The Night We Met, by Beth Rinyu

Publication: July 18, 2019

the night we met About the book:

I’ve always been three things: Loving daughter, devoted sister, and cynical romantic. Okay, maybe not always the last one, that didn’t happen until my ex-boyfriend cheated on me, and not with just anyone…my best friend.
One year later, and I’m over relationships, only interested in the occasional one-night stand. I don’t fall in love with them, and I don’t expect them to fall in love with me. I won’t be waiting around for their call or stalking their social media—until I discover that one of my little trysts indirectly holds my family’s fate in his hands. So, with a little convincing from my older and much wiser sister, I break my own rules for the sake of my family.

He’s the exact opposite of me: Serious, detached and arrogant. Did I mention that he looks like he should be on a billboard for a cologne ad in the middle of Times Square or the sexy way he botches up my name in his German accent? Well, he does…but I refuse to relent, remaining committed to my plan. Strictly business, no emotions involved, and nobody will get hurt…until nobody turns into somebody I find myself needing more than I ever thought possible.

What do you do when a one-night stand turns into so much more than you bargained for? And how do you stop one lie that’s getting bigger each time you’re with him from caving everything in around you? I know in the end someone is going to get hurt, but I’m powerless to stop it. And for him…I think I may be willing to have my heart broken all over again.

My Review

I’m so excited to bring you my review for the latest by Beth Rinyu, The Night We Met. This contemporary romance is about Emme and Lukas, neither of which are looking for a relationship but happen to meet in a bar one night and enjoy a one night stand. They never expect to see each other again but Emme accidentally leaves something behind in Lukas’ hotel room and later that day she realizes that Lukas holds the key to her sister Bridgette’s continued employment. So she agrees to Bridgette’s ridiculous plan and everything is set in motion to continue hanging out with Lukas. Of course, she doesn’t plan on developing true feelings for him.

To begin with, I did not like Bridgette at all. I mean, she had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. In the last few chapters, she started to redeem herself, but Emme’s sister was a selfish, immature brat.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about Emme and Lukas. I absolutely adored Emme’s character with the exception of the enormous lie that she was involved in. We’ve all told some untruths in our time, but as a general rule, I struggle to forgive dishonesty. This led to me initially struggling to like and connect with Emme. However, in no time at all, I was completely cheering her on and rooting for her to get a HEA with Lukas. Speaking of Lukas… He was my favorite character because of his slow and subtle transformation. Lukas started out angry, self-absorbed, emotionally, closed off, and so on. But it seemed that with every passing chapter, he kept feeling new feelings and wanting new things which just made my heart happy as I followed along. And of course I must mention, he is one of the most forgiving characters that I have ever read, he just took his time in doing it.

I always enjoy and quickly get sucked into Beth Rinyu’s novels, and The Night We Met is no exception! This book is witty, romantic, sexy, and honest. I don’t mean honest as in the characters tell the truth, because that is certainly not the case. But honest in how imperfect the characters are. So many mistakes are made and there is a lot of apologizing and a lot of forgiving, but it was refreshing to see main characters that screw up just like everyday people. I loved most of the characters and loved the unique plot. The Night We Met is absolutely worth reading and I think it’s a novel that you will fall in love with!

*Thanks to Beth Rinyu for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review!