This is the first time I read this author and I doubt it will be my last. This was a full length novel but still a fun, quick read that had me hooked. What's a girl to do when Jane's bridesmaid duties are limited to one, huge job....keep Cameron, the grooms unruly brother in her sites at all times and don't let him do anything crazy. But what if Cameron shows Jane another way that's fun and exciting and dare I say Jane is falling for Cameron as Jane begins to think everyone doesn't know the Cameron she knows! Filled with a lot of heart, a little heat and plenty of hilarious banter to make One and Only a One-Click Must Read!
I am voluntarily leaving this voluntary review, but for full disclosure I did receive an review copy, ARC, of this book.

***4 Stars***

This was cute and sweet with just the perfect amount of sexy and flirty. My first Jenny Holiday book, but it certianly won't be my last!

Solid 3 1/2 Stars, inching towards 4


First time with Holiday but it won't be my last. I really enjoyed this one, and it was fun and sexy. By far my favorite thing was the scene involving the two of them and one of her vibrators. YES, PLEASE, MORE OF THAT IN ROMANCELANDIA. I will say I was a bit more disappointed in the "full sex scenes" (aka, PIV scenes) after that; they always felt rushed and just left me wanting a bit more? Hot, yes, but I wanted something more from them. Maybe that's my inner dirty reader though.


I was a bit iffy about her being curvy, and how she acts about her weight and being able to fit into an (intentionally bought) smaller dress for the wedding. I'm still a bit iffy on all that, personally, but I will admit she changes her views as the story goes on, which I appreciated at least.


This entire book takes place over the course of a handful of days, which means that it was both slow moving and yet faced paced, in regard to the timeline. For the most part, this worked okay, but I did feel like it was a bit too rushed as the book wrapped up in the final two or so chapters.


I was also hoping to get at least some mention of his plans to go to therapy to address his PTSD. But, as I've said before, this is a common thing in romancelandia (and needs to change).

Overall, a few minor things, but nothing that was a deal breaker in anyway. I truly enjoyed this one and I am very much looking forward to book 2.

One and Only is a satisfying iteration of the contemporary bridezilla subgenre." -The New York Times Book Review

Ok, that tagline made me crack up. I didn’t know there was a contemporary bridezilla subgenre???

This is the beginning of a series titled Bridesmaids Behaving Badly. This is definitely a wedding story. Elise is the bride and she is into a DIY wedding. Jane, the main character, has always been responsible and not very flashy. She loves her friend, but is getting desperate to get out of the DIY projects for the wedding. She ends up being tasked to babysit Cameron, the brother of the groom. Cameron is a returning soldier who is suffering a bit from PTSD. They are afraid he will do something wild and reckless that will impact the wedding. Jane has to keep him entertained. They go from spending the day together, to visiting local tourist attractions, to more. The steamy sex scenes are a plus!

The writing is funny, the dialogue flows, the setting is believable and the characters are likable. Even Elise, who many readers will sympathize with the fact that she is stressed from her wedding planning. The story is complex because of all the character development. You really begin to understand why the characters do the things they do.

The author was new to me, so I am glad that I chose to read this book. It was engrossing and I didn’t put it down until I finished. Which really meant that I stayed up way too late to finish this book. I’m looking forward to the next book in this series.

One and Only was absolutely delightful! I'd never read any of Jenny Holiday's books prior to this one, but the cover drew me in and I was intrigued by the reviews I saw. Plus, I enjoy a good romance set around a wedding. This one was funny, sweet and a lot sexier than I anticipated (which is NOT a bad thing, just to be clear) and I loved it.

As much as I love the hate to love trope, I was a little put off by Cam's attitude in the beginning. He was actually pretty mean to Jane for awhile there, so I was side-eyeing him hard. I can't tell you exactly when that began to change, but it did. It wasn't all that long before I was singing his praises. Jane, I basically loved from the start. She was safe and sensible and while that's not exactly exciting, it is relatable. Of course, I loved even more when she started to come out of her shell and take risks with Cam. Watching them begin to tolerate each other then become friends and ultimately more was a lot of fun and came with a few feels along the way.

