Always a Wedding Planner is a collection of four individual novellas written by four different Christian romance writers. Each story is about one of four friends who work together in a wedding planning business, so while they are completely separate stories and could certainly be read as standalones too I think, they are also connected through their friendship and business.

With any type of collection like this, I think there are always going to be those stories included that are going to stand out more than others... for me, the first story definitely did that... which was a great way to draw me in. While some of the others weren't quite as preferred in comparison, I still enjoyed the collection as a whole too. As novellas, these were very quick reads that can be read on their own, or all at once depending on your preference.

If you enjoy Christian romance and love a good wedding, this collection is definitely one to add to your TBR!

**I received a complimentary copy of this book for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

A very enjoyable collection of stories, four friends, four different stories but they all roll into one. Each author has worked together well with each other. A quick summer read and one to e enjoyed. I am giving this 4 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this eARC

Finally A Sweetheart
When wedding baker Felicity sees Will Davenport at his sister's cake consultation, all her high school feelings come rushing back. The romance that ensued was sweet and wholesome but was not without pitfalls.

Will had been hurt in his last relationship which caused him to apply filters to his relationship with Felicity that didn't exist. Meanwhile, Felicity has a secret that could change everything.

Finally A Sweetheart was a sweet second-chance romance with a strong theme that God can work out even the hard spaces in life for our good. I liked that the characters actively prayed about their relationship and the next steps.


Hemmed In E by RL Ashly
Kiki Bell is the wedding dress designer for the Weddings by Design business. When she meets Bing Kelley, her life becomes a romantic comedy complete with the crazy woman who imagined herself in a love relationship with Bing. There were some parts of Hemmed In that were funny as it seemed that everything that could go wrong went wrong.

I liked that Bing saw beauty in Kiki when it seemed no one else did but thought the "I love yous" came a little soons and without enough basis.

Camilla was a horrible person throughout the entire story and her backstory hinted at more of the same. The author hinted at some potential shady dealings but at the last minute pulled out a transformation that was not believable.

Still, I liked most of the characters, especially the two feisty children and the reminder that God has hemmed up in. We are surrounded by Him on every side and that's a reason to give Him glory.

The Worst-Kept Secret by Leeann Betts
Whenever Cassie is around Brady, it seems as if only bad things happen. Brady wants to have a deeper relationship with Cassie but he can't seem to get past her dislike for him.

This story was all about mistaken impressions. Cassie had an image of Brady that was all wrong and it colored her interactions with him. I liked how the lesson that you shouldn't believe everything you hear played out in this story.

Brady was a decent, honorable man and I'm glad he got the chance to be with Cassie though I would have liked to see their interplay once they finally got together.

The reader is reminded that they should pray about all things and in all situations and that we shouldn't judge others.

Taste and See by Davalynn Spencer
When Saffron Fare--Ronnie--developed a problem that could seriously hamper her business,Ty was more than happy to help.

I liked this sweet story that featured a chef who had a house in need of repair and a cowboy entrepreneur who liked playing handyman. Ty and Saffron seemed like they would make a great couple, but I would have liked to see more of them forging a relationship around handy jobs and recipe tasting.

I really enjoyed how the taste and see verse was interwoven throughout the story. It was a reminder that God is with us wherever we go and is deeply intertwined in all our affairs.

Always A Wedding Planner
This sweet collection showcased the romances of four friends who had a wedding business together. Each couple had a strong faith that was evident in each of the novellas. This was a quick, sweet read that will make you smile as you read
it.

I received an advanced reader's copy from NetGalley; a positive review was not required.

An amazing book with the story of the different friends and how they pulled together. It was inspiring and a reminder of the importance of people around you. It helped me see how God communicates differently with each of us.

This book was stories of four separatge women, woven into one concluding story at the end.
It is about the four women coping with their private life, romance and work. And trying to coexist with each other with differing ideas about the business.
Thiis is a lovely, but short, Christian book, with scriptural messages.

I was provided with this book in exchange for an unpaid, honest review.

