I am probably one of the few readers who hadn't seen Sixteen Candles before starting this book. Still, I could absolutely relate to the main character and her struggle to find a decent guy. If her standards are based on a fictional character, it doesn't mean she isn't onto something. Sometimes you have to date a lot of people before you find the person who is right for you and you are the best judge of what is right for you, not your friends or your family.Mac is a fun character and there are many laugh-out-loud moments in the book. The wedding at the end is THE most dramatic wedding I've ever read about.. There was just one thing- I really hate it when a single guy wears a wedding band to protect himself from unwanted attention.
Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

The Jake Ryan Complex was a fun read. I absolutely love the movie Sixteen Candles and always wanted a Jake Ryan for a boyfriend. Who wouldn’t? He was perfect. Everything that could be checked off on a list of must haves in the perfect boyfriend. I found myself agreeing with the main character in thinking would Jake do that? Most of the time the answer would be a resounding NO! I really would have liked a little more steam in the bedroom but you knew that the steam was there. Even without the peek in the bedroom this book was a fun ride to take. There are some twists and turns that will have you go back to reread what just threw you for a loop. I did it a couple times especially with the mother and with the main characters Jake Ryan.

Mac Huntress is a thirty-something single woman who lives with her dog rerun and her tenant Gia in a small town of Napersville. She finds it relaxing like going back to her childhood home after delivering babies from her clinic she runs with her friends from school. I really felt for Mac through the whole book. She is having to deal with her sister springing getting married, her mother being overbearing and constantly nit picking her to death about getting married and to finally meeting her boyfriend Michael. Her mother was such a battle ax that Mac created a fake boyfriend, Michael. He ticked all the boxes that her mother would expect for Mac to date and nothing less would do. I wanted more than anything for Mac to stand up to her mother and put her in her place. I found it super funny on some of the dates that she had to endure from man with small hands, a guy that hummed while he ate, going to a baseball game with a super cute dresser that had horrible eating etiquite, to the hot art teacher that was a slow x-rated talker that had my head in the gutter from his painting instructions.

Then she meets the perfect Jake Ryan but he is married. She can’t stop thinking about him. He checks all the things off on her list of standards that she swears she doesn’t have but her friends point out that she actually does. After sitting down to rewatch her favorite movie she has an epiphany that yes she does have bery high standards that are directly linked to Jake Ryan of Sixteen Candles. Nice hair, nice car, very very attractive, nice dresser and a total gentalman. This was everything that JT her handyman that was fixing things around her house was. But he had a band around his finger. She not wanting to be a home wrecker showed that she was a strong woman. Events keep throwing them back together from an incident with her dog and a trip to the vet and then to going to a bar to catch the ending of the baseball game where JT shows up to get dinner. I can tell that there was chemistry between the two of them. I just wanted them to get together.

**** SPOILER ALERT***

I really thought the countdown to the wedding and needing to find her Michael as her fake boyfriend as her date to keep her mother off her back was very much needed and brought a nice timeline to the story. When JT shows up at her sisters wedding before she can tell her mother that she is dating him and the mother recoils in recognition that he is just the handyman. My heart was breaking for him and for Mac. The secrets that these characters kept for themselves and the truths that finally came out had me turning the page to find out what was going to happen next. I think this was the best happy ending that I have read along time. I liked that the ending wasn’t rushed and tied all the ties that needed to be tied.

~ Brooke

This title stopped me in my tracks and I knew I just had to read it.
This was a great light-hearted read that kept me entertained. Mac and JT were great, fun characters to get to know and it was entertaining to read.
I usually go for more sexually charged stories, but I really enjoyed taking it down a notch and relaxing and enjoying the romantic vision of this story.

I grew up in the 90's, so unfortunately I didn't 'get' the whole Jake Ryan thing. That being said, I did enjoy this book. It was fun, funny, light and fluffy, easy to read and follow and wonderfully written. Would recommend.

The cover of this book is what drew me in and it was one of the raw occasions I read the blurb and it sounded interesting, however, this story just kind of fell flat for me.

It was hard for me to get into this story and I had a hard time staying focused while I was reading it. It wasn’t bad, but it just wasn’t for me. There are some emotional moments, some funny moments and loads of great 80s references which were fun.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

It's when Mac realizes that she's been comparing all men to a fictional character from her youth that her already complicated and non existent love life is going to take a strange turn when she has to produce a fake boyfriend for her sister's wedding. With no eligible prospects she begins the search. A sudden pipe burst has a too hot contractor show up and becomes a distraction she can't shake even though she notices the wedding ring on his finger. Everything that happens afterwards is a journey of possibles and impossibles that shake her world in ways she never imagined and had always dreamed of. A truly fun and distracting (in the good way) book that helps us look at what we wanted as teenagers and realize that in some ways we weren't that far off.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley for my honest review.

