Review: While We Were Dating

I've been reading Jasmine Guillory for years now and will likely continue to read her for years to come. She has a way of creating really great stories that I always enjoy reading. While We Were Dating was no exception and I had this one finished in one day!

Here's the book's description:

Ben Stephens has never bothered with serious relationships. He has plenty of casual dates to keep him busy, family drama he's trying to ignore and his advertising job to focus on. When Ben lands a huge ad campaign featuring movie star Anna Gardiner, however, it's hard to keep it purely professional. Anna is not just gorgeous and sexy, she's also down to earth and considerate, and he can't help flirting a little...
Anna Gardiner is on a mission: to make herself a household name, and this ad campaign will be a great distraction while she waits to hear if she's booked her next movie. However, she didn't expect Ben Stephens to be her biggest distraction. She knows mixing business with pleasure never works out, but why not indulge in a harmless flirtation?
But their lighthearted banter takes a turn for the serious when Ben helps Anna in a family emergency, and they reveal truths about themselves to each other, truths they've barely shared with those closest to them.
When the opportunity comes to turn their real-life fling into something more for the Hollywood spotlight, will Ben be content to play the background role in Anna's life and leave when the cameras stop rolling? Or could he be the leading man she needs to craft their own Hollywood ending?

I finished this one before bed so I was thinking about what I might write for my review as I was drifting off to sleep. I realized that I had a really enjoyable time reading this book but...that doesn't necessarily mean it was the best it could have been. Anna and Ben were good characters. Not only that, they were good people. So that was fantastic. But...I don't know if I got to know them as much as I expected to. So much of their characteristics were based on their jobs, their race, and their mental health. Don't get me wrong - these are all Very Important Things and I am THRILLED to see all of these things in rom coms. I just felt like I didn't really know them by the end of the book. It's not a major thing but it was something that kind of niggled at me when I thought back on the book.

That said, I really did have a lot of fun reading this book. Guillory is great at finding the perfect balance of humour and depth and a sweet romance with sexy scenes. Her characters are always genuinely good people which is something I look for in my contemporary reads. And the attraction between Ben and Anna was so fun and electric - it was easy to see they were meant to stay together. 

I appreciated that each character was open about their mental health and the highs and lows that they've had. We're starting to see these kinds of discussions more and more in books and I love it. I think it's really important to pay as much attention to our mental health as our physical health - especially after the last year and a half. 

Overall, I liked While We Were Dating but I didn't love it. I expect more from Jasmine Guillory, which may or may not be fair. I know she's capable of writing rom coms I absolutely adore so when she doesn't quite hit that mark, it's kind of disappointing. This one is definitely still worth a read but I'd recommend it as a borrow, not buy. It's lots of fun but it's not necessary to keep it on your bookshelf.

*A copy of this novel was provided by the publisher, Penguin Random House Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: The Wedding Party

Like most rom-com lovers, I fell in love with Jasmine Guillory's characters in The Wedding Date. I was slightly less in love with The Proposal but I still found that novel to be a hell of a lot of fun to read. Cue: The Wedding Party. I was so excited to read it because I knew I'd get a thoroughly enjoyable novel from a voice that I'm so glad is being heard. This book - just published today! - lived up to my expectations and I loved it.

Here's the synopsis:

Maddie and Theo have two things in common:
1. Alexa is their best friend
2. They hate each other
After an "oops, we made a mistake" night together, neither one can stop thinking about the other. With Alexa's wedding rapidly approaching, Maddie and Theo both share bridal party responsibilities that require more interaction with each other than they're comfortable with. Underneath the sharp barbs they toss at each other is a simmering attraction that won't fade. It builds until they find themselves sneaking off together to release some tension when Alexa isn't looking.
But as with any engagement with a nemesis, there are unspoken rules that must be abided by. First and foremost, don't fall in love.

I like that all three of Guillory's novels (so far) are ever so slightly intertwined. The couple we met in her first book, The Wedding Date (OK one thing I don't like is that one is Date and one is Party and it's very hard to talk about them without confusing yourself), Alexa and Drew, feature in the new book. Maddie and Theo are Alexa's best friends and we get some overlap with the first story but told from Maddie and Theo's perspectives. With me so far? Carlos and Nik from The Proposal also pop up, since Carlos is best friends with Drew but since they're in a different city, they're not around as much. Each novel is able to be read as a standalone (though you might find the time jumps in this one odd if you don't know Alexa and Drew's story) but it's so much more fun when you've read all of them and fully understand the histories of the characters.

I was so sucked into this story. It's one of those ones that you can dive into in the morning and have finished by the evening. Just make sure you eat and hydrate throughout! (I drank much wine while reading this one...) It has a fast pace - for the most part, I think the beginning was a bit slower as the story got set up but it wasn't a negative - and smart, interesting characters. I like that Guillory makes sure the characters' jobs are just as important to the story as the romance. Maddie is hustling to make her own styling business work while Theo is working hard handling PR for the city's mayor. They're in their 30s (another plus) and their careers mean everything to them but I appreciated that was never an issue with their relationship. They were open to a relationship and a career (just maybe not a relationship with each other because they were dense and didn't realize they were in love with each other). I also really like that there's always a really strong family element - this time with the bond between Maddie and her mom. (Psst. Have you heard of this book yet?)

As fun as this was, I had a hard time believing that Maddie and Theo actually still thought they hated each other, while jumping each other every time they had the chance. I guess I can understand that hate and lust are both very strong emotions and might get all mixed up but I just can't wrap my head around sleeping with someone that I hated. (But maybe that's the long-term relationship talking.) I also have to remind myself that it's so easy to fix other people's problems by telling them what to do (TALK TO EACH OTHER, YOU FOOLS) but when you're in the mess you created? And not sure you want to believe what your heart is telling you? Yeah, that's tough. I did like that Maddie basically said how stupid it is that she was all, "Just tell Drew how you feel, Alexa!" like it was so easy. She then says she wants to punch Past Maddie in the head so she gets it. Points to Guillory for some tongue-in-cheek humour.

And how much fun is that cover? I had an ARC to read but I'm really kind of hoping the cover features real sparkles, at least for the title. I'm a sucker for brightly coloured covers, what can I say?

The Wedding Party is another excellent addition to this new wave of contemporary romances (THAT I AM LOVING). Jasmine Guillory has created characters and a world that I love getting to know and understand. No book is perfect but this one was such a delight to read over a summer weekend.

*An ARC of this novel was sent by the publisher, Penguin Random House Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*