Always a Wedding Planner
by RL Ashly; Leeann Betts; Toni Shiloh; Davalynn Spencer
Rating: 4/5

I always love reading these novella collections because I get to discover new authors and enjoy my favorites. I picked this one up because of Toni Shiloh but in turn, I discovered some other new-to-me authors who I am now interested in. This reading hobby is getting expensive lol. Each story revolves around one of the business partners of the Weddings by Design company located in Loveland, CO.

Finally a Sweetheart by Toni Shiloh
Felicity Anderson is the cake baker.

Hemmed In by RL Ashly
Kiki Bell is the seamstress.

The Worst-Kept Secret by Leeann Betts
Cassie Blackthorn is the coordinator.

Taste and See by Davalynn Spencer
Chef Saffron Fare is the caterer.

As each of these lovely ladies yearn to have a romance and love story of their own, they find their lives interrupted by eligible bachelors who find them irresistible and antics ensue. There's even some hints of Cinderella but can they manage their insecurities to open up and let someone love them?

I love when I can read a shorter story in a couple hours and laugh and smile over swoonworthy gentlemen who do their best to pursue the lady that makes a bride's dreams come true. If I had to choose a favorite, I think it was Hemmed In but they are all worth reading.

Highly recommend if you're looking for a clean, fun, rom-com beach read.

My thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC of the book. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own. No positive review was expected and no compensation received.

"Sharing a common theme of secrets and trust, these four authors have written a fun collection of stories. The stories revolve around a wedding business with each partner having a different specialty. As with most collections I've read with multiple authors, I enjoyed some of the stories more than the others. But if you notice the five stars I gave the collection, the ones I liked, I loved!

Let me tell you about Taste and See by Davalynn Spencer. This story was everything I've come to expect from her. The writing was top-notch with intriguing characters, lovely descriptions, a plot that moved along at the perfect pace, and it felt, for lack of a better word, substantial. This story alone is worth the price of the collection!

I enjoyed the fact that many of the characters were a little older than we often see in Christian Romance, being in their mid to late thirties. This seemed appropriate; after all, for a woman in her twenties to feel like she is ""never a bride"" would be a little silly, right?

Each of the stories had a faith message and had the characters searching their hearts and drawing closer to the Lord.

I will mention that a ""resolution"" to a conflict in one of the stories simply made my blood boil! The story was cute but the problem was much worse, in my opinion, than how it was treated and I felt that making light of what happened was wrong.

If you enjoy Christian romances, I recommend Always a Wedding Planner.


I was given a copy of this book. I was not required to give a favorable review nor was any money received for this review. All comments and opinions are my own."

I always enjoy novella collections. This one was just meh for me, though the concept was an interesting one. I enjoyed how the four friends were present in each of the stories. The ending was a bit anticlimactic, and I think more could've been done with Felicity's reveal. This was a quick read that was just okay overall.

Love and secret usually don't really go well.
But love covers a multitude of offenses.

Wedding stories are always a delight and this was not an exception with all the flair that comes with planning the ceremony. I loved the cake tasting best. I loved that the four friends owned their own business and had their own niche in wedding planning. It was beautiful.

It was admirable to read about the journey of growth taken by the characters that made them better versions of themselves in love and life.

The settings was swoon worthy. Who doesn't love a wedding destination. Lol!

Love, weddings, second chances, forgiveness, was written about amazingly in this book.

I received a copy of this book and this is my honest opinion.

This compilation of novellas is fun, warm, and a great summer read.

Each story has strong characters who are overcoming obstacles that life throws at them. Friends with warm relationships who support each other make these stories heartwarming. I loved the sense of community in each one of these.

I enjoyed the concept of friends working together, each with their specialty. Of course we find romance in each story because what’s a wedding anthology without romance? I enjoyed a couple stories more than others but all in all it’s a really cute and I recommend it for those who enjoy contemporary romance.