Thank you to the author, Montlake Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quick read with a premise that has a hook for anyone that grew up in the 1980s. Having said that, I found the idea that an accomplished 39-year old woman is still desperately searching for the equivalent of her teenage heartthrob daydreams a bit hard to swallow.

Parts were really charming, and I did love the protagonist, but felt that the storyline was very rushed and superficial.

A book that heavily references the 1980's movie SIXTEEN CANDLES? Yes please.

Mackenzie (Mac) is an OBGYN who loves her job, but has had little time for love. Her mother is so focused on Mac's lack of a love life that Mac gets desperate and creates a fake boyfriend to get her mom off her back. But when Mac's sister plans a quickie wedding, Mac will have to find a real life stand in for the fake Neurosurgeon she has been created. She only has 6 weeks to find a real boyfriend or a suitable stand in.

I loved Mac's drive and work ethic. She is smart and caring and also hilariously funny. I laughed out loud more than once while reading this book. Her disastrous dates are wonderfully cringey and her group of close friends who try and set her up are a wonderful addition to this book!

The male lead in this book is sweet and dreamy and very Jake-Ryan-esque!

There's a lot of DRAMA in this story, but not a lot actually happens. I liked that the lead characters had some serious obstacles to overcome (just communicate already), but their relationship was pretty quick and wasn't really highlighted in this book. We get to the "I Love Yous" and it feels like they have spent all of two days together, including exactly ZERO actual "dates". There was plenty of chemistry, but not a lot of actual face-time. It made the obstacles they face in their very new relationship overwhelm their actual connection, since that connection was so brief.

This book had some really good points and a great premise, but ultimately fell a bit flat on the actual relationship part of the story.

RATING: 3 1/2 STARS
STEAM LEVEL: Rated PG
TRIGGERS: Cheating, fraudulent marriage, one night stand resulting in pregnancy, LOTS of lying, overly critical parent

I have to be honest -- this wasn't great. It started off as a cute premise and I could get past the mediocre writing, hoping for something truly romantic. Unfortunately, it took an extreme turn and went off the untenable drama cliff. The lies just started to get so crazy that I hated the book and its characters. It's a shame because I think the premise had promise but trying to do too much ran it into the ground

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
A sweet yet sassy read. I really liked the MC Mac as she was so relatable and very relatable. The writing is good and the story heart warming.
. She was very fixed on having a man in order to be happy at times which made the book repetitive at sometimes.
On the whole, a good book.

How much you enjoy this might depend on your mood- it's pretty light and at times might strike you, as it struck me, as a bit too trope-y. Mac, a successful ob, is unmarried at 39,. in part she recognizes, because she compares every man to Jake Ryan in 16 Candles. When her sister announces her wedding, Mac creates a boyfriend she claims is a physician as well but then she realizes that he's going to have to be at the wedding. Her handyman JT is a friend so why not ask him to play the role? Because he won't go pretending to be someone else. You know how this will turn out. I wanted to tell Mac to grow up except that I kinda get it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

***2 Stars***

I readily admit that the title was the hook.
I mean, Sixteen Candles, Jake Ryan, totally loving those 80’s John Hughes movies…
So, I definitely made grabby hands at this baby.

But…

Yeah the dreaded but.

I had a rough time getting into this book, though I will say that the opening was definitely unexpected and it just couldn’t hold my attention. Mac isn’t an unlikeable character by any means and I did feel for her when it came to the whole being single at her age thing since I deal with that myself. But her obsession with Jake Ryan was a bit much for me to fully buy into, maybe if she was a true introvert who did the whole hermit thing? Maybe, but other than that, no. And while I got her need to keep her mom off her back about her relationship status ~ especially after experiencing her relationship with her mother ~ there were other ways.

As for J.T. and their journey. I honestly needed more. It was cute, there was drama that was kind of interesting, though a bit OTT at the same time, but while I don’t have an issue with the single POV thing, in this case having a dual POV would have been awesome. And as for the big blowout and reconciliation? I definitely NEEDED more on the reconciliation side of things.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me.

If you liked the movie 16 candles and adored jake Ryan then you'd like this, it's a book for the 80s nostalgia. As someone who did not like the movie, I was not a huge fan of the book. The friend group saying she had too high of a standard was like okay that's not a bad thing. It was a weird start to the book, a side character giving birth to a "watermelon"... I do not think I am the target audience for this book.

the relationship with the mother just weirded me out, why do books deem that a mc either has to have mum or dad love them and the other love their sibling. It was just annoying to read like grow a spine and tel her to piss off, or give me a reason aside from she has expectations and is judgemental

As a fan of Sixteen Candles, I was drawn to this book based on the title and the concept. Jake Ryan was everything! The Jake Ryan Complex is cute and fun, although also has a ton of miscommunications and I ended up so frustrated that people were not being honest with each other at all. But it had a very satisfying ending and was really funny at times as well, especially the definition of her other dates.

