The Wedding Date

the store suggests some questions when writing a review, so I’ll just answer those:
- What did you like or dislike? Likes: first and foremost, I think this book has captured the rosiness and uncertainty of falling in love possibly better than anything I have ever read. This book evoked the feelings of falling in love (both good and bad) so much that it was way more affecting than I thought it was going to be. Second favorite thing was that I loved how the dialogue/narration from the characters was so true to how people actually talk. Dislikes: over too quickly, I binge read it in 2 days.
- Who would you recommend this book to? Everyone? When I started this book, I would have said “anyone looking for a fun, sexy beach read,” but after finishing it I would open that up way further to most everyone. Uh, not kids, though. It’s definitely rated R (not NC-17 like a romance novel, although is a sexy book and the topic is a romantic relationship)
- Why did you give it this rating: because this is a really good book. I went into this expecting a fun, light read, and I definitely got that, but this book really exceeded my expectations.

Enjoyable, romantic with a hint of steam. This was a nicely written story about finding what you desire when you did not even know you were looking for something. I am looking forward to the Proposal.

I really wanted to like this novel. However the first few pages left me highly upset with the author's description of a black woman. The author describes the main character as a "standard black girl with hips and booty". I have the same body type and I am far from "standard"...beautiful but definitely not standard. The author also made the main character seem insecure and always described beauty in a European standard of beauty. I take great issue with a black author making a successful lawyer insecure with her fabulous body! I am far from a size 0 and I do not aspire to be. I rock a short blond afro and my size 10 over 35 body stops traffic and both black and white men find me gloriously made especially my husband! Therefore although I enjoyed the story I am giving the book 3 stars for the author's portrayal of a successful black woman. This is 2017 and black girl magic is on fleek!

There are few books where I've been so incredibly bored that I couldn't even bother finishing the book. Before going on vacation, I thought this would make a fun beach read. I was very wrong. I had to force myself to read the first half or so of this book. The characters were unrelatable. The story line was yawn inducing and predictable. Maybe it got better in the second half, but I wouldn't know. I couldn't suffer through it any longer. I "donated" it to the library of the resort that I was staying. Maybe someone else will find it there and enjoy it more than I did.

Not very good... Was very disappointed with this book. Luckily, it was just to pass the time on the beach, but it really wasn't very good.

The characters could have been developed more and not make an issue of an interracial romance. It was more about that, than the characters. There were a dozen different themes that could have occurred - a doctor's feelings and schedules, hurt from a previous relationship, a distance romance, etc.

I need to start this review with a disclaimer - I haven't read very many romances. I remember getting my hands on a few Harlequins of my aunt's while growing up, and the premise of a set, expected romance with a mysterious and chiseled, manly man just didn't appeal to me. I was under the impression that's what romances were! And now as an adult I've read a couple delightful "young adult" romances (Rainbow Rowell and Amy Spalding) but as a grown woman, these were not romantic escapes for me as much as fun forays into a teenager's mind.

And then came The Wedding Date. From the few first pages, I couldn't set it down. Guillory provides just enough details to have a sense of place, and as a Bay Area native, it was so good to read a book where my local geography was on point! The characters are well-drawn and believable, and I especially like how Drew and Alexa are both people - imperfect, headstrong, impatient, but also loving, real, HILARIOUS characters that I really rooted for. I liked that both characters had lives and struggles and accomplishments outside of the relationship. The book also does a good job showing how men and women can both be terrible at interpreting communication!

One more disclaimer - I am a known prude when it comes to books with explicit content. But the sex scenes were fun and engaging (and funny) and dare I say: hot. I liked Drew and Alexa and wanted them to have a good time with each other - and, ahem, they do.

My fave character aside from the leads is Carlos and I really hope he's featured in an upcoming book!

I’m always down with supporting black romance writers. Black romance authors don’t get their shine or recognition like their white counterparts. I read a lot of black romance, the majority of it self-published, so I’m always super excited when I see hype around a “traditionally published” debut black romance author. I immediately fist-pump like it’s my win as will.