Despite my initial reservations, I became a huge Cam fan. There was so much more to him than what met the eye, what he allowed people to see. I won't get into spoilers, but he was a bit broken and misunderstood. He really was sweet and thoughtful and, of course, a little bit dirty which I really liked. He and Jane, despite all their differences, had oodles of chemistry and some really deep feelings. I loved watching them discover each other and help change each other. I also fell in deep like, if not love, with some of the secondary characters, so I can't wait to continue this series!

FAVORITE QUOTES
"You are a very bad girl masquerading as a good girl."

"I am completely, utterly, fiercely, surprisingly in love with you."

"Somehow, I can jump off buildings and be on the front lines of a war, but I don't know how to... I don't know how to let someone love me."

This is the first book I have read by Jenny Holiday but it will definitely not be the last! It is the beginning of a series revolving around bridesmaids, and Jane and Cameron are the perfect characters to get things started. They are seemingly opposites at first glance, but the reader comes to see that Jane is not as strait-laced as she first appears and Cameron is the "bad boy" with a heart of gold. The book has great chemistry and character development, both for the heroine and hero and all of the supporting characters. I am looking forward to the next entry.

3.5 stars

Jane is super dependable, which is why one of her best friends ask her to babysit the groom's younger brother prior to the wedding. And Jane agrees! On the plus side for her, since she's involved with "watching" Cameron, she cannot fall for the bride's latest DIY wedding idea (there were a LOT of those).

I knew Jane and Cameron would fall for each other (it's a romance -- of course they will!), but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed their playful banter and their friendly conversations. Jane puts Cameron at ease, even though he is irritated to have a babysitter. They also have crazy chemistry once they both look a little closer at the other. It was very enjoyable to watch them fall in love.

This was my first book by Ms. Holiday, but I'm certain it won't be the last!

Podcast episode link with show notes below.

I received an ARC from Net Galley for this review.

This was the first book I'd read by the author. Loved the premise, but this one just didn't catch for me which was a disappointment. I really like the heroine. I love spunky heroines and she had spunk as well as a bridezilla friend it hit all my favorite tropes, but this one I just couldn't catch my attention. I started it, but it down and then picked it up with a book in between.

I think it was the hero. He was a former soldier, but to me just came off as a jerk. I wanted to like him, but I never felt a connection to him. This book is blissfully in 3rd person. Too many contemporaries are told in first person to my liking which I really liked, but this book is marketed as a comedy and I didn't see the humor and I'm a pretty funny person!

Again, I wanted to like it, but it just wasn't my cup of gold painted tea set.

My experience reading Jenny Holiday to date has been an enjoyable one, with two of her more recent releases, Famous and Infamous, ending up on my favorites of 2017 list. This sets up pretty high expectations for anything new she puts out, and fortunately she lives up to those with the first romance in her new romantic comedy series Bridesmaids Behaving Badly. Weddings and the chaos that surrounds them provide plenty of material for a romantic comedy. In One and Only, Ms. Holiday gives us an emotional, funny, sweet and sexy romance between a ne'er-do-well brother of the groom and the bridesmaid tasked with keeping him in line.

Jane Denning loves her friend Elise, soon to be married to Jay. She's happy to be part of the wedding party, but let's face it, Elise is driving them all crazy. With do-it-yourself projects ranging from hand stenciled invitations, gold spray painted tea sets for centerpieces, to inventing a tea cocktail for the reception, any excuse to escape another afternoon of crafting is welcome. Jane is the steady, responsible member of the group but she has a fun side. She loves to cosplay and is working on a Xena the Princess Warrior costume for an upcoming comic con. She’s a writer of young adult fantasy novels, which means she works from home. In the mind of the bride (and many others) this means she's flexible to interrupt her plans for theirs. Thus, when Elise asks her to keep an eye on Jay's somewhat estranged brother Cameron MacKinnon who is arriving early for the wedding, and has a less than savoury reputation, Jane accepts the task without complaint.

