Make Up Break Up: A Novel

Lily Menon

Feb 2021 · Sold by St. Martin's Press

About this ebook

Make Up Break Up, the sparkling and heartfelt romantic comedy debut from Lily Menon

Love, romance, second chances, fairy-tale endings...these are the things Annika Dev believes in. Her app, Make Up, has been called the “Google Translate for failing relationships.”

High efficiency break-ups, flashy start-ups, penthouses, fast cars...these are the things Hudson Craft believes in. His app, Break Up, is known as the “Uber for break-ups.” It’s wildly successful—and anathema to Annika’s life philosophy.

Which wouldn’t be a problem if they’d gone their separate ways after that summer fling in Las Vegas, never to see each other again. Unfortunately for Annika, Hudson’s moving not just into her office building, but into the office right next to hers. And he’ll be competing at the prestigious EPIC investment pitch contest: A contest Annika needs to win if she wants to keep Make Up afloat. As if it’s not bad enough seeing his irritatingly perfect face on magazine covers when her own business is failing. As if knowing he stole her idea and twisted it into something vile—and monumentally more successful—didn’t already make her stomach churn.

As the two rival app developers clash again and again—and again—Annika finds herself drawn into Hudson Craft’s fast-paced, high velocity, utterly shallow world. Only, from up close, he doesn’t seem all that shallow. Could it be that everything she thought about Hudson is completely wrong? Could the creator of Break Up teach her what true love’s really about?

Ratings and reviews

Oh, the things when tell ourselves, after having been hurt in the past, and assume things would never work out for us. I love that Anikka wasn’t too much of a wilting flower, that she was strong in her belief that others could be truly happy if she helped them, but she should have tried harder to believe in her Self. As for Hudson, I was flip-flopping with his character. He changed his attitude back and forth so much my head spun. All in all, this was an enjoyable, if at times frustrating, story. Ah, the joys and sorrows of Love. I received an e-copy of this story for my honest review.

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. That is how Annika feels. She brings couples closer together with her upstart app Make Up. She made it so lost lonely people could come to believe in the power of love again. And ends up in direct competition to her one, well seven, night stand, Hudson and his new app, Break Up, which allows you to send someone to break off your relationship. This book relies heavily on the enemy to lover trope, which is not really one of my favorites. I really wanted to love this book as it is reminiscent of 90s rom coms, but it is missing something to make it stick out. It will appeal to many as a cute, charming romance.

I was very excited to read this book. However it never grabbed my attention and I had to struggle to finish it. Annika and Hudson's story is a combination platter of second chance, enemies-to-lovers and opposites attract tropes. This should have been an explosion of goodness but just somehow fell flat. I got no sparks of any kind from these two and I found their childishness annoying. Of the two, Hudson was the most likable but if I am 100% honest, I did not care for either. I am freely posting a objective review.

About the author

Lily Menon has always been enamored of romantic comedies and happily-ever-afters in all shapes and sizes. Her very first love story, written at age nine, was about a handsome boy who wooed the heroine with books, chocolates, and a very fat puppy. Now Lily lives with her own handsome boy (who indeed wooed her with books, chocolates, and fat puppies) in the mountains of Colorado, where she spends her days dreaming up kissing scenes and meet-cutes. When she's bored, Lily also masquerades as New York Times bestselling YA author Sandhya Menon. Make Up Break Up is her first adult romance.