Serendipity works wonders for a woman and her seemingly unattainable crush in a funny and flirty short story by Christina Lauren, New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners and My Favorite Half-Night Stand.

When marketing consultant Veronica accidentally crashes the wrong Zoom meeting and brutally critiques their presentation, she’s shocked to receive a job offer from the company’s intriguing CEO. Their professional email exchanges quickly turn flirty, but Veronica’s mind keeps drifting to her reserved but gorgeous new neighbor. As Valentine’s Day approaches, she’ll discover that sometimes the most improbable meet-cute can lead to the perfect match.

I really did not like this story, and honestly, I need to accept that this author duo just is not for me. I keep giving their stories another shot, hoping something will click, but it never does.

For the second time, I picked up one of their short stories only to find that much of it was told through emails and text messages. Instead of feeling creative or modern, it came across as lazy and underdeveloped. The format drained the story of depth and made the whole experience feel flat and boring. At this point, I genuinely think short fiction may not be their strength.

The premise itself was also wildly unrealistic. As someone who has worked in marketing for over 20 years and has been working independently from home for more than a decade, I could not suspend my disbelief. With the way Zoom functions today, you cannot “accidentally” crash a meeting. There are waiting rooms, passcodes, and clear host controls. The idea that someone could barge into a professional meeting, behave unprofessionally, mouth off to the team, and somehow walk away with a $7K per month job offer felt completely implausible. It took me right out of the story.

I also did not enjoy the tone of the dialogue. It felt cringey at best. There was a heavy amount of cursing and vulgar language that felt excessive rather than purposeful. Some side characters and identity mentions (a best friend with they/them pronouns and a gay sister) felt inserted without meaningful development, as if boxes were being checked rather than characters being thoughtfully built. Instead of enriching the story, those elements felt forced and superficial.

As for the characters, I did not connect with any of them. Veronica, in particular, grated on me. Nearly every obstacle was framed through the lens of sexism or misogyny, and while those issues absolutely exist in the real world, the way they were handled here felt repetitive and heavy-handed. The humor did not land for me, and much of the dialogue felt awkward and cringeworthy.

The romance was equally underwhelming. It was predictable from the start and lacked any real chemistry between Veronica and Jude. It seemed to be aiming for a You’ve Got Mail type dynamic, but it never captured that charm or spark. I am also not a fan of the workplace romance trope to begin with, so that did not help.

The one bright spot for me was the Ohio State versus Michigan reference. As someone originally from Columbus and a lifelong Buckeye fan, I enjoyed seeing that rivalry pop up on the page. That was genuinely fun and made me smile.

Overall, this was another disappointing read from this duo, and I think it is finally time for me to stop trying. I do not recommend this short story.