The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

Coming in hot with my first romantic comedy review of the year! This is a genre I started exploring last year and really fell in love with, so I was eager to get to The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa.

Lina is a jilted bride. Her fiance Andrew decided to leave her the morning of their wedding, and make his brother (and best man) break the news. Ironically enough, Lina is a professional wedding planner, and she has to push through her career even though her own wedding experience was traumatizing. Fast forward to Lina getting an amazing job opportunity, but in order to ace the interview, she has to work on a proposal with none other than Andrew's brother Max.

The thing about romantic comedies is that you absolutely know what's going to happen at the end...it's just the small details along the way that are missing. This one was no different. That being said I can still enjoy the journey even though that ending is predictable as long as the characters and added story elements are good.

I loved all the references to Brazilian culture in this read, and how much Lina's family played a role in the story. It also addressed some difficult topics, like how black and Latina women are viewed differently (aka negatively, with words like feisty or angry) when they show emotion than white women, even if that emotion is warranted. This is an own voices novel, so it was great to see the inclusion of these things that the author herself has experienced. I loved Max's character and thought that he was an overall great guy, even though his brother Andrew was a legitimate piece of garbage. I also really loved seeing Lina become less guarded and more comfortable sharing pieces of herself when she found safe spaces to do so.

I would have loved a little more at the ending of the story, like an epilogue of sorts (even though I know some people hate them!) just to see where the characters are and how they're doing.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Thanks so much to Avon for a finished copy of this read! The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa just released this week, so be sure to pick up a copy!

Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

A romantic comedy set within the film industry? Count me in. I was so excited when Putnam Books sent me a free copy to review as a partner. Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters follows Evie, an assistant at a film agency who is desperate to finally move up in her career. When she's given an ultimatum, get screenwriter Ezra Chester motivated to write a script he still hasn't started or lose her job, Evie has to resort to staging "meet cutes" for herself in order to prove to Ezra that the romantic comedy genre is realistic. Will Evie be able to achieve the impossible and get Ezra to write a blockbuster romantic comedy? 

I absolutely LOVED this book! I'm super into the "meet cute" trope, so I loved getting to see all the ones that Evie set up. I'm also very interested in the film industry, so reading about the roles these characters played within that industry was great. 

One major thing to note here was that this really was a true romantic comedy versus a romance. There were no sultry or explicit scenes that you see with a lot of comedic romances on the market today, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that out.

This book made me laugh. A lot. A lot of this is British humor though, so if you don't typically like that kind of thing it might go over your head some. I really liked Evie's friends and thought they each brought something unique to the table. I even loved Ezra's character...in a love to hate kind of way! He was the perfect kind of arrogant and slimy for this type of story.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Thanks so much to Putnam Books for a free finished copy of this read! Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters is out now, so be sure to pick up a copy!

Spotlight: My Christmas Fake Fiance by Linda West

I can't believe how quickly the holidays arrived this year! I feel like it was just the middle of summer, then I blinked and it's time for Christmas! I just love reading holiday-themed books to get me in the spirit, and I know I'm not alone in that! This adult contemporary romance I'm happy to spotlight today is a romantic comedy that brings two polar opposites together during the holiday season. Fans of enemies to lovers and fake dating tropes would absolutely adore this read! If you're looking for a holiday read to add to your TBR, look no further than My Christmas Fake Fiance by Linda West.

Cover Art Courtesy of
Rachel's Random Resources

About the Book

Snowflakes are falling on Kissing Bridge Mountain, and Devlin is going home at last. But he can't go home without a fiance, even if it has to be a fake one! When he meets smalltown girl Allie, who has a Christmas crisis of her own-they strike up a deal. Soon, the fickle snow flurries of fate send them down a destined road they never expected...

You can purchase this book on Amazon US here or Amazon UK here.

Author Bio

Author Photo Courtesy of
Rachel's Random Resources

Linda West is the best selling author of the adorable and enchanting "Christmas Kisses and Cookies." It is a delightful series of holiday romances based around the town of Kissing Bridge and the magical Landers sisters who are the reigning blue ribbon cookie queens thanks to their mothers' 'special' recipe book. 

Linda was the owner of Mayberry - a celebrity-filled restaurant in Malibu where many of her recipes enchanted the regulars such as Tom Hanks and Anthony Hopkins to name a few. Her recipes are sprinkled throughout her fiction books much to the delight of her fans.

