Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE: Operation Meet Cute

SERIES:  Operation HEA

AUTHOR:  K.M. Neuhold

NARRATOR:  Nick J. Russo

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  6 hours and 7 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  September 28, 2021

BLURB:

Harlow is on a single-minded mission: meet the man of his dreams by any meet-cute necessary.

All my life, I’ve dreamed of one thing: the perfect movie moment. I want a man and his boombox outside my window; I want kissing in the rain; I want a romantic hero who will take my breath away.

Switching mail with my cute neighbor didn’t work. Swapping coffee with a hottie at the coffee shop just got the poor barista yelled at. And bus guy? Total bust. I’m starting to wonder if Hollywood got the whole meet-cute thing wrong. Sacrilege, I know.

Is it possible the perfect leading man has been living in the apartment above me the entire time, playing the role of my best friend?

Things are about to get very interesting…

***Operation: Meet-cute is a swoony, steamy, best friends to lovers, friends with benefits turned more, laugh out loud story with low angst and plenty of heat.

REVIEW:

Harlow is an assistant Director in Hollywood.  He’s from a small town in Georgia and he’s been obsessed with RomComs forever.  His father left him and his mother when he was young and these movies were his lifeline.  His real obsession however, is that he have his own “movie moment” of meet cute with his leading mean – who will of course have a leading man name 😉

Teddy has been Harlow’s upstairs neighbor and BFF for four years.  Teddy’s last boyfriend orchestrated a really bad break up – even sold his CAT!  But Harlow was there to help pick up the pieces and the two have been inseparable ever since.  Teddy is well aware of Harlow’s obsession and he’s been the guy to the rescue so many times.

Harlow continues to try to orchestrate these “spontaneous” meet cute moments.  None with good results 🙂  But they are good for some entertaining stories over burned dinners at Teddy’s.  And of course there are more Teddy rescues.  But still no leading man.

After a particularly bad attempt, Harlow and Teddy decide to start up a friends with benefits type scenario.  But Teddy is a little worried, because he has big feelings here.  And he knows Harlow, despite his “meet cute” mission, is really afraid to be in a relationship.  And neither of them wants to lose their best friend.  So how will this all play out?  Can they stay friends adding sex into the mix?  What will happen if either of them finds the “right guy”?  Will Harlow wake up to the fact that he’s already HAD his meet cute moment?  And realize it’s not about a moment, but a lifetime of shared experiences?

This story is soooooo adorable!  I loved Harlow.  His obsession with rom-coms was just too cute.  He was definitely in love with love.  Too bad he couldn’t see what was right in front of him 😉  I loved that Ezra, Teddy’s assistant, was so good and being straight with Teddy.  Teddy truly lived up to his name.  He was a real Teddy bear and Harlow took forever to realize just what he had with Teddy was indeed the real thing.  At first the sex just muddied the waters more for Harlow, but thankfully with some real talk and support from his BFF and even an assist from unexpected sources he got his act together just in the nick of time.  There is definitely plenty of steam in this story – but in the most delightful way 😉

There are so many cute moments – the ice skating “date”, the orchard, the Teddy rescues from bad dates.  Harlow’s relationship with his bestie at home, Marnie, who calls him out and has his best interests at heart is really well written.  They are definitely kindred souls and have been there for each other for a long time.  The big reveal when Harlow finds out something about Teddy he never knew before was kind of the icing on the cake – so spot on!

As usual, Nick Russo did a fantastic job narrating this story.  His bubbly Harlow voice was perfect.  His down in the dumps Harlow voice?  Also perfect.  His gruff Teddy voice and his tender Teddy voice set the perfect tone and juxtaposition to Harlow.  The rest of the voice choices were also just perfect for this story – whether it’s Harlow’s mother, his BFF Marnie, his less the enthusiastic supporter Ezra, or his director, all really added to enjoyment of this story.

Highly recommended, particularly for fans of friends to lovers because this one is especially well done 😀

RATING: 

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