Contemporary Romance published by Avon 05 Jul 22
This story is definitely a tangled web with musical beds. Rose is meeting her best friend Maggie’s fiancé for the first time a week before the wedding. As it turns out, she’s met him before at a bar followed by a wild one-night stand. It’s clear he wants to pretend they’re strangers, so she plays along for now. This is just one of the curve balls they’re going to have to dodge in the leadup to the wedding.
Rose grew up in an abusive household that she left behind when she went away to college. Now successful, having dealt with her past, she’s back for the first time. Even though her alcoholic, abusive father is dead, he still casts a huge shadow over her mom and sister, who were left behind when Rose escaped. Her sister is definitely not ready to forgive and forget and seems still to be lost in the past. Will Rose be able to forge a relationship that will free her mom and sister and help them find resolution and contentment?
In the meantime, the main story is Maggie’s wedding, her fiancé Marc’s relationship with Rose, and Rose’s immediate hot attraction to Marc’s cousin and best man, Gray. Oh, and if that is not enough drama, Maggie’s ex-boyfriend is back on the scene and wants her to forgive him and come back to him. With all this emotional angst, stuff like the bakery that’s doing the wedding cake burning down and a cake emergency just seems like no big deal.
What will Maggie decide? Will Gray and Rose act upon their intense chemistry and find a way to be together, despite Marc’s interference in their affairs? Will Rose forge a relationship with her sister? So many questions, the answers to which are all waiting in the book. A good story with all the right ingredients, but not a great story that gripped my attention and kept it, despite all the threads.
Grade: C
Summary:
One week, two friends, secrets revealed, and a wedding gone wrong.Sometimes weddings bring the worst surprises…
Growing up, Rose fled her family home—and a dangerous father—vowing never to return. But Rose is back in Carmel, California, with two goals: to joyfully act as maid of honor for her best-friend-forever Maggie and to reunite and rebuild her relationships with her mother and sister. And she can’t wait to finally meet the groom-to-be. But when Maggie excitedly introduces her to Marc, Rose is horrified. He’s the man Rose spent one lust-fueled but disastrous night with a year ago. Rose and Maggie have shared every secret…but Rose isn’t sure she can reveal this one. To complicate the situation, Rose makes an instant connection with Gray, Marc’s best man and cousin. And as the big day approaches, the secret weighs heavy upon Rose. It was a whirlwind courtship, but Maggie seems so sure she’s found the one she wants. Now Rose faces the biggest dilemma of her life: Should she tell Maggie and Gray the truth and risk losing them? What if it’s best to leave things alone? Then again, what if her friend is making the biggest mistake of her life?
No excerpt available.
