Till Summer Do Us Part

In this sunny rom-com, bestseller Quinn (the Bridesmaids series) puts a laugh-out-loud twist on the fake marriage trope. Scottie Price, 29, is enjoying being single in New York City after her painful divorce. Unfortunately, her office is dominated by happily married people who delight in discussing their partners, making her feel like “the lonely spinster on the outside.” When she lies to her boss about still being married and justifies not wearing her wedding ring by saying that she and her husband are going through a rough patch, her boss cajoles her into joining a couples therapy retreat. Desperate to maintain her ruse, she ropes in her best friend’s brother, Wilder, to play her husband, and he agrees partly to practice his new hobby: improv. Pretending to be bickering lovers at “adult summercamp” results in much over-the-top hilarity and leads feelings to arise on both sides. Scottie’s emotional baggage adds some heft to the otherwise zany plot, and Quinn makes Wilder work hard to prove his devotion to her, with plenty of swoony moments and some playfully explicit sex scenes along the way. A late twist about the camp’s legitimacy strains credulity, but by that point realism has been left far behind. Readers who suspend their disbelief will have a fantastic time with this frothy flight of fancy. (June)