‘The Wedding Party’ (2019) Book Review
The Wedding Party Synopsis from the Publisher:
Maddie and Theo have two things in common:
1. Alexa is their best friend
2. They hate each other
After an “oops, we made a mistake” night together, neither one can stop thinking about the other. With Alexa’s wedding rapidly approaching, Maddie and Theo both share bridal party responsibilities that require more interaction with each other than they’re comfortable with. Underneath the sharp barbs they toss at each other is a simmering attraction that won’t fade. It builds until they find themselves sneaking off together to release some tension when Alexa isn’t looking.
But as with any engagement with a nemesis, there are unspoken rules that must be abided by. First and foremost, don’t fall in love.
Review:
So after my venture into Jasmine Guillory novels with The Wedding Date, I decided that despite my disappointment, I would still read some of her other work, including The Wedding Party. After all, I bought them, so reading them made sense. And frankly, I don’t like giving up on an author after one bad reading experience because even with my favorite authors, there are always one or two books of theirs that simply didn’t work for me.
So I chugged along by picking up The Wedding Party, which is technically book #33 of the series, but doesn’t really tie into book #2 so… I didn’t feel any major pull to go in order. Plus, I loved the premise – enemies to lovers? It’s one of my favorite tropes! So yes, I was ready to give it a go.
Unfortunately, this book also took me a while to finish. It’s basically a rehash of The Wedding Date. Maddie and Theo are supposed to be enemies and hate each other, but they aren’t, and they don’t. Theo just annoys Maddie for… being elitist? Or she believes he’s elitist. It’s also hard to build the tension and give the enemies-to-lovers trope due to when they fall into bed with each other within the first 30 pages.
And then they soon decide to sleep with each other (basically, friends with benefits) until Alexa’s wedding day – Alexa from The Wedding Date, who is now engaged and has asked both Theo and Maddie to be in her wedding party. But they have a strict rule – Alexa can never find out about them! Why? Because Alexa would be too happy about it and for Theo and Maddie, this is just sex. I guess that’s a legit excuse to keep it a secret.
Maddie and Theo lacked chemistry or any real character development. The Wedding Party switches POV but I couldn’t tell them apart as they shared a very familiar voice. It was a very repetitive book (like The Wedding Date) with very little plot or conflict. I also read a few reviews of this book before reading it and was surprised/amused at how many people complained about Maddie and Theo eating so much pizza. And then I read it and… this is NO exaggeration. Pizza is mentioned like…. 78 times. I’m 100% serious. There has to be other things to eat in the Berkley area than pizza, right? Right!?
Anyway, I hate that I was so bored by The Wedding Party. I’ve heard good things about The Proposal though, so maybe I’ll try that one next.
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