Early Review: The Godparent Trap by Rachel Van Dyken

May 30, 2022

The Godparent Trap

by Rachel Van Dyken

Pub Date: July 19, 2022

Forever/Grand Central

// 4 🦋 out of 5 //

I loved this so much! It was hilarious, adorable, romantic, heart breaking, and heart-warming.

Rip and Colby have both lost their best friends (Rip’s sister Monica and her husband Brooks) in a tragic accident and they are committed to raising the two small children that were left behind. Rip and Colby do their best to become replacement parents for their friends’ kids and it’s both heart-rending and heart-warming to watch them give their all to these sweet children who are barely old enough to understand what’s going on.

But they aren’t a couple, can barely stand each other, and worse, they deal with their grief in very different ways. They have opposite emotional reactions and there is growing resentment on both sides because of it.

Van Dyken writes with humor but doesn’t skimp on the emotional core. The way she simultaneously blends heartbreak and laugh-out-loud funny in the same scene is impressive. The book is stuffed with emotional content and she manages to strike just the right balance with the sadness and the humor. She also manages to write little kids as accurately and compellingly as she does adults. They were adorable, hilarious little weirdos. It all felt so realistic and believable.

I have a soft spot for stories where parenting gets thrust upon someone with no previous parenting experience (or desire for it) and this is that x2. I especially love that neither Rip nor Colby ever question for a second whether they want to raise the kids themselves. They’re in. Period. It’s just a matter of figuring out how.

I love that this is a book that has “scenes.” You know, those moments that stick with you that you refer to with a phrase and people instantly know what you’re talking about. This one has many: the closet scene, the spider scene, the movie theater scene, the grocery store scene. So many fun, memorable moments.

This made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me feel things. And I loved the way the book circled back around to the prologue at around the 75% mark. The very end was a little melodramatic for my taste but overall I enjoyed the book very much.

Recommended!!

- dual POV
- enemies to lovers
- slow burn

CW: grief/loss, death in car accident (mentioned)

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing the digital ARC.

Pub date 7/19/22