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3.5
The Starter Ex
ByPublisher Description
The best worst girlfriend finally meets her match . . .
Vanessa Cordero used to run a profitable side gig: For a reasonable fee, she’d date your crush . . . and make his life miserable. Too clingy? Check. Jealous? Check. A parent's worst nightmare? Triple check. By the time Vanessa was done with him, your guy was practically begging for you.
Enter Jason Torres, a certified commitment-phobe who doesn't plan on getting married anytime soon, much to his mother’s dismay. What he needs is a temporary girlfriend. A totally inappropriate girlfriend. Someone his mother will hate, so she'll finally abandon her dream of getting him to the altar.
Vanessa's younger sister, Lisa, has her eye on Jason, and convinces Vanessa to come out of retirement for one last starter ex engagement. The rules are simple: no touching, no fooling around, and definitely no falling in love. But nothing's going according to plan. Because Vanessa can't ditch Jason no matter how hard she tries to scare him away. And the longer they're around each other, the more neither of them wants to be apart.
Vanessa Cordero used to run a profitable side gig: For a reasonable fee, she’d date your crush . . . and make his life miserable. Too clingy? Check. Jealous? Check. A parent's worst nightmare? Triple check. By the time Vanessa was done with him, your guy was practically begging for you.
Enter Jason Torres, a certified commitment-phobe who doesn't plan on getting married anytime soon, much to his mother’s dismay. What he needs is a temporary girlfriend. A totally inappropriate girlfriend. Someone his mother will hate, so she'll finally abandon her dream of getting him to the altar.
Vanessa's younger sister, Lisa, has her eye on Jason, and convinces Vanessa to come out of retirement for one last starter ex engagement. The rules are simple: no touching, no fooling around, and definitely no falling in love. But nothing's going according to plan. Because Vanessa can't ditch Jason no matter how hard she tries to scare him away. And the longer they're around each other, the more neither of them wants to be apart.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Starter Ex Reviews
3.5
Ideezy
Created 9 days agoShare
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“Loved reading a fun romance with such great representation set in one of my favorite cities.
While it followed a rom-com formula, it didn’t quite lose itself completely to predictable outcomes, which I appreciated! The main characters felt like real people with refreshing emotional intelligence.
It lost points for one too many instances of telling me instead of showing me. I would have loved if the reader wasn’t spoon fed certain information.
Even with that critique, I’d recommend The Starter Ex because overall it was a fun time (and I didn’t want to put it down the last half)!”Liz’s Library ✨
Created 26 days agoShare
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“Mia Sosa has solidified herself as an auto buy author for me. The way she writes banter and humor is so good. I was howling throughout this book. It feels like a story you’d live out with your friends and family. She writes characters who are so relatable and I love the Spanish we get in there.
Vanessa believes she deserves the bad things in her life because of her past actions. She’s a starter ex - essentially dating a guy to trick them into falling in love with the better option who they didn’t notice at first. She’s good at her job and it’s just a side hustle to make extra cash. But when her younger sister Lisa asks her to date her crush, Jason, the job doesn’t pan out as successful as her previous work. She’s just might not want to be an ex.
Jason is the only boy sibling of his family of two girls and despite the privileges that come with being the boy of the group- his mom is on his case to get serious with someone. Burned and scorned from his previous relationship, he’s closed his heart off to anyone new - that is until Vanessa makes his acquaintance.
Overall, the story has questionable motives. Tricking a guy to fall in love with someone else and dating under false pretenses sounds messed up. But the way Sosa writes this storyline and these characters, you’re rooting for them both to drive each other mad. It’s hilarious, insightful and steamy!!! I loved Vanessa and all her flaws. She is closed off because she feels unworthy of receiving love from not just partners but family. She has a lot to dive into personally and I appreciates the arc her character takes. Jason is a dream!!!!! He’s hilarious and warm and wonderfully mature. I loved them both together so much. Please pick up a copy of this book!”
Novel and Latte
Created about 1 month agoShare
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“The Starter Ex is a cute and fast-paced open-door romance that mirrors the concept of "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days", which is one of my favorite movies!
As cute as The Starter Ex is, I struggled to really get into the characters, and didn't quite fall for Jason and Vanessa as much as I would have liked. I think that the book is very fast-paced with a lot packed into a short period of time, which leaves little time for the reader to get to know the characters before being in the thick of the plot.
That being said, I did enjoy the characters, and I enjoyed Jason and Vanessa's inner thoughts and their backgrounds that make them unique, but it felt fast and furious and almost TOO easy for Vanessa to get Jason interested. Jason's initial "curmudgeon" persona pivoted very quickly after his initial annoyance with his mother's push for him to date, in my opinion. Vanessa was fun, and I really love her character, but I almost wish we could have seen more embarrassing and diabolical ploys from her towards Jason before it got cute!
I loved their respect and admiration for each other, and appreciate that their cultures are very prominent in the plot.
All in all, The Starter Ex is a cute and fun read, and is filled with light banter and fun pop-culture references!
Thank you to Putnam for the ARC via NetGalley! All opinions are, as always, my own.”
gabby
Created about 1 month agoShare
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“The Starter Ex follows Vanessa who had just moved back to NYC after having lived in Chicago for a bit. Upon returning, she decides she wants to try and repair/rekindle her relationship with her sister Lisa. Her sister asks her to fake date her best friends’ brother Jason and be so terrible, that she can swoop in and finally date him. But things get a little sticky along the way.
This book was a good, quick read. I love how Jason found out about Lisa and Vanessa’s plan and decided to just go along with it. Also, can we talk about Jason’s mom getting the vibrator stuck on her face🤣🤣 I was crying!
Thank you Netgalley for the arc!!”
About Mia Sosa
Mia Sosa is a USA Today bestselling author of romantic comedies and contemporary romances that celebrate our multicultural world. She has received praise from The Washington Post, Bustle, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, Popsugar, Buzzfeed, Oprah Daily, and many more. A New York City native, she now lives in Maryland with her college sweetheart, their two book-obsessed daughters, a gentle Cavalier King Charles spaniel, and one adorable rescue cat that rules them all.
Other books by Mia Sosa
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