Review: The Godparent Trap by Rachel Van Dyken

The Godparent Trap
Rachel Van Dyken
Publisher: Forever
Publication date: July 19, 2022
Genre: Romance
Rating:

Colby’s living her best life: as a popular food blogger, she gets to fulfill her dreams of exploring the globe. But her world comes crashing down when a tragic accident leaves her co-guardian of her best friend’s two adorable children. Not only does she need to put down roots—fast—but she’ll be sharing custody with the one man she can’t stand sharing a continent with, let alone a house.

Accountant-extraordinaire Rip values rules and plans. But when he loses his sister and his best friend and becomes an insta-guardian all in one night, Rip sees his organized life imploding. What he really doesn’t need is his sister’s irresponsible, flighty—albeit kind and gorgeous—best friend making it worse.

Rip doesn’t trust Colby to take their new responsibilities seriously, while Colby can’t believe Rip thinks children will thrive under his rigid control. Yet soon Rip and Colby discover they need each other more than they hate each other. Could it be possible that following their hearts is just what their new little family needs?

Rip and Colby are thrown into an ultimate dimension when their best friends, and Rip’s sister, suddenly pass away leaving them the two legal guardians of their two young children. If having your best friend ripped away from you and now being the person in charge of two little human’s isn’t enough, Rip and Colby can’t stand each other. Colby has had a crush on her best friend’s brother since the beginning, but he despises her for some reason. So, to say that they are about to have some rough times ahead of them would be an understatement.

I really appreciated that the author took the time to flesh out the characters and show who they were before the accident. It really allowed you to see them separately before everything happens. You also got a sense of just how much Monica and Brooks was part of both of their worlds. So to have that ripped away really was a sad moment even for the reader. Not to mention you throw two little kids into the mix and there were feeling flying all over the place.

One thing that I do wish was fleshed out a bit more was just how hostile Rip was to Colby. It seemed like he was always judging her and saying condescending things to make her feel bad. I wasn’t a fan of the explanation of little boy picks on the girl he likes because he’s fighting his feelings. It just felt like a cop out. Especially given some of the things he said to her to belittle her. Like the fact that he “worked all day and she got to stay home with the kids”. Uhm… no sir, let’s just stop you right there. Now, I know that the author turns the table and has him stay home with the kids to get a taste of his own medicine, but boy did that rankle.

However, with all that being said, there is a LOT of character growth and I really appreciated that. Rip doesn’t just flip a switch and all of a sudden see Colby in a new light. It’s a slow progression as they tread water with the new life that they have. It allowed the readers to not only see the work Colby and Rip were putting in, but also allowed you to see their efforts from the outside.

This was a fantastic romantic read that dealt heavily with family after tragedy. I really  enjoyed not only the character development, but the story as a whole was heart-warming.