Why is falling in love so hard, and why does it hurt so much? Despite the light-hearted title, Fun at Parties explores these difficult questions on a second-chance romance road trip.

Quinn works for CycleLove in Los Angeles, an online exercise platform (think Peloton) as a spin instructor. The book opens as Quinn finds out that a video about her cheating boyfriend has gone viral, and after she has an online (and off-script) meltdown, her boss suggests she take a few weeks off. Her roommate offers her a car to drive across the country to her hometown of Seapoint on the Jersey shore, and use the time to get over her breakup. There’s a friendship group swirling around Quinn, although with her base in LA and her busy job, she’s lost the close connections she had with them all. Her old bestie Bailey is having a thirtieth birthday party and this pushes Quinn to agree to the drive. She’ll take the car, go to Bailey’s party, and be back at her LA job in three weeks, refreshed and reinvigorated.

Nate is a member of that friendship group and he and Quinn have unfinished business, so when Nate offers to go along for part of the road trip, Quinn agrees. Nate also has an agenda. He’s trying to catch another friend – Logan – to lock down a business partnership. He wants to buy Logan’s family business – a summer camp/swim school – and believes he can’t do it without Logan’s help.

Over the coast to coast trip, Quinn and Nate pursue Logan, who proves to be very elusive. They make friends, call in contacts, stalk Logan online, drive thousands of miles, dance, and finagle themselves into nightclubs, parties and festivals. At the same time, demands and requests from Quinn’s work are increasingly intrusive.

Both Quinn and Nate had awful things happen in their childhoods and they are still living the impact. Quinn’s mother sold cosmetics in a pyramid scheme that upended their lives when it collapsed, and to make things worse, Quinn ended up with the debt, along with a toxic relationship with her mother. Nate also had something happen that essentially destroyed his family.

Quinn’s relationship with her boss in some ways mirrors the one she has with her mother, where she is pressured to do more and give more of herself in the name of the business, and emotional blackmail prevents her from setting boundaries and saying no. Her mother also personified a relentless positivity that Quinn has adopted, but which is no longer serving her.

Nate is more self-protective, and he doesn’t have much self-belief. His go-to responses are about self-preservation and pragmatism, so Quinn’s surface positivity grates.

There’s a pivotal flashback scene where Nate and Quinn have the opportunity to be together and they don’t do it – it’s heartbreaking. It’s not just that they miscommunicated, it’s that their world views were so opposing, there was no space for them to come together, even with all the affection and attraction they felt. In the present, Nate is moving to the east coast for the swim school, and Quinn is entrenched with CycleLove in Los Angeles, so a relationship still presents problems.

Nate tries so hard to show Quinn that they could be good together, even if they have to change their plans or do long distance. For Quinn though, her financial responsibilities are overwhelming, and not easily solved. In her mind, to be with Nate she’d have to leave CycleLove and she’s not prepared to give up that job security because she is carrying so much debt. I love how much character growth there is for both of them, as finally, they pivot and embrace different ways of thinking.

Fun at Parties reminds me of Kate Clayborn and Abby Jimenez’s romances – light on the surface, but with depth and heartache unfolding as the main characters’ backstories come to light. Rarely have I read a romance where I was as invested in their happily ever after, as I was in this one. They both deserved a break and to be happy and yes, they get there in the end!