Publisher: Penguin Randomhouse
Published: January 30, 2018
Copyright: 2018
Pages: 310
Form: Paperback
Series: The Wedding Date #1
Author: Site | Facebook | Twitter
Buy: The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

I vow to take thee as my date, to pretend to have and to hold, from rehearsal dinner to reception end, till Sunday do us part.

Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is something Alexa Monroe wouldn’t normally do. But there’s something about Drew Nichols that’s too hard to resist.

Drew has never found it hard to meet women–or to know just when to leave them. But now, on the eve of his ex’s wedding festivities, he is minus a plus one…until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend.

From the best man’s toast to the bouquet toss, Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible. But before they know it, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she’s the mayor’s chief of staff–and neither of them can stop thinking about the other.

They’re just two high-powered professionals on a collision course toward the long-distance dating disaster of the century–or closing the gap between what they think they need and what they truly want…

MY THOUGHTS

While out perusing the shelves in the book store I was drawn to this book. I’d never read a romance story featuring a mixed-race couple before, but I was game so I picked up a copy of The Wedding Date from Amazon. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and managed to finish it in a couple of days. Once I got started it was hard to put down.

The meet-cute of Alexa and Drew is fun and their chemistry is immediate. I love the odd circumstances of their meeting and their easy banter. I was glad when Drew plucked up the courage to ask Alexa to be his ‘fake girlfriend’ because of their interactions with each other. Though they are both extremely attracted to one another, their conversation is an easy and fun volley. You can tell that there is a level of comfort and almost familiarity between them. Which, to me, only added to the chemistry.

THE CHARACTERS

I love Alexa. She is strong, intelligent, and passionate about every aspect of her life. Especially her work and relationships. The only thing that really bothered me sometimes about Alexa was her internal dialogue. She constantly thinks she’s not ‘good enough’ for Drew, and she compares herself to white women a lot. This shit irks the hell out of me. I understand having insecurities but I can’t say I’ve ever wondered if I was ‘good enough’ for any man, so I just can’t relate. And I feel Alexa, was doing this specifically because Drew is white and a Pediatric Surgeon. Never mind her own professional accomplishments. Also, the incessant comparisons to white women. His attraction is to her, period. If he wanted another, I’m sure he could find another but he chooses to spend his time with her. No one else should even exist in their relationship. She also has a tendency to overreact.

Drew is funny, sweet, smart but boy he could be obtuse and obnoxious at times. There were instances where Alexa wants and needs serious answers from him and he thinks it’s appropriate to respond with a joke. Also, I don’t know if it was meant to be funny, but he treats his so-called best friend, Carlos, poorly at times. My feelings hurt on his behalf, making me wonder if men really relate to each other like this? He wants to be the center of attention and can sometimes be immature in handling relationships with friends and lovers. Drew needs to grow up a bit and face his feelings head-on and stop running away from commitment.

OVERALL

Despite my grievances about the characters, overall I enjoyed this book. The Wedding Date was my first foray into romance featuring an interracial couple and it was a nice introduction. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more. This book was fun and flirty and its couple had great chemistry and conversation. It was a quick, fun read!

Have you read The Wedding Date or any other novel by Jasmine Guillory? If so please let me know in the comments what you thought!  For more book talk click here and here!