IN A NOT SO PERFECT WORLD – Neely Tubati-Alexander
Harper Perennial 
ISBN: 978-0-063292949
March 19, 2024
Romantic Comedy

Los Angeles & Turks and Caicos Islands – Present Day

Sloane Cooper is unemployed but has high hopes of landing her dream job at an up-and-coming video game company. During the interview, the all-male interviewers wring out of her a promise that she will not get involved in a romance while employed with them. Not a big issue since Sloane hasn’t been dating since she broke off from Zane months ago after he cheated on her. She soon learns that she is a finalist candidate and must create a new game and send it to her potential employer. She can do it.

Meanwhile, to get her mind off missing her ex, Sloane heads to a bar with her best friend where she is challenged to kiss a stranger to show she is over her ex. She chooses a guy at the bar and convinces him to kiss her. Later that night, banging on the door awakens her. The smoke alarm is going off due to a fire in the apartment complex. The person at the door is the hot guy from the bar—whom she now recognizes as her neighbor. The fire is dealt with and Sloane and her neighbor—Charlie—chitchat a little. He suddenly asks her to go with him to Turks and Caicos Island for several days as he already paid for the resort stay. He needs Sloane to pretend to be his new girlfriend so that he can make his ex-girlfriend jealous. He convinces her that she can work on her employment project while there. Sloane agrees, because who wouldn’t want an all-expenses paid trip to an island resort? 

It turns into an adventure Sloane never expected in the hilariously funny IN A NOT SO PERFECT WORLD. She has been trying to prove herself apart from her overprotective family as she loves working on video games. But with her bank account funds dwindling, her last hope before she throws in the towel is getting the job at the video game company. Okay, the men interviewing her asked questions they probably shouldn’t have, such as asking if she planned to have children, but she is desperate. Things get even more interesting when Sloane learns that her ex, Zane, is also up for the position. The stakes suddenly got higher. Charlie and Sloane head to the Caribbean and check into their room. Unfortunately, there is only one bedroom, but he agrees to sleep on the sofa. Charlie is a nice guy; someone Sloane might date under normal circumstances. But he is trying to make his ex jealous, which means he is off limits. 

IN A NOT SO PERFECT WORLD is an enjoyable read and readers will relate to Sloane’s problems. Her parents think she should do something stable, not work in video games, which is notoriously a man’s world. She is also still pining for Zane even though he has moved on to the woman he cheated with. Will Sloane get the job she wants and still remain friends with Charlie? Or will something happen between them that leads to awkwardness? Charlie’s goal is to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. Will that work? To give a hint…somewhere along the line, they kind of forget what—or who—were the reasons for pretending they were dating each other. 

If you love a romance where the two lead characters are fun and the laughter flows easily, then don’t miss IN A NOT SO PERFECT WORLD.

Patti Fischer