DNF - I'm not a "just met you - attracted to you - fall in bed with you" fan. The story was cute and the characters likeable enough that I got beyond that aspect of the story. What I could not get beyond and what drove me crazy while reading this book was the insecurity Alexa and Drew both had. It seemed to me so out of character. You have 2 late twenties high achieving adults! I would think they would be a lot more confident in who they are. After their night together I told myself - one more bit of insecurity and I'll stop reading. I stopped.

The Wedding Date was a book I wanted so much to love, and I will say, for the first 20 or 30 percent, it was pretty good. It was fun and flirty and cutesy and sweet. There really was a lot to enjoy about the beginning. But overall that’s precisely what was wrong with it for me - I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but I had no problem putting it down, no draw to pick it up when I wasn’t reading it. The scenes at the beginning of this book with the wedding were by far the best. Alexa and Drew in the elevator was absolutely adorable, meeting Drew’s friends and acquaintances was hilarious, and seeing Drew and Alexa being more and more into each other was something I loved seeing. Then the wedding was over, and so was all the goodness.

There was a huge disconnect from who Alexa was in her career with who she was as a person. And I can buy that to a certain extent, but she was a go-getter and very vocal at her job, but she never stood up for herself or was honest with Drew about wanting more. I liked Alexa’s drive at work and her desire to help other people, but she fell super flat for me when she judged Drew’s friend Carlos for driving a red sports car. Gasp The horror! There was just a lot of inner dialogue leading up to that scene, and it was a huge turn off. To be fair, Drew wasn’t vocal about things he wanted from Alexa, either, but it didn’t feel as much of a disconnect with him because I felt like the demands of his job were different. Also, the conversations between Carlos and Drew felt more new adult than adult, and again, it was something that just didn’t work for me.

And possibly the biggest letdown for me - for an author what didn’t want to write a sexy graphic sex scene, there was a lot of sex in this book that, pardon the pun, made it all feel pretty anticlimactic. It pretty much alternated between banging and eating, and in the end, I felt like Alexa was just too immature to be in an adult relationship. Running out after spending the night with Drew and saying you’d stay and talk things out doesn’t scream adult relationship to me. I would have loved this book more if Drew had let Alexa go and moved on. Overall, The Wedding Date was a huge letdown and I won’t be reading the next one in the series.

The idea of a guy and girl getting stuck in an elevator sounded a bit cliche for me, but I'm so glad I kept going. This book showed a full relationship between the two main characters. The reader is able to see into each person's perspective, which at time makes you want to throttle someone, but in the end really allows you to see the growth an development of each character. I enjoyed the book.

This book is perfection. I needed a delightful plane read and this book gave me everything I needed.

I've been hearing such great things about this book from damn near everyone so I wanted to read this book something fierce. I was ready for a diverse romance between two perfect strangers that meet in an elevator. Sadly, this book didn't live up to the hype and I finished this book rather disappointed in the overall reading experience.

So this book features Ms. Alexa Monroe and Dr. Drew Nichols as they meet, become friends, fall in love and then ride off into the sunset together to live happily ever after. Their adventure in love isn't easy but in the end, they get it right and that's that.

Alexa's sister is in town and Alexa is meeting her at her hotel room to celebrate Olivia's good work fortune and she runs into Drew Nichols on the elevator. When their elevator gets stuck, they get to know each other. Drew is in town for his friend's wedding...to his ex-girlfriend and he's dreading everything. The rehearsal dinner. The wedding ceremony. The wedding reception. Because of course, he's <em>in</em> the wedding and he has to be at all of these functions. Spilling everything to this beautiful stranger in the elevator gets everything out in the open and nobody is more surprised than he is when he invites this beautiful stranger to be his date for all of it. He's even more surprised when she agrees.

The wedding jump starts the romance between Drew and Alexa. It was a lot of fun when they were just having fun but the fun can only last so long. I enjoyed the book up until things started getting serious between these two and I think a huge chunk of my disappoint stemmed from how immature both Drew and Alexa were when things got tough. It was disappointing because they both held positions of power in their career fields (he was a doctor and she was chief of staff for the Mayor of Berkeley) and yet they lashed out like little children over things they should have been adults about.

I wasn't a fan of the way that Alexa handled the whole 4th of July BBQ thing because 1) Drew technically didn't do anything to her yet, 2) They never defined their relationship and 3) She never told Drew how she felt about him so for her to get mad and then string Drew into a fight so that she can have a reason to be pissed at him over was not a good look for her.

I also wasn't a fan of the way that Drew treated his best friend Carlos. He lashed out at Carlos like Carlos was his little bitch over things that had nothing to do with Carlos. I get that they're best friends but if my best friend talked and lashed out at me the way that Drew did to Carlos? We'd be fighting and I'd be wondering why I had such shitty friends.

