FOOL ME ONCE

Two exes must suddenly work together to get a green energy bill passed in Texas in this romantic comedy.

Lee “Stoner” Stone is a success: She’s Director of Communications for Lise Motors, a women-run electric car company, and the brains behind the Green Machine, a bill to replace all Texas state vehicles with electric cars. She’s also a bit of a mess, prepared to drink anyone under the table, up for anything, and queen of the walk of shame. After her "Four Major Heartbreaks," she’s decided that love is a lie and is here for the good times only. When news comes that the governor has finally hired a policy director, she’s ready to turn on the charm only to discover that it's Ben Laderman, her grad school boyfriend and fourth Major Heartbreak. When both bosses decide Stoner and Ben should team up to convince the Senate’s last three holdouts to vote "yes," all the time she and Ben spend together might force Stoner to reevaluate her position on love and relationships. Early in the novel, Stoner wonders where the rom-coms about women "with actual character flaws" are, and this is what Winstead has delivered—a love story for every truly hot mess. Stoner's tendency to meet stress and problems with alcohol, drugs, and no-strings-attached sex set her apart from the typical romance heroine but make her ultimate happy ending that much stronger. The characters surrounding her, from a close group of girlfriends to a concerned family and the family-esque mentors at work, are all wonderful friends and foils. Along the way, Ben and Stoner each make real, legitimate mistakes, which makes their eventually coming together feel incredibly earned. The politicking is also almost painfully real.

A romance with bite, wit, and heart.