How To Get Over Your Ex
Nikki Logan
Harlequin KISS
2013, 224p
Copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Georgia Stone faces the ultimate humiliation when her live on-air radio proposal to her boyfriend is awkwardly turned down. After she flees the radio station building, station manager Zander Rush, whose promotion this was, feels the need to both salvage something publicity wise and also give something to Georgia. So he proposes that she take the $50,000 that would’ve gone towards her dream wedding and honeymoon and use it for the “Year of Georgia” – a year spent getting to know what she really wants out of life and doing things that she really wants to do.
Georgia is contracted to return to the radio station in one year and update listeners on her progress and she knows that they’re probably going to want more than just hearing how she moped around for the last year and didn’t leave her flat other than to work. Heck, she wants to hear more than that. Although Georgia has always played things safe, has always been the quiet, boring one, she slowly begins to warm to the idea of the Year of Georgia. Although she’s well aware that a year spent doing the things she wants to do, followed by a crew filming, is not going to result in a lot of things that are going to interest a lot of people, so she and Zander compromise, working out things that she wants to do that will also make good copy, getting listener interest. Georgia already has plenty of people out there cheering her on after her humiliation and there are many who genuinely care about what she’s doing with herself after being rejected.
With Zander by her side, Georgia undertakes gourmet cooking classes, salsa dancing, spy school, belly dancing and a dream trip to Turkey. But what could be her biggest thrill so far is discovering the attraction simmering between her and Zander that just begs to be fulfilled. But Zander isn’t the type who wants something more, something deep – he’s lived a life of distance ever since being hurt himself many years ago. And Georgia wants to be loved deeply, not just desired. And even though she knows Zander desires her, just as much as she does him, it seems like once again, she’s going to miss out on her happy ending.
I loved this book. From the opening scene, which is Georgia fleeing the radio station after her proposal was rejected, I was totally invested in her. I cannot even imagine how humiliating it must’ve been for her to do something that she wouldn’t normally do, step right out of her comfort zone and publicly propose to her boyfriend of over a year, only to have him refuse. The scene in the lift where she is trying so desperately not to cry until she’s at least out of the building, is heartbreaking. It’s made all the more uncomfortable by the fact that she’s not alone in the lift and the person with her gently assists her out of the carpark so she can leave without being seen.
That person is Zander Rush, who is sort of responsible for the mess that is now Georgia’s life. He also knows he has to answer to the people that fund the station who are less than impressed that their big promotion fizzled. The Year of Georgia is a great way to rescue that, plus get a woman back her shattered confidence and Zander gets to go along for the ride. Together they try a variety of different things and get to know each other and the chemistry between them is so good. The belly dancing scene is incredible – definite proof that a moment can be extremely sexy even when the two characters aren’t even touching or kissing. This book definitely had a slow burn but it was done amazingly well.
I really liked Georgia and I found it easy to relate to her even though we have nothing in common. Zander is extremely interesting as well, he’s a man who has worked very hard, punishing hours really and has material things but his life is not populated by people. He was humiliated in the past and now seeks a solitary, quite empty life. His time with Georgia spent doing the Year of Georgia begins to show him exactly what he’s missing out on, even though he’s very stubborn about wanting it! I think that the two of them worked so well together, their interactions were so amusing and enjoyable to read, almost as good as the chemistry they had and the sexual tension.
How To Get Over Your Ex is a little bit like a mixed bag of lollies where you keep pulling out a lolly that’s even better than the one you just had – it’s more than just a contemporary romance with a few laughs, it’s also a journey of self-discovery both for Georgia and Zander. They both have lessons to learn from spending time with each other and being along for the ride was such a fun read. This is the third Harlequin KISS title I’ve read now and it’s quite easily the one I’ve enjoyed the most. It was very different to what I expected going in and that turned out to be a good thing – it had more depth and more reflection and a greater character development. And I loved the ending!
Definitely going to read more books by Nikki Logan and soon.
8/10
Book #2 of 2013
How To Get Over Your Ex is the second book read so far that qualifies for the Australian Women Writers Challenge, 2013
All The Books I Can Read 
[…] Bree reviewed Logan’s How To Get Over Your Ex, and of the three KISS titles she read, ‘it’s quite easily the one I’ve enjoyed the most’ and that it’s ‘a little bit like a mixed bag of lollies where you keep pulling out a lolly that’s even better than the one you just had—it’s more than just a contemporary romance with a few laughs, it’s also a journey of self-discovery’ for the characters. […]