Summary:
💭 Dual POV
🌦 Grumpy/Sunshine
🌶 Moderate level of spice
❤️ Childhood friends to lovers
😂 Great banter
🐶 Lots of animals!

Review:
This was an easy, quick read with some great tropes. I enjoyed the banter and tension between Ensley and Drew and their spicy scenes were great! The miscommunication trope isn't my favourite and can make things tedious for me personally, but I did appreciate that it wasn't dragged on for too long. 3.5 stars

Oh, the joys of unrequited love. The despair of unrequited love. What happens when the longing and wishing turn into a reality?

In THE WEDDING CONFESSION Ensley must overcome her hard childhood to find a place in her career and ... love life. Her positivity mantra exhausts her at her bank teller job. She needs a change, but is not sure she's ready to take any jumps. Until she gets stuck in a shed at a wedding with her childhood crush, Drew.

Oh, Drew - the grumpy veterinarian who prefers animals to people (same) and just likes one-night stands because he doesn't want to be like his philandering father. Everything is fine until he gets stuck in a shed at a wedding with the little girl (now grown woman) he used to admire.

The story had all the ups and downs of romance, but you really feel for the characters' childhoods. Both had to overcome a lot.

There was not a lot of conflict between the two until the third act. I think the story could have used a bit more pizazz earlier.

However, it's still a nice romance for a cozy weekend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for an e-copy of THE WEDDING CONFESSION to review.

I rate THE WEDDING CONFESSION four out of five stars.

"The Wedding Confession" is a sweet but steamy romcom about a grumpy vet and a (trying to be anyway) sunshiny bank teller. Ensley knew Drew when they were growing up in the same town. Her family was painfully poor and she saw Drew as her potential savior. Years later, they run into each other at a wedding. Following a super amusing meet cute, Ensley decides she wants to see if there is enough between her and Drew to get him to go beyond his rule about only engaging in one-night stands. In her quest, however, she ends up lying - albeit by omission - and potentially dooming anything that might have developed between them.

Drew and Ensley are both likable characters. Their love story is fairly low angst yet also keeps the reader involved. I liked the backstory on Ensley's family, though the late in the story revelation about a young Drew feels a little forced. There is also little explanation as to why Drew and Garrett are no longer friends and why Garrett was not included in the original wedding party. But the overall romance is lovely.

3.5 stars rounded to 4. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complementary ARC of this book. The opinions herein are my own.

Talk about a SLOW BURN. I don’t really understand why some tropes love the miscommunication right at the end.. but alas. Predictable but steamy and a fun ride.

oh my goodness, this was the best book!! it was soooo sweet and i'm so in love with it!! as always, thank you so much to netgalley for letting me read this book early! pick it up asap!!!

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 follows Ensley reconnecting, in more ways than one, with her brother's best friend - Drew. As the pair grow closer with Drew's grumpiness, secrets and kitten hijinks, confessions that echo their love follow.

- ~ -

Honestly, I only stayed for the cat.

My man, Drew, has some serious anger issues. There's grumpy, then there's jerk behaviour. Granted, we get to know the why but wooo it's a load of trouble. And I would love to say he did something super grand by the end and it redeemed him but nope, just the classic confession and grand gesture-ish. I need him to put in more effort, show us all the ways he's improved. Needed a lot more from him other than just being attracted to the main character.

Now, I wish I could say that the female main character saw Drew or remembered him for something other than her childhood crush, like some instant when he was all she fall back upon (I'm grasping to find something to make him likable) but nothing but disappointment.

Sadly, I don't think I'll be continuing with the series considering the story writing itself had some missing plotholes which made the irredeemable cast even more agonizing.

- ~ -

3.46 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

When a wedding incident went wrong and you’re stuck with your childhood crush in a downpour, what more could go wrong? Or right! I felt as though this meet-cute held some hard topics where you can see the characters growth throughout the story.
this is a cute little, run of the mill rom-com. Nothing more, nothing less.

This slow-burn, sunshine meets grump romance was such a delightful read! I was hooked from the opening scene.

The sexy, witty banter between Ensley and Drew is so good, and the fact that they are childhood friends adds a layer of history that just amplifies their connection. There is a lot of emotional depth to both characters, and their experiences both separately and together add to that.

I absolutely loved that Ensley is such a strong woman. She knows what she wants, and she’s not afraid to go after it! Her bond with her siblings (knowing what their childhood was like) is heartwarming. Despite her childhood dream of wanting Drew to rescue her, she is an independent woman who can take care of herself - yay!

Highly recommend this book to all romance lovers! 💓

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book hit many of my likes. Written in dual POV, yes please. Characters who challenge one another, heck yea! Comedy and Romance, I feel like I have won publishers clearing house. The only downside to why I gave this book 3 solid stars was the writing. I am someone with ADD, so yes, I get distracted easily and can go off topic, but a book that leaves details out and no explanation was almost like reading a 13-year-old's diary. I don’t need everything explained to me, but give me enough so I can use my imagination a little. Don’t leave it unknown and be like, oh yeah, and that...wait when did that happen and why.

This was fantastic and such a fun read. I loved it so much and kept turning the pages. Can’t wait to be able to share this with friends.

First book I have read from JJ Knight and really enjoyed this. The thing that usually holds me back with books is the writing style, but I really liked Knight's. Very quite premise full of lots of our favourite trops!

When I see a new book from this talented storyteller, it's an auto pre-order and then eagerly anticipating when it will hit my Kindle. The world stops turning and I read straight through. And she has yet to disappoint.