I received a complimentary copy of

5 stars Love will find you

ALWAYS A WEDDING PLANNER
Finally a Sweetheart by Toni Shiloh
Hemmed In by RL Ashley
The Worst-Kept Secret by Leeann Betts
Taste and See by Davalynn Spencer

This joint effort follows four modern women, a baker, a seamstress, an events planner, and a chef, who met at church and decided to combine all of their skills and start a wedding planning business. Each story depicts one of the ladies and incorporates their struggles in life and love with their faith and the love of an honorable man.

FINALLY A SWEETHEART by Toni Shiloh, Felicity, the baker of amazing wedding cakes, and Will, the barber.

HEMMED IN by RL Ashley Kiki, the seamstress, and Bing the Fireman, and unfortunately, Camilla the new office manager. Camilla was awful and the conclusion of her story was not believable.

In THE WORST KEPT SECRET by Leeann Betts, Cassie the events coordinator, and Brady, a limo driver.

In TASTE AND SEE by Davalynn Spencer, Ronnie, the chef, and Ty, the cowboy, and handyman.

In conclusion, I liked how the stories flowed from one, right into the next one. I think the book would have been better if Camilla was not in it, at all.

It is with great appreciation to #davalynnspencer @davalynnspencer #tonishiloh #leeannbetts #rlashley #barbourpublishing #netgalley for the complimentary copy of #alwaysaweddingplanner I was under no obligation to post a review.

This is a delightful collection of four novellas about four single friends who run a wedding planner business. They all feel that they are “always the wedding planner and never the bride”, but we see how their lives change.

This group of authors did a wonderful job keeping the book consistent with each one emphasizing one of the girls, her struggles, and ending with an epilogue, allowing a look into the future life they have achieved.

I enjoyed this book very much and highly recommend it as it is a quick, sweet read.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from Barbour Publishing and NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Overall I thought this was a great collection of novellas. The concept of having four friends run a wedding planning business together felt original. Since this book was written by four different authors, I do feel like the authors did a good job of keeping the characters consistent. While certain novellas found in collections could be read separately, I do feel like these four might even work better together. Rating on how the collection worked together: 4.5 stars
Here are my thoughts on each of the books.

"Finally a Sweetheart" by Toni Shiloh Felicity is the baker. She reconnects with a longtime friend, Will. Although they start to date, their outings are not without mishaps. But I think that adds to their appeal. Felicity also has a complicated relationship with her family. Communication struggles add difficulties to both sets of relationships Occasionally I did wonder why it took so long for her to tell the truth. But for a novella, I felt this had a more developed plot. This felt like a substantial story. My rating for this: 4.8 stars.

"Hemmed In" by RL Ashly. First of all, I love how the author connects this title to a Bible verse. Kiki takes over the care of her niece and nephew once their parents die. I find her commitment to the them and to restoring their property admirable. I also really liked how Bing was intentional about pursuing her and supporting her. But there is a difficult character who takes over the storyline. She needs a talking to and to be held accountable to her actions. Instead the characters decide to prank her and distract her. This felt passive aggressive to me and took away from the storyline. I struggled with enjoying the really great parts of the storyline because this obnoxious character was never really reined in. My rating for this one: 3.7 stars

"The Worst-Kept Secret" by Leeann Betts. Cassie, the main character, is rather opinionated on her expectations of people. Brady is not who he seems at first. The bulk of this novel is spent with them misunderstanding each other. Very little time is spent on the romance part - that really only happens in the last few chapters. This title almost needed to be longer to explore more of the couple side. I did really like who Brady was about. Cassie was a bit more gruff, so I did not feel as drawn to her character. Overall a good book as long as one was not expecting romantic gestures. My rating: 3.9 stars.

"Taste and See" by Davalynn Spencer This one starts with a major problem that Ronnie did not know how to solve. Thankfully one her friends knew a guy who stepped in to help. Ty is definitely a great hero - strong and steady and willing to help. As I enjoy cooking, I appreciated this chef. I also liked the fact that she learned to rely on asking others for help. The issue that she has was a clever one. This title connected most strongly to its theme verse, "Taste and See that the Lord is good." I felt like the relationship was developed well. My rating for this one: 4.8 stars.