The description of The Wedding Date immediately drew me in (along with the cover. So cute!) I don’t mind reading a Romantic Comedy in book format. I just don’t want to see it as a movie. I’m weird that way. And getting stuck in an elevator and being a fake girlfriend for a hot guy who’s a groomsman at his ex’s wedding? All the yeses that ever yesed!

Quick plot summary – Alexa and Drew get stuck on an elevator. Drew needs a date to his ex’s wedding. He asks Alexa. She says yes. There’s mutual attraction. They hook up after the wedding. The hook up turns into a long-distance “thing.” Both are too stupid and immature to tell the other person how they feel. Hurt feelings happen because of said stupidity and lack of communication. These two are professionals and in their 30s but have the maturity of 16 year olds.

The first part of The Wedding Date started off really strong for me. Drew was charming. Alexa was falling for the charm. I felt the mutual attraction between the two characters. Race wasn’t a big issue for them but it became an issue to Drew’s friends. He needs better friends. (Alexa is black. Drew is white.) With this book being described as a romantic comedy, I was expecting to laugh or at least giggle a little. That did not happen. Sorry, the jokes about cheese and crackers were not funny. Were they supposed to be? Once the post-wedding hook up happens and Alexa and Drew decide to continue their “thing” past the wedding weekend, that’s when both of these characters got dumb real quick.

I was expecting more from Alexa. She got insecure super quick; comparing herself to Drew’s previous girlfriends (who were all white and super skinny). Like girl, seriously? With all that ass and titties and you’re worried about stick-thin Barbies?? Puh-leeze. It’s obvious Alexa needs more black girlfriends in her life. Drew is a dick for taking Alexa to places where his ex-girlfriends were gonna be without giving Alexa a heads-up. Who does that? That is a bonehead move!

It seemed like everything they did centered around food. We were privy to almost every meal and snack that Drew and Alexa consumed but when they went on an actual date or excursion, that was glossed over. Whut?!?!?! The date is how they, and the reader, get to know them and get invested in the relationship! They have a lot of sex, which is mostly fade to black. That’s fine by me. I wasn’t invested in their sexual attraction after they had sex post-wedding because their stupidity started coming through.

I really wanted to like The Wedding Date but the main characters made it impossible for me to want to see them together in the end! They were so immature! They did not communicate. Oh! And Alexa taking A L L the blame for the fight they had towards the end? I don’t think so. Drew had his part in it as well. I’d say his part was a good 80%, Mr. I’m Friends With All My Exes. Mr.s I Can’t Call You My Girlfriend Because I’m An Immature Turd. On the real, Alexa would have been better off with Drew’s friend, Carlos. Maybe that will happen in the sequel, The Rebound. One can only hope.

I will add that what annoyed me the most was Alexa being this educated, professional black woman feeling inadequate when she was surrounded by white women. I did not like that at all. She lost her Black Girl Magic real quick and I did not appreciate that. It’s 2018. We’re not doing this. I expected more from a black female author.

The Wedding Date had good reviews and as I needed something to take my mind off being in hospital I thought this might have filled my need for something light and trashy.

But unfortunately no. This is a love story between a white guy and a black girl. I live in a country where its normal for different races to date and marry. I found the fact that this kept having to be highlighted very sad.

The other thing I found really sad that when there was talk about eating it was always what fast food they were going to buy.

The message I got from this tale was it is unusual for people from different races to date and that everyone eats fast food. Not a great view from outside of America.

Only just three stars.

Jasmine Guillory's debut novel, The Wedding Date, is a delightfully sweet romance that I just DEVOURED. I connected with these magnetic characters and their relatable love story immediately. With smart dialogue and a storyline packed with humor, social relevance and blissful romance, it's hard to believe this is a debut at all.

It was so refreshing to read about characters who aren't emotionally stunted or carrying around trunk loads of broken baggage. This story follows an LA doctor and a San Francisco mayoral chief-of-staff through an exceedingly authentic course of events after they meet in a broken elevator. Alexa agrees to play pretend for one evening as Drew's plus one for his friend's wedding. Their dynamic is instantly captivating while never feeling forced or manufactured or insta-love-ish. (Sure, that's a thing.) Their chemistry is delicious, their romance is perfection, but with the two of them refusing to label whatever it is that's growing between them combined with the distance between their homes, complications soon arise.