Ensley James is determined to help her best friend through her wedding events, even if it means dealing with the stepmother who makes Cinderella's look like a paragon of love and motherhood. But her best efforts result in Ensley being banished from the wedding. As in locked outside the country club. Makeup and hair already picture worthy in her bridesmaid’s dress. In the rain. The torrential rain.

Enter, Drew Daniels, her brother's best friend, who rescues Ensley from the rain by finding a tool shed where they can wait out the storm. Finally, she has hopes of something developing with the guy she's crushed on for years, until he tells her he’s strictly a one-night kind of guy. What's a girl to do? If you’re Ensley, you goad the grumpy, broody, swoony veterinarian into giving you three dates.

I adore everything about this phenomenal romantic comedy! Ensley and Drew are the perfect opposites – authentic, relatable and charming grumpy/sunshine. Their story is full of humor, heat and heart, with possibly a secret or two, and I hated to see it end. Cute, funny, and sweet with a touch of angst, this fantastic read will give you hours of epic fun guaranteed to make any romantic heart smile.

The plot had potential, but I felt like there was too much going on and it didn't really flow. The pair go back and forth with the confessions as they get to know each other again. The little ones as they banter are cute. The big ones at the end kind of seemed out-of-the blue. Maybe the book needed more pages dedicated to some of the emotional background, especially for Drew.

Anyway, the sexual attraction and tension were there, as were all the cute fur babies. The book has a lot of great scenes and is easy to binge-read, but I guess I just wasn't a fan of how they were put together on the whole.

I love the heroine (also referred to as the female lead) and i get all her decisions because i genuinely do understand them. i really like her.

the same CANNOT be said for the hero. i hated him! he acted like a spoiled, stupid man-child for 90% of the novel. this is not an exageration. i dont understand how the people at his clinic put up with him. he deserved way more calling out than he got. i get he had a tragic backstory and all because, damn how could his dad act like that and still be considered a human being, but that doesn't excuse his behavious, his attitude and his actions because they were all so poor.

how did the female lead even like him???

she deserved way better.

this whole book wou;d've been way better if it was just about the female lead and exploring how growing up poor affected her and like how she could move forward. the hero did not need to be in this book.

it could have been about the female lead and the female lead only and it would've been way better.

but i understand why the hero had to feature.

it just didn't need to focus on him so much like the heroine was amazing on her own. i didn't need to read about the guy's journey and character arc because i didn't like him. and that's really it.

Ensley is a bridesmaid at her best friend's wedding and Drew is a groomsman. Drew happens to have been a friend of her brother's when she was growing up and knows how hard a childhood Ensley had. After losing her mother at a very young age, Ensley cared for her two younger sisters because her Dad couldn't function after her mother's death. After saving the bride from her selfish stepmother, Ensley finds herself kicked out of the wedding venue. Drew finds her and together they are unable to get back into the locked venue and end up avoiding a rain storm by breaking into a shed. Drew is not a relationship guy and he and Ensley share a moment in the shed. After returning home, Ensley reaches out to Drew by text and they start communicating. Cute story.

What a great book. I enjoyed the sweet, fun story that held my attention through out the book. Relatable characters that were fun to get to know in the story.

When Ensley James and Drew Daniels find themselves locked out of the country club wedding where both are part of the wedding party, they take shelter from the elements in a shed on site and soon find themselves getting intimate with confessions being made. Back to the real world, Ensley carries on working as a bank teller, where she is quite popular with her sunshine disposition and friendly attitude. Meanwhile the grumpy Drew has his vet practice where he keeps losing receptionists due to his scary demeanor. Circumstances bring the two together again with Ensley filling in as receptionist and challenging Drew's one date fling rule.

This was a fun read that starts off well and then gets a bit slow in the middle before finishing well. Ensley is hiding a bit of baggage behind her endlessly cheerful persona while Drew is just the crankiest vet one could imagine (although he's a totally different person with the animals he cares for). There are a few misunderstandings that lead to Ensley having two jobs at once and not knowing how to get out of that situation. The actual romance between the two is a series of incidents where interruptions take them off course regularly. It does help they have a history dating back her childhood when Drew was best friend to her older brother. They are able to help each other along the way to some personal growth and towards their own relationship.

Overall this was quite enjoyable and I give it 3.5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and Montlake for the advanced reader copy. I have provided this review voluntarily.

Thankyou to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this ARC.
This is my first title by this author and i will be reading more from them in the future.
This was an enjoyable romance title.
I enjoy books with dual POV and forced proximity.
It had humour, romance and spice and who doesn't love that?
Thankyou
4/5 stars

A solid romance you can binge at the airport! Excellent spice and a decent plot that didn't try too hard but was heartfelt. A down on her luck woman who has a lot of spunk and personality and ~tries~ to see the positive in the hard hand she's dealt reconnects with a childhood crush who's a grumpy veterinarian with commitmentphobia. Cue romance! I liked the back stories of the characters and appreciated the portrayal over poverty that was empathetic but didn't induce pity. Our female protagonist didn't grow up with much but she grew up really strong and mindful, never a damsel in distress but not walled off to other people or help. Our grump animal lover was probably less realistic but his character worked well in the story. Great lil quick read!

This was such a lovely story. It was exactly the feel good read I needed today. There’s romance, comedy, spice and a whole bunch of lovable characters. Ensley is a breath of fresh air and honesty with a take no sh** kind of attitude. I adored her! Drew on the other hand, I wanted to smack him so many times. Stubbornness to the max!! when the two of the end up on page together, you know there’s about to be some good things happening.