Cam's been having a bit of a rough patch for far too many years than he'd like to count. Yes, some of it is his own fault, but much of it isn't. Still, no one has been interested in his side of the story for years, so he's given up on trying to explain himself to anyone. His stint in the army was supposed to be a reset, until he was discharged under less than ideal circumstances. Arriving home to discover his girlfriend in the arms of another man (ouch), he's out of options except to crash at his brother Jay's using the wedding invitation as an excuse to figure out what the heck he's going to do now. But first up – a steak, and hopefully some hot sex.

When Jane picks up Cam at the airport and makes it clear she's going to stick to him like glue, it puts a kink in his plans, and not the good kind. Not to be deterred in his quest for a fun night on the town, he manages to elude Jane but she tracks him down and from then on it’s a battle of wills as to who can get the best of whom. Making sure Cam doesn’t cause any scandals to wreck the wedding means Jane is determined to keep him close by and succeeds by accepting a bet in return for him behaving somewhat virtuously. Yet Jane can’t help but see that Cam isn’t the man everyone thinks he is. A mutual attraction between them soon leads to a heated affair. Whoops! Now who’s behaving badly? And more importantly, when the wedding is over will they be over too?

This story is set in Toronto and picks several touristy sites to feature that Jane and Cam visit, such as the CN Tower, Canada’s Wonderland ( the Canadian version of Disneyland), and Niagara Falls. Having visited these places myself, the author recreated some of my favorite vacation memories, a very pleasant and unexpected surprise that added to my enjoyment of the story. For those readers unfamiliar with the city and its local landmarks, they are authentically described and worth visiting. What’s fun about these settings is that Cam makes Jane explore outside of her comfort zone and try the more daring adventures they feature. In the process they get to know each other on a more intimate level, revealing their fears and hangups and becoming closer with every new experience.

Family relationships and friendships are key to the story. The women who make up the wedding party are able to come together for the bride, and joke about how she is turning into something of a bridezilla. Yet the reader is never left with the feeling that they resent all the extra work she gives them, and that they genuinely care about her. They might try to manage some of her more outrageous ideas, but are never mean or malicious behind her back. Still, the other bridesmaids can't deny that Jane might have got the better deal by agreeing to 'babysit' Cam. Little do they suspect what's really happening.

In contrast, Jay and Cam are not close due to a number of incidents in their childhood, and Cam's reputation for screwing things up. He also keeps his mother at a distance, not wanting to see the disappointment in her eyes with his latest failure, being discharged from the army. The truth is that many of the things Cam's been blamed for have explanations, but they aren't ones anyone has wanted to hear, or so he believes. He has PTSD from his time in Iraq, symptoms of which show up from time to time. No one knows about that either – until he shares it with Jane.

Each chapter of the story starts with a countdown timer to the wedding. It's also a countdown for Cam and Jane's burgeoning relationship. Starting out as wary adversaries, then friends, the switch to lovers happens easily, and they share some steamy scenes. Part of their ability to let loose is the knowledge that whatever they have will end when the wedding is over. As the big day comes closer, Jane starts to think maybe something more could happen between them. But Cam is so used to being the one to let everyone down that he creates his own self fulfilling prophecy. A good guy with a giving heart, he doesn't think he's worthy of Jane, and just about mucks everything up. Ms. Holiday knows how to write those moments that make you gasp, and wonder how everything can work out in the end. Fortunately, after rending your heart she does a good job of patching it back together too. I love the characters and stories that Ms. Holiday creates, and this is yet another example of why she's consistently one of my favorite authors. It's early in the year, but One and Only is a strong contender for making my best of 2018 list.

This review has been featured at All About Romance and feedback updated with the link and posted at Goodreads. A short review has been posted at Amazon.