Overall, there was a lot of potential here but it didn't work for me and by the end of the book, I was just glad to be finished with it. Oh well. I had high hopes and the beginning starts off great but as the story picked up steam, my hopes fell and disappointment was left.

<strong>Grade: 2 out of 5</strong>

I received this title as an ARC from NetGalley. Thank you so much!

The Wedding Date is such a sweet, charming romance. From Alexa's first interactions with Drew in the trapped elevator to their fake date and the real dates that follow, this entire love story is adorable. I like both of the protagonists. Alexa is amazing: I've never read a novel with a mayor's chief of staff as the protagonist before, and I spent so much of the book cheering for her city youth art program. Drew's both flawed and genuinely likable, and both Alexa's and Drew's friends provide much-needed insight (and occasionally voice their frustration with the pair). I like that the book doesn't shy away from potential issues: privilege, racism, and body image are all addressed. Drew and Alexa do struggle to communicate sometimes, and that makes the middle slow down a bit, but their dialogue still feels realistic.

I also really appreciate all of the good food in this novel. Tacos, donuts, waffles, cheese, crackers...

This was definitely a fun February read.

I was so excited for this one. After all, everyone loves a good contemporary romance and the synopsis was fun and who doesn’t love the fake date to true love trope? I know I do. So I couldn’t wait for this one and was super excited to be approved for the eARC. I waited all the way until December to start it and the beginning was actually super cute. I was hooked from the elevator moments all the way through the wedding. But then something changed and I just didn’t love it anymore. It was cute overall and the moments Alexa and Drew spent together were good but when they were apart, I couldn’t really stand them anymore. And the lack of true communication really frustrated me. Still, this was a cute romance and one I’d recommend, with a few reservations.

I actually really liked both of the characters and I liked when they were together and alone before they started seeing each other. I liked that they both had careers that they loved and were successful and happy in their careers. But the parts when they were separated drove me crazy. There was so much unnecessary back and forth about their feelings and not telling the other person how they really felt and then finally talking and having a stupid fight because of some misunderstanding drove me crazy. It might be a completely realistic approach to adult dating relationships but the fact that they never have any discussion about their relationship or what they’re doing but instead just decide to travel and see each other every single weekend since they meet was just confusing to me. How could you not talk about that? It’s just hard for me to love a book when almost every single problem the couple faces could have been avoided if they’d just communicated like adults. Even if a relationship starts out without any promise of a future or is just some hookup thing, does it not stand to reason that after flying to see each other for three weekends in a row, that maybe both characters have feelings for each other and maybe someone could ask what the status of their maybe relationship might be?!?! It was super frustrating. But I did love when they were together and how much they supported each other in both their successes and their struggles. And also, they eat A LOT. Like all the time. Which is realistic because people eat all the time but kind of weird to read about. I think the word donuts must be in there about 100 times. (Also, apparently Drew has a nut allergy but has no problem eating at bakeries and all kinds of donuts? Which, based on having a kid with a peanut allergy, does not seem realistic at all.) I don’t know why that made such an impression on me but you rarely read a book where they discuss every single meal they’re eating.

Anyway, this is definitely a book you should keep your eyes open for if you’re a fan of cute, light, swoony romances. I think a lot of people will love this one. Especially since this one has an interracial couple and two people in high powered positions where they’re both supported and their jobs never become an issue between them. It was definitely a refreshing read in the world of romance but I still wish they had talked more and avoided some of their stupid fights. I really wish I had loved everything about this book more because there is so much potential in a relationship like this and the synopsis. But overall, while it was cute, I thought it was only ok.

DNF @ I don’t even know

This debut contemporary romance has a glowing recommendation from none other than Roxanne Gay on the very front of this cover. I had such high hopes for this mold breaker of a romance novel that includes an interracial couple but there wasn’t even enough of a spark for me to want to see how everything played out. It all starts with a somewhat cliché meeting in a broken down elevator where the duo strikes up a stilted and awkward conversation which leads to him asking her to be his date at a wedding. First things first, there was zero chemistry. No spark. None. I didn’t particularly care for either character but I certainly didn’t care for Drew after my first impression of him.

“Don’t look at me like that! I’m not a girlfriend kind of guy! And when I could tell that she might want something more serious, I ended it.”

Ohhh. Yay. A real charmer.

And I can understand that Alexa’s continued lack of self-confidence was supposed to be something that a normal woman could sympathize with but it was so constant even in the short amount that I read that it was distracting to the actual story.

‘…she was almost distracted enough not to wonder if he could detect the Spanx underneath her dress. Almost.”

See, she’s even distracted.

“Oh, and don’t forget! The hashtag is #jollymosh.” Molly smiled and glided away.

If I ever actually get married, someone please shoot me if I ever have a hashtag for my damn wedding. Especially one as terrible as that.