A 39 year old doctor acts like a pre-teen about men and dating. This is basically if Jan Brady grew up and still thought "George Glass" was her boyfriend.

The Jake Ryan ideal is one thing - but I would expect that by age 39, one would realize that Jake Ryan put his drunk girlfriend in a car with an underage Farmer Ted who then took advantage of her. Jake Ryan wasn't all that great in the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

3.5 stars

I love a good John Hughes movie, so I couldn’t resist this synopsis and an added bonus is that I loved Bethany’s YA book, so I was eager to read.

I liked Mac. She’s smart and loyal and it was easy to root for her. JT has potential, but I’m not sure we really got to know him as he’s skewed through Mac’s POV and her constantly comparing him to Jake Ryan. There are a good amount of characters, but this is firmly Mac’s story and how she navigates her life and familial relationships.

Plot wise, it didn’t quite feel settled. There are a several moving parts and the time jumps weren’t always clear to me. (Yes, yes, there are countdowns at the top of the chapter, but that doesn’t mean anything when it’s a few days or weeks later.) The entire relationship felt rushed and I would have liked to have seen more conversation between Mac and JT as the chemistry wasn’t quite there.

Overall, I know this review doesn’t sound like I enjoyed it, but I really did. There were several charming scenes, funny family members, and a whole lotta heart. I can’t wait to see what Bethany comes up with next.

FYI: homophobic comments, several scenes with a character being called a Nazi

**Huge thanks to Montlake for providing the arc free of charge**

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I ABSOLUTELY love the ending of this book!!!! I have never read a book by this author, but I will definitely be looking for future books by her. There were so many ups and downs and I could feel all of the emotions that the characters were going through - pain, heartache, love, frustration!

Definitely recommend that you give this book a chance - and make sure you read the entire book!

I think those of us who grew up in the 80s will have a soft spot for this story.

I was at my great-aunt Dorothy's house the first time I watched Sixteen Candles. It was appropriately racy for the time, and I was a tween who thought it was the coolest movie ever. I loved all the Brat Pack movies, but this one was always my favorite.

While I didn't necessarily have a crush on Jake Ryan (aka Michael Schoeffling), I still thought this book would be a fun trip down memory lane...and I was right!

Don't get me wrong...there is nothing high-brow here, it's a simply written novel meant to bring back the spirt of the 80s. It had me laughing out loud a couple times, and those who really know the movie well will see all sorts of little conversations and connections hidden throughout the story. It was a hoot.

I saw another reviewer mention feminists not liking this book, but that's simply not true. I'm a feminist and I thought it was all in good fun. Not everything needs to make a statement...especially not books meant to be fun and light-hearted.

I recommend this to all 80s kids who loved John Hughes movies.

3.5 stars
Available January 26, 2021.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Montlake for my review copy.

Being a woman of a certain age I remember Sixteen Candles (and Jake Ryan) fondly. Although I didn't see the movie twenty years ago like our leading lady Mackenzie...it was more like thirty-five for me. As soon as I saw the title (and cover) of this book I knew I wanted to read it. Oh to be Molly Ringwald in a John Hughes film. *sigh*

“Aaaaaaagh! It feels like a watermelon’s coming out of my butt!”

And so starts our story of Chicago obstetrician Mackenzie Huntress. and as you can tell it was a pretty funny start and stayed so throughout. I really needed this book right now, too many lock-downs and too many thrillers can make a girl blue.

This was was a cute and fun read. I loved the idea of the book and was drawn into Mac’s story instantly and loved how she was an obstetrician!. I enjoyed watching Mac live out her own romantic comedy and couldn’t wait to see how it would all unfold.

I really enjoyed all the almost moments and the tension between the characters. This story was easy to read and light on the drama. In the end, I was hooked on Mac and couldn’t help but root for her to find her happily ever after.

Sixteen Candles is my favorite movie. When I read the title of the book I knew I had to read it. It is such a good read. It’s hilarious, quirky, and will keep readers surprised at all the twists in the story, even to the end. There is a huge shit show in the book, but in a good way. My favorite thing about the book was all the references to the movie and of course Jake Ryan. J. T had me from the moment he appeared on the scene and the more I discovered about the more I liked. Even the overbearing mother times out not to be so bad. One of the funniest scenes is,the rehearsal dinner table talk. The ending was perfect. If you like John Hughes, this is a must read.