Denise Williams does it again! Do You Take This Man was the perfect blend of two characters who don't want to fall in love due to past bad experiences mixed with forced proximity. I love a strong female lead who is self sufficient and doesn't need a man to come in and fix anything in her life, but instead can come in to support her like a good partner should. The chemistry of the main characters in this book was great and I loved that the characters were real enough that you got to experience their flaws in addition to their strengths. Something else Denise Williams does in this book is give us some good healthy arguments, in addition with some good healthy angry spicy scenes. (Which are surprisingly hard to come by) Overall I definitely recommend this for readers who are a fan of Denise Williams' other works and of romances with the trope of enemies to lovers, anti-romance, and force proximity.

✨ 4.5 stars ✨ ⁣
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A divorce attorney who moonlights as a wedding officiant strikes up a romance with the wedding planner she really doesn’t want to like. 💕⁣
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This book, just like Denise’s other books, has characters you will fall in love with, conflicts that aren’t annoying, lots of open door steamy scenes, and so much going for it. DO YOU TAKE THIS MAN was the first of Denise’s book that I did the audio for and I was very pleased with that experience! Great narration. Hooray for my new Las Vegas library card that made the audio available immediately on Libby. ⁣
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All of these books stand alone, you don’t need to read them in order or anything, but it’s fun to find the little thread that connects them if you’ve read them all.

Nice implementation of the "I don't want to fall in love" trope coupled with forced proximity. I enjoyed RJ and Lear's banter; they're a perfectly matched couple. Also featured great side characters that offer insight to the characters.

2 stars!

The premise of this book is fun - a little bit of animosity between two people who are ridiculously attracted to each other is always entertaining.

Unfortunately for me, I had a hard time getting into this one. I found the characters too hard to root for, the set up of their back stories and emotional depth happened too late in the story for it to feel organic, and some of the tropes fell pretty flat.

Thank you Berkeley Publishing Group and #NetGalley for the arc.

Denise William books just touch a special part deep in my soul that I absolutely love. It's raw, and emotional and Do you Take this Man is exactly that!

This book was a solid read for Denise William's fans out there. RJ doesn't believe in love, but somehow she still has officiated plenty of weddings. Lear is a wedding planner trying to find his place. The two definitely butt heads from the start, but are still drawn to one another.

I just love Denise Williams' books. Do You Take This Man is Denise Williams' latest book and is SUCH a good audiobook. This story is about RJ who after going viral officiates weddings on the side while her dayjob is working as a divorce attorney. Lear was an athletic event planner, but after a messy relationship and an event gone wrong, he's returned from LA and is working at his cousin's wedding planning business. RJ and Lear meet and well, it isn't a love connection or anything. Actually, RJ can't stand him. That's right - we have HATE TO LOVE trope in this book. And the way it plays out is PERFECT. Seriously, I loved how this book was plotted as well as the chemistry of the romance.

The audiobook of Do You Take This Man has dual narration with Teddy Hamilton narrating Lear's chapters and January LaVoy narrating RJ's chapters. Both are immaculate in their reading of this book. The audiobook is 9 hours and 53 minutes long. I listened to it sped up to 2x speed which was honestly still easy to follow and process. At this point I am a devoted Williams fan -- particularly the audiobook version of her books.

DNF - couldn’t find myself invested in the plot or characters. this was disappointing for me only because i loved her last book so much

Denise Williams never misses! She knows how develop characters and plot and to keep you guessing in the third act! I can't wait to read more from her in the future!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

i've found that while I love a romcom movie with a wedding setting, I haven't had as much luck with books and the same setting. It's always a jaded love recluse who's heart is change, and maybe I'm just not in the mood for that story, but this wasn't a win for me.

An attorney with an "anti-romance stance" who moonlights as a wedding officiant meets a sports events manager who lands himself in the wedding planning business. They make for an oddly endearing couple in Do You Take This Man, a contemporary opposites-attract romance from Denise Williams (The Fastest Way to Fall; How to Fail at Flirting).