I love a story that isn't over the top and The Wedding Date NEVER ventures in that direction. The progression of events in this book is a very natural one, the conflict completely legitimate. There's no contrived drama, no nonsense, nothing OTT. It gets complicated in the way life gets complicated, but it stays true to the characters and the tone of the entire book. That certainly doesn't mean this book lacks emotional depth by any means because, oh, the feels! This book is deliciously sweet, beautifully romantic, unexpectedly moving, and when things get tough, it nails you right in the chest. It's so well done what Jasmine Guillory does with this story and I absolutely adored it.

The Wedding Date was perfection, a story so sweet, my teeth hurt, but a romance so sensual and enthralling, my heart wanted to burst. I have so much appreciation for an author who keeps it real. I also love a story that's sexy without being raunchy. There's certainly a time and place for steamy sex scenes, but as with everything else that makes up this novel, the sex scenes are done just right; they're never forced, never over the top. The Wedding Date is all so perfectly right, so delightfully sweet, so full of heart and I enjoyed every bit of it.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the occasional trashy romance/relationship novel - but this puts that genre to shame! For that matter: this is a Stanford grad who wrote this? For double shame!
The characters had the education and professional standings to be far more interesting emotionally, but instead behaved like idiotic middle schoolers, and I don’t mean that in an entertaining, beach-read way. They were shallow, bland and not the least bit credible. There was no real-life relationship tension, just one silly min-communication after another. The interracial relationship had a glimmer of promise, but fell flat, with absolutely no interesting insight or dynamic forthcoming. (Was the main reason I kept forcing myself to read on). The most interesting characters to me - the respective close friends Carlos and Theo - were like good actors caught unawares in a bad TV sitcom destined to fold before one season is over.
And Lordy: the gross food consumption is absurd!! We’re talking professional, educated people in LA and SF who LITERALLY do not eat a single breakfast that is not a doughnut or pastry. And then a few hours later stuff themselves on burgers (endless burgers!), pizza, food truck burritos and ice cream. These are not west coast millennial, sorry.
Both gross and grotesque, I was going to give 2 stars because I actually finished it, but am sticking with 1.

ARC from Netgalley and the publisher

The Wedding Date was a book I wanted so much to love, and I will say, for the first 20 or 30 percent, it was pretty good. It was fun and flirty and cutesy and sweet. There really was a lot to enjoy about the beginning. But overall that’s precisely what was wrong with it for me - I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but I had no problem putting it down, no draw to pick it up when I wasn’t reading it. The scenes at the beginning of this book with the wedding were by far the best. Alexa and Drew in the elevator was absolutely adorable, meeting Drew’s friends and acquaintances was hilarious, and seeing Drew and Alexa being more and more into each other was something I loved seeing. Then the wedding was over, and so was all the goodness.

There was a huge disconnect from who Alexa was in her career with who she was as a person. And I can buy that to a certain extent, but she was a go-getter and very vocal at her job, but she never stood up for herself or was honest with Drew about wanting more. I liked Alexa’s drive at work and her desire to help other people, but she fell super flat for me when she judged Drew’s friend Carlos for driving a red sports car. Gasp The horror! There was just a lot of inner dialogue leading up to that scene, and it was a huge turn off. To be fair, Drew wasn’t vocal about things he wanted from Alexa, either, but it didn’t feel as much of a disconnect with him because I felt like the demands of his job were different. Also, the conversations between Carlos and Drew felt more new adult than adult, and again, it was something that just didn’t work for me.

And possibly the biggest letdown for me - for an author what didn’t want to write a sexy graphic sex scene, there was a lot of sex in this book that, pardon the pun, made it all feel pretty anticlimactic. It pretty much alternated between banging and eating, and in the end, I felt like Alexa was just too immature to be in an adult relationship. Running out after spending the night with Drew and saying you’d stay and talk things out doesn’t scream adult relationship to me. I would have loved this book more if Drew had let Alexa go and moved on. Overall, The Wedding Date was a huge letdown and I won’t be reading the next one in the series.

This review was originally posted on Books & Beauty Are My Bag.

Favorite Quote: “Come to the wedding, be my sandwich.”