Warning, bout to get vicious. Bottom line? The writing was stilted and simple, the characters lacked any sort of complexity and originality, despite including an interracial couple Guillory was far from breaking any sort of mold, and even the whole reason for the story, the romance, fell completely flat and wasn’t anything to swoon over. Some serious steam can result in (literary) elevators, but you won’t find that here. Check out The Hating Game for one particularly great elevator scene and Hearts in Darkness for what you’d hoped Alexa and Drew’s elevator meeting would have been like.

i thought this book was ADORABLE. really, really, really enjoyed it.

not quite sure if i loved it so much because it was really fabulous, or because i just finished a not great book. whatever i don't even care why.

this book started off.... a little clunky. like the writing was forced. i almost put it aside - not DNF, just to the side - and picked something else up but where i was i had to keep reading because i couldn't download anything else. i'm so glad i pushed through that first or second chapter. read this in one night! my husband kept laughing at me because i was smiling like a loon throughout (almost) the whole book.

the thing i love about this book is that it's very realistic, and sometimes that's not easy to read, but this author made it so. you know at the beginning of a new relationship and you're afraid to be like hey, is this a relationship? am i your girlfriend? did you mean what i think you meant when you said that? did you mean to move away? etc etc. uncomfortable at times, annoying because hello just communicate but so realistic and i personally loved it.

there's an adorable meet cute (i mean, stuck in an elevator with a hot guy? sign me up, as long as it's safe lol), a fake relationship trope (that obviously turns into not so fake). i loved the way they dealt with their careers, race issues, 'long distance' (shortest long distance relationship ever) and commitment issues. i loved the side characters and alexa's relationship with her sister. carlos was fun too.

my only small complaint is that though there are plenty of adult scenes in this book, they are mostly fade to black, but not in the way that it could be categorised as 'chick lit' in my opinion. those against adult scenes might be put off by them and those for adult scenes might be bummed at the lack of them. there is definitely chemistry and sexual tension though, and i love how they navigate their fake relationship into a real one.

all in all, i thoroughly enjoyed this book, so it gets 4 stars from me. is it absolutely perfect? who knows, who cares? i had a fun time reading it and that's what reading is all about. i loved these characters, i loved their story, i loved the ending (that epilogue gahhhhh) and i would not mind seeing them again as side characters in someone else's story. i will absolutely read more from this author. i definitely got hungry while reading though, i'm not annoyed about all the food mentioned but other people seem to be.

oh and that cover? gorg.

i will say though, sorry author, i loved it, but $11.99? you're on crack. it must be good crack, but crack nonetheless. i personally do not pay more than a few dollars for an ebook, unless i have some no-rush-shipping-credits, and even then i've never paid $11.99. i'm sorry! but you need to lower the price girl. so i can shout this book from the rooftops and tell everyone to buy it.

received copy from netgalley! i will absolutely buy it when the price goes down so i can have a copy for myself (i don't keep arcs).

This was so fun! I really enjoyed Guillory's writing. I picked this up because it was recommended by Roxane Gay and it didn't disappoint. The steaminess level is fairly low, so great for first time romance readers. The story is engaging and the characters very likable.

I really loved every minute of this book. I don’t typically love romance novels, but this one is funny and smart and sweet and I would absolutely recommend it to a wide audience of readers.

There were a lot of things I liked about this book: two career driven characters; timely, difficult issues that real world couples would likely have to work through; a fun and not too sappy plot. It felt like a realistic read - Reading this brought back a lot of warm, fuzzy feelings about the start of my current relationship, which I thoroughly enjoyed. What I didn't like were the actually characters themselves. Both of them seemed to have real trouble communicating in a clear and efficient way, especially to each other. Rather than see the characters work through that, we would see them blow up at each other and then let fate bring them back together. I'd rather have seen real apologies or heard their thought process as they thought before they spoke rather than be completely controlled by emotion, especially as they were both in two careers that truly require you to think before you speak (law/politics and medicine) and would likely have had a significant amount of training in that area.

DNF @38%.

I had a hard time buying into this romance, because I didn’t feel any chemistry between Alexa and Drew. Also, Alexa’s lack of self-confidence was disappointing. I didn’t feel engaged enough to continue.

A copy was kindly provided by Berkley in exchange for an honest review.

This books is so charming! The characters are lovable, the emotions are relatable, and the descriptions of food made me really hungry (tbh, I need donuts like right now). I love the way Guillory dealt with consent in sexy scenes and discussions about race between Alexa and Drew. Their relationship and miscommunications feel so authentic, and I was rooting for them the whole time.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. A light, fun romance with believable characters and an interesting premise. I often become frustrated with romance novels when the characters have low self esteem and make assumptions, instead of speaking honestly to the object of their affection. This was the case here, but given the somewhat unique situation, I was more sympathetic than I might otherwise be. The ending was a bit predictable, but didn't take away from enjoying the story.