My experience reading Jenny Holiday to date has been an enjoyable one, with two of her more recent releases, Famous and Infamous, ending up on my favorites of 2017 list. This sets up pretty high expectations for anything new she puts out, and fortunately she lives up to those with the first romance in her new romantic comedy series Bridesmaids Behaving Badly. Weddings and the chaos that surrounds them provide plenty of material for a romantic comedy.  In One and Only, Ms. Holiday gives us an emotional, funny, sweet and sexy romance between the ne'er-do-well brother of the groom and the bridesmaid tasked with keeping him in line.

Jane Denning loves her friend Elise, soon to be married to Jay. Jane is happy to be part of the wedding party, but let's face it, Elise is driving them all crazy. With do-it-yourself projects ranging from hand stenciled invitations, gold spray painted tea sets for centerpieces, to inventing a tea cocktail for the reception, any excuse to escape another afternoon of crafting is welcome. Jane is the steady, responsible member of the group of friends, but she has a fun side. She loves to cosplay and is working on a Xena, Warrior Princess costume for an upcoming comic con, and she’s a writer of young adult fantasy novels, which means she works from home.  In the mind of the bride (and many others) this means it’s fair game to ask her to interrupt her plans in favour of theirs. Thus, when Elise asks her to keep an eye on Jay's somewhat estranged brother Cameron MacKinnon - who is arriving early for the wedding, and has a less than savoury reputation - Jane accepts the task without complaint.

Cam's been having a bit of a rough patch for far more years than he'd like to count, and while some of it is his own fault, much of it isn't. Still, no one has been interested in his side of the story for years, so he's given up on trying to explain himself to anyone. His stint in the army was supposed to be a reset, until he was discharged under less than ideal circumstances.  Arriving home to discover his girlfriend in the arms of another man (ouch), he's out of options except to crash at his brother Jay's using the wedding invitation as an excuse to figure out what the heck he's going to do now. But first up – a steak, and hopefully some hot sex.

When Jane picks up Cam at the airport and makes it clear she's going to stick to him like glue, it puts a kink in his plans, and not the good kind. Not to be deterred in his quest for a fun night on the town, he manages to elude Jane but she tracks him down and from then on it’s a battle of wills as to who can get the best of whom. Making sure Cam doesn’t cause any scandals to wreck the wedding means Jane is determined to keep him close by and succeeds by accepting a bet in return for him behaving somewhat virtuously. Yet Jane can’t help but see that Cam isn’t the man everyone thinks he is and the mutual attraction between them soon leads to a heated affair. Whoops! Now who’s behaving badly? And more importantly, when the wedding is over will they be over, too?

This story is set in Toronto and sees Jane and Cam visiting several tourist sites, such as the CN Tower, Canada’s Wonderland (the Canadian version of Disneyland), and Niagara Falls. Having visited these places myself, the author recreated some of my favorite vacation memories, a very pleasant and unexpected surprise that added to my enjoyment of the story. For those readers unfamiliar with the city and its local landmarks, they are authentically described and worth visiting. What’s fun about these settings is that Cam makes Jane explore outside of her comfort zone and try the more daring adventures on offer. In the process they get to know each other on a more intimate level, revealing their fears and hangups and becoming closer with every new experience.

Family relationships and friendships are key to the story. The women who make up the wedding party are able to come together for the bride, and joke about how she is turning into something of a bridezilla. Yet the reader is never left with the feeling that they resent all the extra work she gives them, and it’s obvious that they genuinely care about her. They might try to manage some of her more outrageous ideas, but are never mean or malicious behind her back. Still, the other bridesmaids can't deny that Jane might have got the better deal by agreeing to 'babysit' Cam. Little do they suspect what's really happening.

In contrast, Jay and Cam are not close due to a number of incidents in their childhood and Cam's reputation for screwing things up. He also keeps his mother at a distance, not wanting to see the disappointment in her eyes with his latest failure, being discharged from the army. The truth is that many of the things Cam's been blamed for have explanations, but they aren't ones anyone has wanted to hear, or so he believes. He has PTSD from his time in Iraq, symptoms of which show up from time to time. No one knows about that either – until he shares it with Jane.

