Good at Being Alive

A Novel

By: Elizabeth O'Roark

A party girl and a grumpy British CEO fake a dream European honeymoon for a reality TV show that could save their travel agency—and give them both a new lease on life (and love)—if only they’d take the chance.

Rebecca “Bex” Daniels has just lost everything: her father, stepmother, and beloved stepsister all died in a freak train accident, leaving her completely alone in the world and responsible for her family’s travel agency. Only a few months after the tragedy, her father’s UK partner, the straitlaced Theo Porter, reveals that the business is about to go under. Their only hope? A reality TV deal her father brokered before his death…with a slight rebrand: Now, Bex and Theo are to pose as newlyweds, exploring the world on an extended honeymoon.

Bex and Theo couldn’t be more different—but though they initially clash, once filming gets underway, Bex discovers he’s also amusing, protective, and kind, the sort of man she’d want to be married to in real life, if she thought for a second she deserved him. As for Theo, he can't help but be swept up into the brilliant whirlwind that is Bex, but ever since his brother died, a real relationship is the last thing he wants.

As Bex and Theo flit across Europe, from Capri to Paris, exploring sundrenched villas and remote fjords, they can't help but notice their walls coming down, and their arguments begin to feel a lot more like foreplay than fighting. But they each carry around more than enough emotional baggage, and they'll have to contend with public scandals, crushing grief, and their burgeoning fame before they can decide if they're ready to ride off into the sunset once the cameras stop rolling.

Critic reviews

“Elizabeth O’Roark never misses for me. Good at Being Alive is everything I love about her work: witty banter, a snarky-yet-sexy hero, and a romance that kept me turning pages until the end.”—Jana Aston, New York Times bestselling author