title: Stranger Things Have Happened
author: Kasie West
publisher: Saturday Books
publication date: April 14, 2026
pages: 352
peppers: 3 (on this scale)
warnings:
- lying
- injury
- illness
- parental abandonment (past) and manipulation (present)
- hospital scenes
summary: While Sutton is staying in her hometown to help her mother recover from a car accident, she's also trying to run her LA restaurant by phone. She's happy to reconnect with her childhood friend Tara, whose fiancé refuses to get pre-marriage, couples counseling. He believes that most therapists wouldn't even be able to tell if the couple they were working with were complete strangers...which leads Tara and Sutton to place a bet against said fiancé Michael and his brother Elijah. Sutton and Elijah agree to go to up to four counseling sessions to see if the therapist suspects that they've never met before. Surprisingly (to Sutton, not to this reader), the therapy helps Elijah and Sutton to become a real couple.
tropes:
- fake fiancés
- daddy issues
- helping out family
what I liked:
- humor
- how Sutton learned to let go
- Elijah is a great character all around
what I didn’t like:
- Sutton's mom seems too mean, almost a caricature
overall rating: 4 (of 5 stars)
As always, you can click on the photo above if you want to buy the book.