RJ is a high-powered divorce attorney with no confidence in the lasting power of love, despite the words she recites as an in-demand wedding officiant whose first ceremony goes viral. Lear is a bruised, newly single event planner working for his cousin's wedding planning business while he figures out his next steps in life. The two are far from compatible, yet their disdain for each other seems to spark something between them as their work lives are thrown together over the course of several months. When that spark ignites, the two agree to an "enemies with benefits" arrangement in the bedroom: "We made each other feel good, and then we went back to veiled contempt [at work]."

Romance readers will know where Williams is taking this set-up from the first pages of Do You Take This Man but, as with all of the best romance reads, knowing where it will end does nothing to subtract from the clever twists and turns it takes to get there. As their relationship evolves, RJ and Lear must learn to take down the many walls they've put up against love in the name of self-protection and decide if there's something, after all, to what they sell to their wedding clients--the idea of lasting romance. --Kerry McHugh, freelance reviewer

Love the cover of this book! Also what a fun premise! Unfortunately I just didn’t feel the chemistry between these characters, so I couldn’t get into it. Did not finish.

GOOD DAMN, THE HATING/ENEMY SEX WAS DROP DEAD GOOD in this book!

RJ is literally who I want to be. A boss, secretly soft-hearted, snarky and determined with goals and achievements. Not only that, but she is full of surprises, even to herself. It's fantastic to see a character so good not change but grow into themselves more and their happiness!
Lear honestly switched up, for the better, in this book. First, I started not liking him, but I loved him as the story continued and the relationship grew. The romance worked so well!

I loved how naturally their rivalry worked with the change to friends with benefits (chemistry was too good to deny) and grew into an intense romance.

This book was oodles of fun! This is the first Denise Williams book I read, and oh boy, I wish I read her stuff earlier! She is such an amazing writer and this romance was just perfect! I cannot wait to get started on the rest of her books now.

When it comes to Denise Williams, I've come to expect the best in banter, exquisite tension, and steamy scenes, and this rom-com delivers on all accounts, thus earning all the stars in my books! I loved the effortlessly witty writing, the push and pull tension between RJ and Lear, and did I mention the banter? Sharp, clever, and often left me quietly chuckling to myself. The author's ability to slowly build chemistry between characters is enviable. Read this book! And thank me later.

this was such an interesting book! i am so thankful to netgalley for letting me read this one early! such an amazing plot and characters!! blew me away!!!

RJ. My beautiful, powerful, incredible, and secretly tooth achingly sweet RJ. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! Denise’s heroines are always such strong, passionate, and wonderful human beings, and RJ is no different. She is driven, she is kind, she is loyal, and she does not crack under pressure! And she is also a soft marshmallow. She thinks she has a heart of stone, but she could not be more wrong 🥹⁣
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And Lear. Oh baby, Lear. I don’t even know where to start with this man!!!! He’s sick of being taken advantage of for being nice (thanks to his ex), and now he’s ready to be an asshole. Too bad RJ seems to be ruining his chances before he can even start.
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Their chemistry?⁣
Their passion?⁣
THEM????⁣
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If you can’t tell, I’m obsessed. Please read this book.

if you love enemies to lovers? this one will be for you!

rj is a badass lawyer and I love her confidence. she has her walls built so high and no one is breaking them. if we would have gotten more of her backstory, I could have understood why she was like that but I don't think it justified how she was so guarded.

you learn more about lear which makes sense why he doesn't trust easily but you're putting two same people with the same idea of distrust together.

the spice? yes! the chemistry? yes!

didn't fall in love with the characters but I do think other people will enjoy this book.

thank you to netgalley so much for the arc in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions <3

No shocker here that I was obsessed with this. Denise Williams writes the best books and this one just might be my new fav.

Sorry folks, this one isn't going to be the usually ecstatic post to share my thoughts. Rarely do I find a book I don't like, but this one unfortunately falls into that category. It wasn't for me. Do You Take This Man felt convoluted and the characters felt egotistical and pompous from both sides. Their interest in one another felt contorted and made me feel like they were using one another for physical need and downplaying their interest in one another. I admire a independent woman but the way it was communicated didn't feel empowering. The male character's simmering anger when people were disrespectful toward RJ felt arrogant and caused me to roll my eyeballs over and over again. I have enjoyed other novels by Denise Williams. Sadly, this one wasn't it. I didn't root for them to get together, because honestly, they seemed better apart.