Alexa Monroe is the chief of staff for the mayor of Berkley. In San Francisco to meet her sister for an impromptu celebration, a power outage traps her in an elevator with the most gorgeous man she’s seen in a long time. Deciding a little harmless flirting never hurt anyone. Alexa sets out to charm this blond Adonis before the power comes back on and they go their separate ways.

Drew Nichols is in town for the weekend for a wedding. His ex girlfriend’s’ wedding. A pediatric surgeon from LA, Drew is not looking forward to the wedding and regrets agreeing to be a groomsman. Meeting the beautiful and vivacious Alexa brightens his day and gives him an idea. He wants her to be his plus one, that way he can spend more time with her before heading back home.

Alexa agrees to his proposition and a single date leads to a weekend of pleasure, opening the door to the potential of a long-term relationship if they can just get out of their own way.

A meet cute in a malfunctioning elevator sets the stage for Jasmine Gulliary’s debut romantic comedy; The Wedding Date. I will admit the cover and premise was the lures that hooked me. I’m a sucker for laughter filled romcoms and that cover is adorable. Fun and flirty, this story offers plenty of laughter, love, and some bittersweet moments as Gulliary tries to convince this stubborn couple how perfect they will be together if they would just get out of their own way.

The wedding is an eye-opener in terms of personalities and issues to come. Racism rears its ugly head and it highlights the issues they will face in their relationship and the race privileges Drew takes for granted.

Alexa is a strong, beautiful, intelligent, take charge African American woman who is normally secure in herself but finds being surrounded by a bevy of blond Barbies brings out her snark and insecurities. I liked that Gulliary chose to draw her unapologetically short and curvy. Short peeps don’t get enough representation (says this 5’1” ½ reviewer).

Drew comes off very sincere and attentive towards Alexa, trying to ensure she is well taken care of while he is attending to his groomsmen duties. But you can tell right away he hasn’t been completely honest with her in regards to his ex-girlfriend and how they broke up. This clues you into Drew’s possible commitment issues and fear of looking bad.

After the wedding, they spend the rest of the weekend together, getting to know one another better until it’s time for them to go home. Plans are made and soon they are traveling back and forth to spend time with one another.

It’s here I begin to question this couple. They are remarkably juvenile for being in such positions of power. Their communication skills are terrible and I hated the way they second guess each other’s motives and choose to make mountains out of molehills. Alexa becomes very judgemental when nervous or unsure. We see this on multiple occasions. For example, when she comes to visit Drew, his friend Carlo picks her up from the airport due to a surgical emergency. Alexa’s first thought is to internally chastise Drew for not picking her up and then internally degrades Carlos by claiming all LA men are rude arsehats, they drive like a manics, etc…It left a bad taste in my mind.

Drew is no better. He becomes extremely defensive and engages in emotional manipulation when he feels wronged or insecure. He not only lashes out at Carlo’s during what I like to call his “come to Jesus moment” but also has definite thoughts on how Alexa should act with him, getting angry when she rightfully demands more. His need to remain friends with all his exes and his inability to commit only reinforces his immaturity.

Chemistry wise, Alexa and Drew are smoking hot and a bit dirty *wink* in their sexual attraction. Their scenes together are well written though, for some reason, they mainly fade to black. Not a huge deal though this happens with all the scenes that are commonly used to help readers form an attachment to the couple and become invested in the romance. There is a beach scene that entails them getting out of the truck to walk the beach then getting back into the truck to go home. It was a huge missed opportunity for an intimate look into their relationship

The last quarter was the best part-aside from the elevator scene. Alexa and Drew finally drop all their guards and speak honestly with themselves and each other. It is an emotional cleansing of sorts and I wish that tone and narrative has been seen throughout the book. A rather cute epilogue assures us this couple has a very good chance of turning their HFN to an HEA.

The Wedding Date had some grand moments but the overall execution needed work. Alexa and Drew disappointed me with their immaturity and I felt their personality defects were written mainly to fuel the conflict. Regardless, this romance will have a broad appeal and I predict we’ll be seeing more from Gulliary in the future. Her next book, The Proposal, is Drew’s best friend’s Carlos book and I admit I am curious to see how Gulliary handles his romance.

Grade: C