Just the type of book I love to be able to recommend to my library patrons!

Writing this review pains me because I was so excited about this book. The premise sounded like the perfect rom-com and I was expecting to have so much fun while reading it. And while yes, the storyline was entertaining, I also found the execution wasn’t exactly what I was looking for.

But first the story. This I liked and I almost wish we could see this as a movie. It would be a hit! Cute guy gets in elevator at a hotel with a young woman who is preoccupied with her phone. Until the elevator gets stuck and they have to talk to each other for a while. She’s a local, meeting up with her sister at the hotel. He’s there to attend his ex-girlfriends wedding and doesn’t have a date. What better idea than to bring this stranger as his fake girlfriend? I was sold! And up to that point I was really enjoying this story.

Where it started to get on my nerves was with Alexa’s personality. She’s not very confident, she’s actually not even sure how such a hot man could want to date her. She feels she’s too curvy and not good enough. Not once does Drew make her feel that. She just constantly has these insecurities in her head and she projects them and picks fights. Because obviously he must be getting ready to dump her any second. I mean why would he want to go out with her? Arghhh, I mean once I can deal with. Two depending on the situations that sparked her insecurities. But she just kept doing it and it was getting aggravating.

That aside, I think this was a cute story and a quick entertaining read. Not quite as funny as I wanted it to be, and the sexy factor is on the low scale, but it was different and I’m glad I gave it a shot.

Link will be added next week when review posts.

The advance hype for this debut by Jasmine Guillory was one of the reasons I couldn’t wait to get my early copy. The Wedding Date is a sweet, at times cute ,romance. It starts out well enough with Alexa and Drew getting stuck in an elevator together. She’s at the hotel to visit her sister and he’s in town for the wedding of his former best friend and ex-girlfriend. As it happens his date backed out at the last-minute and when he and Alexa hit it off right away he asks her to play the part of his fake girlfriend. She agrees, expecting a night out with a cute boy, but ends up with much more.

You guys, I wanted to love this book so much, but in the end for me this is a read in three parts:
-The first 30% or so which I thoroughly enjoyed and gobbled up.
-The middle 60% which dragged on and on and felt like it had no real depth or character development.
-The last 10% (including epilogue) which was wonderful.

I almost put this book down several times. Everything felt like fade to black or off page, from the sex scenes to the getting to know you to these two spending actual time together. I never really got to know either character other than the fact that Alexa is the Mayor’s assistant who likes donuts and comes off as insecure at times (at least to me) and Drew is a pediatric surgeon who tends to break off his relationships before they get too serious. THAT’S IT. I wanted to get to know them better. I wanted to know why Drew is so afraid of relationships and why Alexa always thinks the worst is about to happen even though she’s obviously smart, and talented, and lovely. I wanted there to be long talks about their childhoods and intense, angsty communications between them because they obviously cared about each other.

I think my other issue with the middle 60% was that Alexa and Drew constantly, constantly, CONSTANTLY looked for something wrong in each other’s deeds or words. It drove me nuts. The first argument is because of something that happens over text and I honestly couldn’t believe that these grown adults even had this conversation over text message. It’s something a teenager might do with their girl/boyfriend. Toward the end it’s like they were both just looking for the other to mess up and waiting for something crappy to happen, then kind of willed it into being.

I’m not a big fan of the BIG MISUNDERSTANDING, because half the time I’m just annoyed that the H/H couldn’t find a way to communicate with each other, and that’s exactly how I felt reading The Wedding Date. With Drew and Alexa everything is just surface level until the big miscommunication. Surface level sex, surface level talks about their days and their likes and dislikes and childhoods and well, everything. Alexa has one conversation about her childhood and relationship with her sister with Drew and Drew leans on Alexa one time when he needs a sympathetic ear. I wanted more.

I feel like there was so much potential for this storyline. I loved the premise and enjoyed each of the characters (what I got to know of them), but wished the romance was executed better. Final Grade-C

Favorite Quote:

“I’m so glad I got stuck in that elevator with you,” she said.
“Me, too.”

This was such a fun sweet book I couldn’t put down. These characters were so easy to connect with.

Drew and Alexa are such a cute couple. They met in an elevator at a hotel that broke down. Their budding relationship continued long after that elevator ride when Drew asked Alexa to be his wedding date.

They both lived in different cities and loved their jobs. Drew is a doctor and Alexia is a mayoral chief of staff. The way they were able to make a relationship work long distance was remarkable.

This was a fun lighthearted read you wont be able to put down. This was the perfect debut novel for this author. I am looking forward to more of her work.

A sweet but predictable story of two people who fall in love and have obstacles along the way.