Each chapter of the story starts with a countdown timer to the wedding. It's also a countdown for Cam and Jane's burgeoning relationship. Starting out as wary adversaries, then friends, the switch to lovers happens easily, and they share some steamy scenes. Part of their ability to let loose is the knowledge that whatever they have will end when the wedding is over.  As the big day comes closer, Jane starts to think maybe something more could happen between them. But Cam is so used to being the one to let everyone down that he creates his own self-fulfilling prophecy. A good guy with a giving heart, he doesn't think he's worthy of Jane, and just about mucks everything up. Ms. Holiday knows how to write those moments that make you gasp and wonder how everything can work out in the end. Fortunately, after rending your heart she does a good job of patching it back together, too. I love the characters and stories that Ms. Holiday creates, and this is yet another example of why she's consistently one of my favorite authors. It's early in the year, but One and Only is a strong contender for making my best of 2018 list.

Buy it at: Amazon/Barnes & Noble/iBooks/Kobo

In Jenny Holiday's One and Only, babysitting has never been so sexy. Bridesmaid Jane Denning is stuck with the duty of keeping the groom's wayward brother out of trouble — after all, it's better than suffering through all the Pinterest-worthy craft projects the Bridezilla has planned. Cameron MacKinnon is a hot guy with a bad reputation (for reasons that include arson and a somewhat dishonorable discharge from the army) but gosh is he swoon-worthy — after some super hot sexy times, he spends the day doing odd jobs around Jane's house, just because. He is handy in many senses of the word.

At first, this "babysitting" just includes fun stuff like tourist attractions, theme parks and haunted houses. Before long, it's expanded to include some hot stuff between the sheets, and soon enough Jane and Cameron are baring both bodies and souls to each other. He learns what makes Jane, a successful young adult author, tick and she discovers Cameron is not the bad boy he's rumored to be. When the big day rolls around, the bride and groom aren't the only ones with happily-ever-after on their minds.

I couldn’t resist the cuteness of this cover and the fact this was a wedding themed storyline. I don’t usually read a lot of those, but when I do I tend to enjoy them and I thought it would be the perfect chance to try this author. And for the most part this was a sweet intro to a series and a great place to start reading this author. But some other things I didn’t really care enough about to give it a higher rating.

First of all, I loved the heroine. She’s smart, independent, accomplished, and the responsible friend. She’s lived her life without taking a lot of risks or much excitement and that’s in part of something in her past. But I really liked her because she was real and solid. When she meets the hero, and obviously he’s a 180 from her, I felt that she might’ve stepped out of her comfort zone a little too easily for me. I guess I wanted her to have more internal struggles about some of the things she was getting into instead of just changing her personality in the spur of the moment.

Then there’s the hero. He’s so sexy and easygoing I can see how anyone would get swept off her feet. He’s also sweet and has lived his life knowing people had such low expectations of him he felt like maybe he should just meet them, or let them believe he did. That was both sad and sweet. And I wanted him to have a more take charge attitude towards his life because that’s something I find sexy. I think he was still trying to find his way and that was a little bit of a turn off for me.

ONE AND ONLY was a carefree and fun story and if you’re looking for a sweet contemporary romance that will put you in a good mood, then you should give it a try. I’m very interested in this group of girls and I can’t wait for the next one in the series. I have a feeling I’m going to love it because I just adored Wendy.

In the words of my 4-year old daughter, this was adorbs and seeeewww cuuuute!

Jane Denning is the super responsible friend that gets assigned to be DD 99% of the time. And in this story, Jane was tasked to "babysit" her best friend's future brother-in-law and keep him from ruining her wedding.

Cameron McKinnon was dishonorably discharged from the organization he credits for saving him. There's a good reason why he did what he did though, which is why I wish Cameron got a bit more closure and justice because what was done to him was really unfair.

Cameron came off like a real jerk at the beginning. He had a plan to get his fun whenever and wherever he can and Jane was in his way. So there was definitely tension at first.

And I don't know if other readers feel the same way but I actually liked that Jane wasn't on Cam's radar for potential sexual partner at first. She wasn't his type at all but Jenny Holiday did a fine job of showing how Cam's feelings changed slowly.

I adored Jane. Kudos to Ms. Holiday for writing a plus size heroine and not make her weight a plot point in the book. Sure, Jane was aware of her weight but this story isn't the usual "chubby girl learns to love herself (or god forbid went on a weight loss journey) in order to find love." No. Jane is sexy, confident, and accepts herself, faults and all.

The cover however doesn't show that, which is a shame. Nothing frustrates a reader more than knowing that the cover model looks nothing like the cover. I mean, Jane is curvy and definitely not a size 2 like the model on the cover. Yes, I'm nitpicking but I wish publishers would choose covers with more care. If the character is curvy and a size 14, then I want to see that on the cover. :(

Cover aside, I adored this book. It was fun and I enjoyed reading about a group of girls who couldn't be more different loving and supporting each other. If you're looking for some light and fun read, I highly recommend this book.

This was such a refreshing and fun read! I was initially hesitant to read because of the “bridezilla” theme mentioned in the cover copy, but given the enthusiastic recommendation from The Ripped Bodice, I gave it a try — and am very glad that I did. The wedding storyline is done in an endearing manner and was well balanced with Jane and Cam’s time apart from the wedding party. The story has a perfect blend of light-hearted humor and a bit of angst which make it hard to put down. Jane and Cam are somewhat unconventional protagonists, but they are written in such a lifelike and multi-faceted manner that they defy simple characterization. Jane’s friends and fellow bridesmaids/bride were also complex and intriguing characters, which makes me anxious to read their stories next in the series.

Thank you to Hachette/Forever and Netgalley for providing an ARC for review!

Received in exchange for a honest review.

This was funny, sexy and sweet.

Jane was the quiet responsible geeky lady that you just love because she is too adorable not too. She let her past hold her back from trying things. It wasn’t until her babysitting duties of Cameron that she learned to open her eyes and take risks. he helped her see things differently. Cameron was the one to have Jane see she was worth a relationship and beautiful. He made her bold and confident. Jane helped Cameron see he was worth love and that he was a good guy. She helped him through some dark times and that he was more than what people thought.

Cameron was lost. He was kind and sweet but thought he wasn’t deserving of chances. He felt he tried to change but no one had expectations for him and was only a disappointment so he believed that he didn’t deserve to be anything but. He stayed away from his mom because he didn’t want to see the disappointment in her eyes. His brother didn’t exactly treat him like anything but a nuisance. Heck he didn’t even tell anyone he existed. And his brothers fiance Elise treated him like scum on shoe at first. she was disdainful towards him and felt he would ruin everything so she assigned Jane to him. It was only Jane that saw beyond the outside and got to know him. And when she did, she found an intelligent, thoughtful, kind and caring person who just did what he thought was right for the other person. He was a protector and a white knight. He let people believe the worst of him to protect others. It was Jane who had him see that he could be more that what people expected of him.

the adventures they went one were bold and adventurous. the attraction was a breathing entity in the book. And the banter was fun and flirty. I loved watching Cameron find himself and see that he was worthy of love although it was almost to late for him but he made up for it in such a swoony way. I enjoyed seeing Jane free herself of guilt and fear and start to live. Watching these two fall in love and help one another heal was fun and flirty.

Over time his brother and Elise you liked especially at the end when they were proven wrong about Cameron. The writing is adventurous, fun and bold. The story entertaining, sweet and sexy with the intimate moments. The two main characters had you smile and laugh as they went on a exploration of fun times, themselves and their feelings for each other. A great entertaining story that gave you hope and fun rolled up in a love story.

I picked this book up on the heels of back to back DNFs. One and Only is my first book by this author, and I wasn't sure what to expect - so I went into it feeling a little afraid that I was careening into a book slump. And then - I was so incredibly pleasantly surprised. Truly, it is one of my favorite things to pick up a book by a new-to-me author and find myself blown away by it. That's exactly what happened here.

This book was so much more than I expected it to be. On its face it looks like it should be a lighthearted romcom - and there are definitely elements of that present here. However, it digs a bit deeper than that and there are some serious emotional elements threaded through this storyline. Jane and Cameron are both richly layered, complicated characters - and that's what made them feel so real to me. I connected so easily with them and was so invested in their happily ever after.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing, to me, was the chemistry between Cameron and Jane. It was so intense - a nearly palpable thing, sparking and fizzing all over my Kindle. By the time their story really started heating up, I felt it like I was a part of their story - an ache in my chest, the longing for them to love each other as real to me as it was to them.

I also loved the dynamic of the friendships between the four women - which also felt very authentic to me. I loved how they supported one another, even as they drove each other crazy. I loved the family dynamic - as complicated as the characters themselves and how the author sort of carefully unraveled all that conflict over the course of this book.

In all, One and Only is smartly written, sexy, sweet, and fun. It was more emotional than I was expecting, but in a way that hit all the right sweet spots in all the right ways for me. I loved every moment of this book and am thrilled to have discovered a new author to watch out for. I will definitely be back for more!

This is my first read from Jenny Holiday, and I was excited to pick it up as I was in the mood for something light and fun. I'm not typically into the bridesmaid and wedding theme, but I an excerpt that was floating around for One and Only and the steamy selection piqued my smutty interest.

So Jane Denning is our responsible introvert of a bridesmaid - a nerdy girl author who writes fabulous young adult fantasy novels. After a failed relationship, Jane has stuck to the solo life for the last six years... something that definitely resonated with me. Sometimes its just easier to be in your own space than it is to think of inviting someone into your life and all your "stuff." But her long bout of celibacy and tendency to wrangle her girlfriends has earned Jane the reputation of being a responsible, boring, wet blanket. This was a bit harsh because there is nothing wrong with being responsible and not sleeping with half the town. We aren't supposed to slut shame... but how about we don't single shame either, okay ladies? And besides - Jane wasn't TOTALLY an adult. She lived in fantasy worlds and dressed up for Comicon! That's not boring! So I connected with Jane a little bit with her single life and nerdy girl introvert tendencies. I also didn't like Jane sometimes though, particularly when she was judgy and willing to believe the worst of people despite evidence to the contrary.

Cameron MacKinnon has just returned home from war and is dealing with a whole lot of caca. His military career is over, as is his relationship with the girl he thought to be living with after his deployment. Escaping to Canada for his brother's wedding comes at the right time and Cameron arrives in Toronto... to find that he has a babysitter in the form of responsible Jane. I didn't start off enamored with this hero. When he meets Jane, he has some particularly unkind thoughts that made it hard to like his character. And while his opinion changes rather quickly, I still had a hard time getting over the sting of those words (even if they weren't said aloud). That being said, Cameron was a misunderstood hero and I absolutely detested how everyone treated him and didn't even think twice about not giving him the benefit of the doubt. While he did have a reputation as a teenager, not only were stories misconstrued, but no one even considered that he may have changed after joining the military and deploying to war zones. I got angry on Cameron's behalf many times in this book, enough that it was starting to make me ranty.

Once I got past Cameron's stinging thoughts and Jane's judgy behavior, I ended up liking them together as a couple. Cameron brought Jane out of her comfort zone, and Jane was really the only person who saw past Cameron's reputation to see the wounded man beneath. I also liked how open and communicative they were when it came to intimacy, and how much fun they had on dates and adventures. Overall, the romantic aspects of the story were light and fun and steamy, and were my favorite parts of the story.

This is the first book I have read in a while where I really didn't care for any of the secondary characters. Usually I like the distraction that a good secondary group will provide, but I just hated all these people for the way they treated Cameron. I did get a few good laughs at the bridezilla antics that were happening during the wedding planning though. That sounded like a total nightmare and made me extra glad that I haven't been in any weddings since the introduction of Pinterest!

I had a little pet peeve about the cover of this book as well. Our heroine is a curvy girl who is trying to lose a few pounds. She's a size 12, and her body size/type and diet were mentioned a lot in this story. As this was a focus of the story and a major aspect of our heroine, I think the cover model should have been more representative of Jane's character.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher, St. Martin's Press.

One and Only
Bridesmaids Behaving Badly #1
Publication Date: February 27, 2018
Contemporary Romance
Forever

Reviewed by Kini

Favorite Quote: “I’m going to. I just need… a minute.” “For what?” To change his mind? Like hell. She was standing there, panties wet and nipples almost painfully tight, a caricature of sexual desire. She hadn’t confronted her big emotional block about casual sex only to have the proceedings derailed now. She pulled harder on his head and bounced a little on her toes. Maybe this was one instance in which high heels would actually be worth the pain. The smile disappeared, and for a moment she feared she’d offended him, that he was going to call the whole thing off. “To pause and take things in. To pause and take you in. Because once this starts, Jane…” “What?” she whispered. “We’re going to set this fucking house on fire.”

It is no secret that I am a Jenny Holiday fangirl. I had Infamous on my favorites of 2017. I have thoroughly enjoyed every single book of hers and she is officially on my auto-read list. This book was such a delight. First off I want to address the cover, it is super cute and does not properly convey how sexy this book was. The book is funny and sweet and sexy and all the things I absolutely love in my romance.

The heroine, Jane, is described as boring and the responsible one in her friend group. She isn’t very adventurous and lives a little vicariously through the characters in the novels she writes. Even though she is a little reserved, she doesn’t see herself in a negative fashion. As the wedding of her BFF is about to happen, she gets tasked with “babysitting” the younger brother of the groom.

The hero, Cameron, is returning to civilian life after some time in the military. He is a reformed “bad boy” who was never really bad. He mad some dumb choices as a teenager and early twenties and dealt with the consequences. He’s grown up and ready to be a real adult.

Jane picks Cam up from the airport and he instantly views her as “chubby and mousy” and is kind of rude to her. He is irritated that his brother has assigned someone to keep watch over him and takes it out on her. Jane is immediately taken by his handsomeness, but because of his initial douchery is on her guard with him. The two of them start spending more time together as Jane is avoiding tasks assigned to her by the bride and Cam wants to do things he hasn’t done during the years in the military.

As they spend time together, Cam quickly changes his thoughts toward Jane being plain. By Chapter 5 he is fully seeing her beauty. And I was here for every moment of it. There is a scene where he thinks Jane is drunk and she really wants to have sex with Cam but he refuses because of consent. Cam was pretty much amazing. I have a note to myself that Cam is a caretaker. He sees Jane struggling with being adventurous and he is a great support to her while she does things that scare her. I LOVED IT.

Jane was a great heroine, I don’t want to sell her short. But I really loved the progression of Cam falling for her and seeing her for more than the mousy woman he first took her as. Jane too has to see Cam for more than the troublemaker, high school dropout as he was first described to her. Both characters have more depth than they first see. A theme throughout the book is that Jane is concerned that her dress won’t fit for the wedding. She is trying to be conscientious of eating, but Cameron encourages her to live her life. In a very body positive type of way.

There is a conflict, but it was handled well and there is some groveling happening in this book. But when Cameron works to make it better, I pretty much instantly forgave him. Because this-
He smiled, a small, almost wistful smile. “I’m trying. Somehow, I can jump off buildings and be on the front lines of a war, but I don’t know how to…” His voice trailed off, and he had to clear his throat. “I don’t know how to let someone love me.”

There is so much that I loved about this book. It hit every one of my sweet spots. I strong, yet slightly flawed heroine and hero. Witty dialogue. Super hot sex. Characters that figure their shit out. I had so many quotes highlighted from this book. I love the alpha-caretaker hero so much, I want them in all my books. There are little glimpses into the next book, but the other characters didn’t overwhelm the story. I look forward to future books. I really recommend this book and hope that many will read and enjoy it as much as I did.

Grade: A