Monica and Rip were just kids when they lost their parents. Monica was the older sister, and she took care of Rip as best she could, but he struggled. Where she learned to believe in life and its surprises and messiness, Rip tried his best to control everything he could so he wouldn’t get hurt like that again. It’s why his date with Monica’s best friend Colby went so badly, despite his attraction to her. But Colby was a hot mess, all chaos and irritation.

And now he’s stuck with her.

When Monica and her husband were killed in a car accident. their two young children were left to be raised by their godparents, Monica’s brother Rip and her best friend Colby.

To try to do the best by the kids, Rip and Colby move into the family house and try to keep things as normal as possible after the funeral. They still have their rooms and all their things. Ben will still go to his school. Viera is too young to go to school yet, but Colby and Rip will make things work. Colby is a travel and food blogger, so her schedule is more flexible. She offers to stay home with Colby first. That way Rip can go to his office, to the accounting firm he owns, and try to get back to work. But when he comes home and finds nothing but chaos in the house, no food in the refrigerator, slime all over, and processed fast food chicken nuggets the only thing Colby had come up with for dinner, he loses his cool. I mean, how hard could it be to take care of the house and one toddler all day?

The next week is his chance to find out. He trades with Colby, even offers her the use of his office for her to work on her blog posts. That’s how Colby meets his best friend Banks, who asks her out to make Rip jealous. And Rip finds out that being a stay-at-home parent is hard work too.

As the days and then weeks slip by, Colby and Rip try to be the best parents they can be while dealing with their own personal grief and their feelings for each other. But what are those feelings? Hatred? Anger? Frustration? Or was Monica right in trying to bring them together? Is it possible that Rip can look past his perfectionism? Can Colby become a responsible parent? Can they pull together to raise these two kids? And will they maybe be able to get out of their own way and find the love they both deserve?

The Godparent Trap is a romance with lots of tears and laughter both. The grief is offset by the love these two characters have for these children, but this is still a story with a lot of pain. The scenes with the kids add a lot of heart and humor, but author Rachel Van Dyken doesn’t ease up on the tragedy either. When Monica and Rip were younger, she had talked to him about her being a blue butterfly, and that theme of transformation tracks throughout the book in many ways.

I enjoyed this book, but I felt the impact of the grief too. This is a book you need to read with a box of tissues nearby and your favorite comfort food/drink/blanket. But I really loved the way these two very different people came together to make a family for the kids. The kids are very sweet, and it’s nice to see the moments of joy they all find. This is the story of a family, a real, chaotic, genuine family, and overall it’s just a lovely story of life and love in all its messy perfection.

Egalleys for The Godparent Trap were provided by Forever through NetGalley, with many thanks.