Her newest venture is in the cozy mystery and humor genre. With - Death by Crockpot - the first in her newest series -Linda takes her favorite known characters from Kissing Bridge and throws them into some side-splitting funny adventures. 

Find Linda on Twitter and on her website. 

Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for including me on this blog tour and sending me a copy of this read!

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

If you've been reading my blog lately, you may have noticed that I've been getting more and more into romantic comedies. I've come to really love this genre and can't seem to get enough of these funny, swoon-inspiring reads. 

After a near-death experience causes web-designer Chloe's dull and boring life to flash before her eyes, she decides to get a life...an exciting one. Enter the list. From enjoying a drunken night out and riding a motorcycle, to meaningless sex and going camping, Chloe has determined that by checking off the things on her list, she'll have a life worthy of flashing before her eyes should a near-death experience hit again. She never expected to find love with that list, but when her gorgeous superintendent Redford agrees to help her check some items off, she finds herself falling deeper than she ever expected.

First, let me give a huge shout out to Talia Hibbert for putting a content warning about a character recovering from an abusive relationship in an author's note at the beginning of the book! THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT PEOPLE! It didn't take away from the plot at all but was the perfect way to let a reader know that something potentially triggering existed in the book.

I absolutely appreciate that the main character struggled with a chronic illness. Chloe has fibromyalgia, and even though I have a different chronic illness than her (endometriosis here), I really identified with a lot of the things she went through. I thought she was really stuck up at first, but soon realized that this was just a coping mechanism that she used to protect herself from the fear of people leaving. I thought Red was a super stand-up guy and really loved seeing the softer, artist side of him. This book also had an adorable cat named Smudge, so I couldn't possibly leave that part out of the review!

There was a little too much instalove in this one for me, even though that normally doesn't bother me much. I just thought that Chloe and Red went from completely despising each other to being all over each other in literally seconds flat.

It looks like one of Chloe's sisters is getting an installment next, so I can't wait to read that book as well!

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Thanks so much to Avon for a finished copy of this read! Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert is out TODAY, November 5th, so be sure to pick up a copy to get your rom-com fix!

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

I really enjoyed reading The Wedding Date, so I was excited to pick up Jasmine Guillory's next book, The Proposal. This book was focused on Carlos, a side character in The Wedding Date who I absolutely loved!

When Nik's boyfriend Fisher surprises her with a proposal during a game at Dodger Stadium, she is shocked, and not in a good way. When she turns him down, on the JumboTron no less, the whole stadium turns against her, and a kind stranger behind her (enter Carlos) offers to help her escape before the news crews can hunt her down. 

Nik is grateful to her kind, thoughtful, and super handsome rescuer, so when they decide to spend more time together, she is overjoyed. The only problem is she has no desire to get into another relationship, but to her relief, neither does he. 

This was another adorable read, and I enjoyed this even more than The Wedding Date! Like I mentioned in the review for that book, I really love Carlos as a character, and I was really excited to get to know more about him in his own story. Alexa and Drew from The Wedding Date were in this book a few times as well!

I thought the issues addressed in this book were important, and much less frivolous than some of the things in other romance books I've read. I loved Nik and her friends, and really admired her for putting her career so high on her priority list. There was wonderful diversity in this book as well, and a feminist message that really resonates with what society is going through today. I laughed so much while reading this, and felt so many warm fuzzies along the way.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

I have finally started to venture out of my Christina Lauren romance cocoon and branch out to some other romance authors! Jasmine Guillory is one I've seen mentioned a lot, so I decided to pick up The Wedding Date. 

When Alexa and Drew are stranded in a hotel elevator together, Drew spontaneously asks Alexa to be his date to a wedding he is dreading: the wedding of his ex-girlfriend and his best friend. Alexa agrees, thinking it would just be a weekend of fun in her chaotic life, because after all, they live in different cities and Drew told her he doesn't do relationships. But when the two have a fantastic time at the wedding and want to keep seeing each other, things get complicated. What are they to each other, and how long can this possibly last?

I'm really falling in love with these romantic comedy reads. Yes, they're incredibly predictable. But I think that's why I like them! You can just enjoy the journey of the story rather than worrying about what will happen or trying to guess the outcome of the plot. I loved Alexa's character in this book, especially her confidence in herself and her high-powered job. I adored the side character Carlos as well, and thought he provided some great comic relief and support to Drew throughout the story. Overall it was a super cute and enjoyable romantic comedy.

Can't wait to pick up The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory next since it features Carlos as a main character!

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars