Cover Image: If You're Not The One

If You're Not The One

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Member Reviews

Natalie, Tessa and Ama work together and own a bridal agency in Bellegrove. All three struggle with love, relationships and family in this cute novel. Once the story got going, it was good but I found it to be slow at times

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Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. Well, Natalie said it herself at one point "... he (Brayden) definitely doesn't deserve somebody as horrible as me." Frankly, I can't understand why Brayden has loved her for so long., (since childhood) but (spoiler alert) twenty years later, Natalie finally comes to her senses and realizes that all her past shallow relationships have shown her how truly wonderful Brayden is. Ama and Tessa, her friends and business associates, also find true love - but not without a fair amount of adversity. I found some of the dialogue disconcerting and even a bit odd - spoiler alert: for example, Brayden at one point says, self-deprecatingly, "I was so ugly." This just made me cringe at how shallow the object of his affection was, if this is how she made him feel, and how little self-esteem he had to continue to pursue her. To be fair, the characters do learn from their past mistakes, but I just found the whole sad, one-sided relationship excruciating. Mind you, I am not fond of this type of story arc, where the protagonists don't get along and one of them is mean to the other, until they have this huge epiphany. Not badly written, I will say that much.

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I enjoyed reading the stories of three women who work in terms wedding business but yet had difficulty defining what actually was love versus what they thought it would look like. My one issue is with them harming their business. No true owner would walk away from that type of opportunity.

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They say Christmas is the best time of the year to open our heart. So, I did. Not literally, of course. I’d like to keep it warm a little longer. But there are other ways to warm that little muscle than to keep it protected and far from anything that could hurt it. You Can’t Hurry Love did just that. It warmed my heart and filled my head with lightness, cuteness, and little butterflies in the stomach.

Romance? On Chocolate’n’Waffles? How come??? No, I didn’t lose faith in crime fiction. I just needed to wash my hands and my head of all the blood I’ve read this year with something different.

So, I picked wedding planners, three friends running a business, and a romance skeptic!

So, I claim I’m no romantic for a hundred reasons, but there are times when you think ‘wouldn’t it be nice?’ I chose to read this novel because of the main characters is said not to be a romantic. And when I met Natalie, I was happy to find someone who wasn’t all for hearts on napkins and kisses under the blue sky. Now, you can wonder what this kind of character does in a romance novel. I think Natalie was created to remind women like me that it’s okay to let others in. You see, as I was reading about her life, her work, her family and friends, I was reminded of myself. It was a bit scary. I like to think of myself as an independent no-nonsense lady who don’t need a gentleman. You Can’t Hurry Love was a nice reminder it is okay to change your mind. I’m not saying I’m off to read Bridesmaids or start picking stuff for my wedding to Charming Prince, but Laura Briggs presented enough strong arguments for me to let the guard down and let the door open to fluffy feelings.

But this is not all that the book brought me. I simply loved that all three women, Natalie, Ama and Tessa have three different personalities, they are independent, fun, and despite this being a romance novel, it also brings a lot of woman power and massive waves of girl friendship! Reading You Can’t Hurry Love is like having a girl’s night in: boys, work, nail polish and pizza! It allowed me to breathe calmly, to smile during sweet moments, to hope for a happy ending, and to wish I could taste the food described!!! My favourite part really was that those ladies have a business to run, a life apart from looking (or not) for the man of their dreams. Go girls!!! On top of their Wedding Belles company, they even have time for their own work thing. Women have superpowers. And sometimes they can have it all…

Society tells us we have to choose. Work or love. Work or babies. Work or social life. It feels as if our lives are divided between work and everything else. I say no to this! And so does Laura Briggs. What a feel-good yummy read!

So, I guess you’re wondering about the romance itself… I was a bit worried. Would it be boring? Would it feel like watching those afternoon movies I hate so much? The answer’s no!!! You Can’t Hurry Love doesn’t have one love story. Or two. But three! Three different takes and issues stemming from having or looking for a relationship. Each woman walk her path, with more or less ease, and show us different faces of love. My favourite, once again, is Natalie, and this fantastically bittersweet story of a girl who grew up with closed eyes.

These days’ hardships require us to take break and You Can’t Hurry Love is the remedy to all the bad news and dark days. This novel is a bubble of happiness, joy, love and friendship. It’s the marshmallow you dip in the hot chocolate on a rainy day and the chocolate ice-cream you devour on scorching afternoons. A wonderful piece of Wedding Cake, cosy and yummy. It felt me sighing with bliss. You Can’t Hurry Love won my heart and made it melt!

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