Final rating for the collection and all of the novellas: 4.3
Note: I did read a copy of this collection through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Always a Wedding Planner is a cute collection of short stories interwoven as they follow four friends turned business partners in the wedding industry. Felicity bakes and decorates the cakes, Kiki is the seamstress for any dress or veil needs, Cassie basically does all the organizing and figuring out of other wedding details, and Ronnie is the chef. Together, they operate Weddings by Design. But despite all the weddings they attend, will they ever each get their own moment to shine?

Each story is nicely interwoven with the others to the point where you see repeat characters, but each story has its own unique focus and follows the point of view of each of the partners in their own love stories. I could tell the stories were written by different authors as I could sense slightly different writing styles but not in a way that felt super disjointed or jarring. There were some stories that I liked more than others, but overall I really enjoyed the collection. Some of the storylines feel rushed, but considering this is a group of novellas, the stories are short so it's only natural that there isn't as much time to develop the story as a full length novel.

With talk of tasty food and cake, firefighters, cowboys, a hint of enemies to lover storyline, second chances, weddings galore, a character you love to hate, relying on God, and enduring friendship, what's not to love? Also, Always a Wedding Planner has a very simply yet beautiful cover, which certainly helps to tie it all together.

I received a complimentary copy of this book and I'm leaving an honest and voluntary review.

I really enjoyed this book including 4 novellas. All follow a group of friends with one friend being the focus of each novella. Love and hard things and redemption. These are clean stories with scriptures laced in. I appreciate that.

Review of Finally a Sweetheart by Toni Shiloh

I so enjoyed this story! The main characters were utterly charming, and I loved that they had known each other as teens and then reconnect after not having seen each other for a number of years! It was so fun that these four best friends run a wedding planning business together, each of the ladies had a unique personality and wedding planning specialty and they meshed so well together! I loved getting to learn about the heroine's profession, the art of crafting wedding cakes, absolutely fascinating! Finally a Sweetheart was such a fun read and I so enjoyed every minute I spent reading it! Highly recommended!

I received an ebook copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. My review was not influenced in any way. All thoughts and opinions are one hundred percent my own.

A lovely clean romance full of likeable characters abd interesting locations. The perfect summer read.

This 4-in-1 romance collection of Christian fiction novellas was utterly adorable! It was about 4 friends who run a wedding planning business together and each book focused on a different love story.


I really enjoyed all 4 stories and loved that they each had an epilogue to show us a glimpse into the character’s lives later on. The characters were sweet, unique, and relatable. I would recommend this sweet set of novellas to anyone wanting a refreshing, quick read!


Thank you to NetGalley and Barbour Books for the complimentary copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

These collections never disappoint! A beautiful bunch of stories that offer a sweet reminder of a verse in the Bible as well as a lovely sense of romance that keeps your mood light. I loved that the books linked and focused on friends who shared a wedding planning business - however, some of the continuity between the stories left me a bit perplexed. Overall, a lovely collection to read during summer to make up for the lack of weddings last year!

** spoiler alert ** Overall I enjoyed the book for it's main characters and the idea of having four bridal business owners find their own heart's desires. This works for a read that I think of as 'fluff'. It is sweet, a solid enough story that I can use as a 'palate cleanser' between more intense offerings. The book is definitely worth the read but it wouldn't go on to my read again shelf. (Not many books do.)
The collective of authors had loveable main characters. I particularly liked the men they each met and gave their hearts to. I think each could have easily had their own full size story.
Here's my main problem. These are four business owners who should have a contract between them. When faced with their own separate challenges fear of being "fired" rules the day. This isn't reasonable. They are owners, partners, not employees who can lose their jobs in my opinion.
The big problem in the book for me was the hiring of a relative as an office manager without a majority decision and the partners had to put up with it to the point that one partner was badly harassed. This is not a realistic conflict at all. If this were a sound business, Camilla would not be set in place to cause problems. That's the main reason my rating is only a three.
I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced copy of the book. It was still worth the read. I just wish someone, somewhere along the chain of writing, editing and publication would have noticed the problem. This could easily have been a five star with the great chemistry, humor and excellent main characters. This is my honest opinion.