's heartwarming.

#4 - Max's friend, Dean. He was a little underdeveloped than the other characters but I still liked him a lot. Points for showing healthy (also, no toxic masculinity) and heartwarming male friendships that don't skirt around emotional issues and topics. Also, excited to know that the author is next writing a book with Dean as the protagonist! 

#5 - As mentioned in #1 and #2, both protagonists have realistic flaws and believable reasons to act the way they do. The banter between them is just so much fun; so are their conversations. 

I enjoyed this book so much! There's slow-burn romance (I LOVE SLOW-BURN ROMANCE IF THAT WASN'T ALREADY CLEAR) and the chemistry between Lina and Max is *chef's kiss*; I don't even know how else to put it into words. 

I'm saying this for the nth time now but SWOON.

Nialani Thompson

Five stars, def a fav. I loved this book. I love Max and Lina, every character was so perfect. Their love was refreshing and not toxic- which can happen with a complicated relationship like theirs. I loved that it included their insecurities regarding family and trusting, building, and growing in their relationships and careers. This is also more just about the physical book but I love when the cover has a part where the book is meant to bend when it’s open, that’s the best creation ever and I love that this book has that. Anyway, I loved that they came back to each other in a healthy way, there was no other women/men or drama with their complicated situation (much). They realized they loved each other and grew into that love together. Ugh it was so good and I love it

Overall liked. Just had a few issues with what can best be described as plot holes I think??

1. It’s never explained how or why Lina was able to put up with her ex-fiance. It goes completely against the kind of person she is and she was with him for so long. 

2. Lina and Max go back and forth making truces but never acknowledge that they’ve had this conversation thrice over at that point. It would be funny if they were self-aware enough but instead it’s just repeated acting childish (NOT banter, just bicker) and then agreeing to put the past behind them. It’s tired. 

3. The whole concept of her job application was pretty hard to understand at first. 8 weeks of free labor for potentially nothing and working with a marketing team who is also in some kind of quasi job interview as well? Confusion.

Also, I think this author has been hurt by someone who wore a non-traditional wedding dress because it was a topic judged by many characters several times within the first 5ish% and it was very off-putting to me. 

The spice was amazing and I genuinely liked both characters together by the end. There’s definitely cute and fun moments in this and I didn’t have to force myself to read it. I enjoyed the second book in this series more (read it awhile ago).

Abigail

Overall liked. Just had a few issues with what can best be described as plot holes I think??

1. It’s never explained how or why Lina was able to put up with her ex-fiance. It goes completely against the kind of person she is and she was with him for so long. 

2. Lina and Max go back and forth making truces but never acknowledge that they’ve had this conversation thrice over at that point. It would be funny if they were self-aware enough but instead it’s just repeated acting childish (NOT banter, just bicker) and then agreeing to put the past behind them. It’s tired. 

3. The whole concept of her job application was pretty hard to understand at first. 8 weeks of free labor for potentially nothing and working with a marketing team who is also in some kind of quasi job interview as well? Confusion.

Also, I think this author has been hurt by someone who wore a non-traditional wedding dress because it was a topic judged by many characters several times within the first 5ish% and it was very off-putting to me. 

The spice was amazing and I genuinely liked both characters together by the end. There’s definitely cute and fun moments in this and I didn’t have to force myself to read it. I enjoyed the second book in this series more (read it awhile ago).

This book was fine. I really appreciate how much the Brazilian culture is celebrated, but otherwise there is nothing special about this book.

Kate W

Yasmin Dunnewind

loved the culture appreciating in this book!

engraçado, facil de ler mas podia ser mais exciting 

Nouran Hazem

Nouran

Faith Kitowski

brianna

"lina and i are the team to beat. and i have a feeling we're going to be unbeatable together."


this was so underwhelming to me. the plot sounded so fun but the execution of it just didn't grab my attention. i didn't care for either of the main characters and i found them a bit annoying actually. there were definitely some cute moments between max and lina before they got together but i just felt everything was a bit rushed. i think if everything took place over a longer span of time i would've enjoyed it more. ALSO, the sex scenes felt so awkward to read i couldn't get through them without skimming.

Jules

Jasmine

3.75 Stars
This was sweet and fun! I thought it would be a lot more forbidden with the whole falling in love with the brother of the man that left her on the day of her wedding. Max and Lina were great together and both had amazing chemistry and made a good team. I loved the way they could communicate with each other, and while it took a while to get there initially they started built something great together in the end. That being said nothing was really surprising in this book, the plot was fairly predictable but still enjoyable. Also, this really wasn't a big hate to love romance I was anticipating, it's there in the beginning but quickly fades.

The whole couples therapy scene where there are some fantastic honest moments between them and a confession that had me wanting to jump up and down. I would've preferred an even slower burn because what really stood out was those scenes with build-up and tension. Also, the amazing moments where they were pretending to be a couple, I could've easily had a few more chapters with those scenes. This book had a lot going for it but nothing out of this world special. Either way, it's a good rom com to pick up on a rainy day. I will definitely look into more of Mia Sosa's books because I think it is really easy to get into the writing.


  “I’m certain that you’re my safe space. That I can be exactly who I am with you, and you won’t judge me for it. You’ll actually love me for it. And I want to be that safe space for you, too. I want you to think of me and my arms as your place of comfort.”

Ashley

i mean, it was okay. it was good, great even, but it didn't have me wanting to wear my lungs out bc of excitement. 😔

do recommend tho

Kasey Montagnat

I did like this book don’t get me wrong. I just don’t know there was something about it that reading it was boring to me and I wanted more tension more bickering scenes just them I think

Definitely liked it, the end was SUPER cringey and idk if I liked how the story played out. I didnt cry but maybe that was because it was a audiobook.

Maria

I absolutely loved this book it was everything!! I loved the characters and I loved that this book was dual pov! Lina was badass and she was just amazing and I loved her "petty" she took on Max at the restaurant and then again with her family and their shop. And her family sounds awesome , Natalia and Jalene are so cool in their own ways. Max was just this cute smitten puppy most of the time and the way he just knows how to act around Lina and when to push her to open up and when to make her laugh,  he is the best for her. Andrew is an ass, especially for using his brother like that. And Dean seems so cool, Can't wait to read the book thats about him!! This book was amazing 

Lovers of the hating game would like this book. It’s got grumpy sunshine where he’s the sunshine. Also, let’s talk about Max for a hot second: perfect book boyfriend. He’s so charming and their relationship and communication is so healthy, it’s refreshing to see. Good for a lighthearted, sappy romance type read :)

Connor 

In all honesty this is probably a 3.5, but everything gets a pandemic boost if it manages to hold onto my attention, so HERE WE ARE. I will admit I was skeptical, but overall this was charming, and now I miss DC.

Maria Elena Vitale Zelaia &
The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Maria Elena Vitale Zelaia &The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Maria Elena Vitale Zelaia &
The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa