The Shake-up by Lauren Campbell

The Shake-up Reviews

• 
  reeder (reviews)

  There are going to be unprotected SPOILERS here, so first I'm going to chat a bit to give you time to flee before the SPOILERS show up.
  
  This is one of those books where I'm hesitant to leave a review because reviewing the book gives it more attention/audience than it deserves. The tone of the book isn't for me (humor is definitely subjective, and it's written in first person present tense *shudder*), but if that were all I found objectionable, I would simply walk away.
  
  Flee, because I'm about to do the spoilery plot part now.
  
  Wanting to surprise her boyfriend on their one-year living-together anniversary, the heroine returns unannounced from a business trip and spies him in their home with a gorgeous blonde, who kisses him. (Caveat: the heroine runs away before contact is made and he will later claim that she only kissed him on the cheek.) The heroine returns the next day as originally expected and doesn't tell him what she saw, giving him the opportunity to tell her what happened while she was away. He does not. She sees a text message on his phone with a picture of the blonde and they're making plans to meet. Now she confronts him, he cops to the cheating, and she leaves Atlanta for the quaint town where her aunt owns a candy shop.
  
  Three months later he shows up in the quaint town with a different blonde in tow. He wants to explain. This blonde is his daughter, blonde #1 was her mother, whom he apparently impregnated at 15. He only learned about his child when the mother showed up on their anniversary. (The heroine hadn't recognized daughter-blonde as an adolescent and was initially jealous until the truth came out. I'm calling shenanigans there.) He didn't defend himself against the cheating accusation because he knew the heroine didn't want kids and he thought it would be easier for him if the heroine left because she thought he was cheating (he wins?) than if she rejected him because she didn't want his kid (he loses?).
  
  Heroine is now mad because he didn't tell her the truth.
  
  All access to this town is over a bridge that gets washed out or fails in a spectacular accident, so ex and daughter are now stranded in town and can't find a hotel room because they're all being held for rescue workers. He doesn't want his precious daughter sleeping on the floor in some crisis shelter, so ex asks the heroine to let them stay at her house. AND SHE AGREES?!?!?!!!
  
  While they're staying with her, the daughter becomes increasingly obnoxious and the heroine suffers a number of mishaps. Surprise! The daughter is plotting the mishaps.
  
  On the night before the bridge is cleared for traffic -- the night before he and his daughter will be leaving -- the ex and the heroine have this encounter:
  

  He's standing before me, his pulse visible in his neck. He's looking at me as if this is the last time we're ever going to get the opportunity to do this. I want to tell him everything, tell him all Courtney has done, make him force her to plat nice. But what would that accomplish? It would compromise what bond they've managed to form, and she still would not accept me. And all of that ignores the bigger issue -- being long distance.
  
  His eyes look watery, but I can't tell if he has tears in his eyes or if he's just tired. "Come here."
  
  I let him put his arms around me. I lay my head on his chest and breathe him in, then look up into his eyes as he runs his hands through my hair. The vibe he's giving off is so intense that it's making me worried and uncomfortable.
  
  "Are you ready for your dessert now?" I ask, in an effort to lighten the mood.
  
  He grabs me by the hips. "I want to make love to you."
  
  Dread climbs my throat, and my chest feels like a belt is tightening around it, asphyxiating me. Tears start to trail down my face, and he wipes them away.
  
  "This is goodbye, isn't it?" I say.
  
  He tips my chin toward him. "I didn't say that," he whispers.
  
  "Then why are you being like this?" My voice rises. "Why are you looking at me like that? It doesn't feel right." I back away from him. "I need to know what you're thinking."
  
  "All I know is that I love you, Hail. That's all I know. And whether that means this is the end or another beginning, I don't know. My head is spinning in a million directions. I want you. I want you so fucking bad, but I don't have the answers."
  
  When he asked me before if I could just let us be and take it day by day, I believe that he didn't know what was going to happen. But I think now, deep down, he knows. He knows he's leaving and that he's not coming back.
  
  "You're lying," I say, my voice growing even louder.
  
  He says nothing.
  
  "You know, and you're omitting the truth, just like when you let me walk out of your life." My fists clench, my teeth chattering I'm so upset. I sit down on the bed, hugging my arms, my stomach queasy.
  
  He sits beside me, turns my face to his, and presses his forehead against mine, his fingers wrapping around my neck, making no attempt to whisper anymore. "I promise you I have no plan. I promise you I don't know. I promise you that I love you." He plants a kiss on my lips. "I just want to enjoy our night together. I want to be with you right now. Don't you want that, too?"
  
  I nod. "Yes, but--"
  
  "Then nothing else matters right now."
  
  "I love you, Nelson. I never stopped loving you--not after I thought you'd cheated, not after I spent three months trying to move on, not after you showed up with a completely different life than I'd ever imagined. You're the only man I've truly loved."
  
  "Then what's the problem?" He searches my face.
  
  "The problem is that I want nothing more than to spend the night with you, but I can't without more from you. I can't live in the moment like you want me to. I can't keep hurting myself and using men to do it."
  
  "So what does that mean? What are you saying? Do you not want to even try?"
  
  "I'm saying that until you come to some sort of conclusion about us that I can't pretend to be your girlfriend. I can't do no strings attached with you. I say quietly. "I can't be your fuck buddy, Nelson."
  
  "That's not what this is at all. You're completely misreading the situation."
  
  "Maybe I am. But it's my interpretation."

  
  
  Now I quoted all that so you can make your own judgment call regarding what happens next.
  
  The heroine and the daughter achieve rapprochement, but unfortunately the daughter is unable to call off her final "prank": having her boyfriend's brother kidnap the heroine's dog. Who goes missing. (Yes, she's been in town for like a week and has a boyfriend already. Teenagers.) They find the dog (yay) and in her eagerness to apologize, the daughter reveals that all of her meanness was motivated by the fact that she didn't want her father to change his mind about moving to Michigan to look after her so she could finish high school at home while her mother moved to Japan with her new husband.
  
  In the quote above, when the heroine is fretting about long distance, she was thinking about the distance between this quaint Georgia town and Atlanta. This is the first she's heard about Michigan.
  

  ...Nelson looks back at me, his eyes swimming with guilt. "You're right. I didn't come back here to s-see where things w-would go between us."
  
  "Then why? Why did you come back, Nelson?" I demand, my throat tightening.
  
  He bites his lip. Takes a deep breath. "I came to say goodbye."

  
  
  So...I guess he was looking for a closure f*ck last night? And wasn't going to tell her?
  
  I don't know if you've noticed, but I haven't used the word "hero" once to describe the ex in this review/recap. Because he doesn't deserve it.
  
  Yes, the book says they get an HEA. But for me, the relationship ended here. This reveal happens at 90%!! At 80% the ex was still lying by omission in the hopes of getting laid. This is the loser you tell your next boyfriend about, not the guy you keep.
• 
  Janell Madison

  Sometimes you need to read something out of your normal genres. I LOVED this book! Funny, lighthearted, good humor, some romance, some deceit, and a blonde that shows up where she doesn't belong. Sounds good, right? It is! The Shake-Up by Lauren Campbell will sweep you away from your world for a while into the life of Hailey, who is running her Aunt Marlene's candy store in the mountains of Georgia after finding Nelson, the love of her life, in a blonde woman's arms.
  
  Hailey is settling into her new small-town life. She has her misbehaved dog, Tootie, and her friend and co-worker, Kit. She lives in her Aunt Marlene's house, next to the candy store, and is ever-so-slowly trying to get over Nelson.
  
  She can't believe what she sees in town. It cannot be! It just can't! He wouldn't! Nelson is there, in HER town, HER new start with the blonde woman. Hailey cannot believe it. Then, to make things worse, Nelson can't leave town. No one can because the bridge is out. And, they have to leave their hotel.
  
  Now Hailey has to fill the huge candy order for the shop, the order Aunt Marlene counts on, Nelson and the blonde needed a place to stay, so are at her place, her car is missing, her dog is misbehaving, and the blonde doesn't like her. Sounds like a fun time, right?
  
  Great humor! A relief from life for a bit!
  
  I received an early release of The Shake Up to read and review. Thank you!
  
• 
  Amanda Anderson (Beauty.and.the.bookies)

  This was SUCH an incredibly HYSTERICAL, laugh out loud while also hitting you in your feels rom com. (Not even joking, I laughed so much, I even re-read the same parts over it was SO funny)
  It had been a while since I read Lauren Campbell's last book and when I started reading this, I forgot just how funny her writing can be. I do not normally laugh when it comes to romantic comedies. I find some of them to be a tad cheesy but never have I felt this way when reading this authors' writing. It comes off as so natural and something I can 100% see the characters doing.
  Right off the bat I knew I was going to be in LOVE with this book. If you read The Stand-In, then you met Hailey as Tess's best friend and some of Nelson (he was really only at the end when they started dating) but even if you didn't read that book (which you should because it is ALSO hilarious) this can be read as a standalone.
  
  So this book follows Hailey who dumps her boyfriend Nelson to go and reinvent herself in her aunt's small cottage town and take over her bakery while her aunt is away backpacking. This is where Nelson also comes into play. He visits unannounced without her knowledge and SHAKES THINGS UP!
  
  I want to say more. I actually was going to. Like WHY he came. And WHO he brought with him. And ALL the crazy and funny and INSANE things that happened. But I CAN'T. Because if I give away all the secrets, then you wont have any reason to RUN to get this! And that is what you need to do.
  R U N. A S. F A S T. A S. Y O U. C A N
  
  The characters in this book were some of the BEST characters I have read in stories. They were hilarious, protective, and charming. Then there were the characters that I started out disliking (or just straight up hating with a passion) then by the end of the book I LOVED them.
  
  Lauren Campbell is one of those authors that I highly believe is underrated and overlooked. This was the funniest book I have read this entire year.
• 
  Jennifer Pierson

  OH MY EVER LOVIN' HILARIOUS HELL! Lauren Campbell is a new to me author, and man I laughed so hard while devouring The Shake-Up, like to the point my stomach muscles hurt so much because of it. Hailey breaks up with her boyfriend, Nelson, because of a misunderstanding, and afterwards she went to help her aunt out to get her head on straight. However, Nelson decided to show up unannounced bringing another person, and that's when the fun really began. I'm talking about laughing so hard you can't breathe so you snort, spit your drink out hilarious. I know that I'll not only be checking out her past work, but will also be on the lookout for future work as she's gained a new fan, and frankly, with life as serious as it's been for a while now, we all need this author in our lives. HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
• 
  •Cici• Theory of A Dreamer Book Blog♥

  Having read Ms.Campbell's work many times before i always look so forward to her books! As soon as i stumbled across a teaser for this one i knew i had to pick it up! I started reading it as soon as i could and got into it quickly. I so enjoyed this story!
  
  Hailey's journey pulled me in from the start! She's trying to move on from heartbreak when the reason for it, Her ex Nelson shows up. I wasn't sure what all was going to happen with her and Nelson once they're reunited and oh what an adventure it was! This story had me cracking up and feeling so much!
  
  With The Shake-Up, Ms.Campbell has created such an entertaining and good read that'll be sure to make you laugh! If you haven't picked up her work yet or are in need of a day brightener, definitely pick up The Shake-Up!
  
  
  *I volunteered to read and review a copy of this book from Enticing Journey Book Promotions / the author*
• 
  Ga Books LoverX

  I adore romantic comedies, but I have not laughed (or gasped) while reading this much in quite a long time! Some of the situations were completely outlandish, but totally awesome and definitely add to the story. I will admit that there are a ALOT of things going on and I felt like scratching my head a couple of times to try and figure out what was happening. But then, right afterwards I was back to laughing like crazy!
  
  All in all if you are looking for a book that will have you laughing, but packs a punch with the steam, I totally recommend checking this out. I give it 4 outta 5 stars!
  
  PS: Thank you to Lauren Campbell and Enticing Journey Book Promotions for allowing me an advanced copy of the book to read and review honestly!
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  Gina Meier

  OMG if you have ever read an Alice Clayton book then you will love the Shake Up. This book will have you laughing so hard you might just get a stitch in your side. Courtney's antics and Tootie's constant humping this book will have you thinking what could happen next. Nelson and Hailey are meant to be together but will they be able to make the long distance relationship work? Hailey moved to take care of her aunts business after a misunderstanding. Nelson worked hard to find Hailey and then the bridge collapsed causing a mess in the small town in Georgia. Just pick up this book if you need your spirits lifted. God all knows we need to laugh more during this pandemic.
• 
  Wendy Livingstone

  This is a new author to me, but I will certainly be on the lookout for her work in the future. Hailey breaks up with her boyfriend Nelson over a misunderstanding and goes to stay at her aunt’s cottage in a small town to regroup and run her aunt’s bakery which she is away. When Nelson arrives unexpectedly Hailey was not expecting him, and he is not alone. When disaster strikes in the town Hailey take Nelson in. This is a well written hysterical second chance rom com, which is entertaining, humorous, and with crazy antics, witty banter, passion, and love. I look forward to reading more from this talented author whose work I highly recommend.
• 
  Rach

  Lauren freaking Campbell hits the jackpot yet again!
  She is the queen of writing a kickass, HILARIOUS, heroine!!
  Not only does her stellar writing and storytelling draw you in but the the witty banter keeps you rooting for the characters. I read it all in one sitting!
  This is a, “finish in one sitting” book! I couldn’t put it down!!
  
  Highly recommend!
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  April

  I’m always excited when Lauren Campbell writes a new book. She never disappoints, and that trend continued with The Shake Up! I could NOT put this book down! This was such a fun, easy read with SO MANY laugh out loud moments. Five stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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  Cathy Brockman

  
  The Shake Up is absolutely Hilarious! I laughed so much!
  This book is funny, twisted, but at the same time hits you in the heart!
  I could read it again! ( and I’m not a big rereader)
  If you like spicy, funny, second Chance romance, snarky teens, and cute dogs you will love this!
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  Tasha Talks Books Blog

  This story was slow for me to catch up with, but once I was there... I laughed, got pissed and just enjoyed this story wholeheartedly! The characters were easy for me to love reading about and the storyline was fun. The author is new to me, so I'm excited to read more from her.
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  Devon

  This book is so FUN! The twist really took me by surprise. The entire book is outrageous and over the top, but it’s hilarious and exactly what I needed. Haven’t read the other one in the series, so excited to read that now!
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  A.S

  3.75 Stars
  
  Really enjoyed this but I did find a few minor problems with it.
  
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  Lauren Campbell

  This book is fucking awful. What was I thinking? 🤔 5 stars for my ability to waste my own time 😂
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  Melissa

  The Shake Up is a great read. Lots of ups and downs to keep you turning the page!