GRR Reviews The Inn at Willa Bay by Nicole Ellis

Zoe thought as the assistant event planner for a wedding resort in Willa Bay, she would inherit the event planner position when the existing one retired. Instead, her boss handed the position to his son-in-law who had never worked in the industry. Then she learned that her landlord Celia not only needed a hospital stay, she's also in danger of losing the entire place, a former inn, and leaving Zoe with no home. // Her best friend Meg had left a prestigious sous chef job to come home to her mother being treated for cancer, and work in a kitchen with no chance of advancement. When a friend's old rival returned to town, threatening her routine for the kitchen, her timetable for departure may be moved up...  // Her other best friend Cassie did not expect to be a single mother after marrying the love of her life, only to divorce him 10 years later to raise an autistic child alone. She was barely getting by, until an old rival returned to town... and about to destroy her side gig as a cake baker/decorator. // Shawn had just restored a house and flipped it for profit when he got a phone call from across the country from a mystery woman. Who is Celia? Why did Celia have him as an emergency contact? And who is this Zoe that called her? His curiosity will lead him to Willa Bay... // These people are about to meet and change each other's lives... 

As a series starter, this is actually well plotted so everything ties together. It does sound a bit scattered at the beginning, as if all the separate threads don't quite fit together, but they do. My main problem is the final solution, which I will not spoil, is a bit deus ex machina. And also the solution doesn't mean everybody gets HEA. We do have a couple more books, after all. The characters all are reasonable. I feel the connection between Shawn and Zoe was a bit rushed. The rivalry and the unreasonableness of "bad boss" and how the various characters just kowtowed instead of engaging in some malicious compliance just feel... unsatisfying. Also, this being a series, there's no karma in this particular book, which may leave some readers miffed. 3.5/5

GRR Reviews Going Down on One Knee by Christina Hovland

Velma has her life planned out... She has the perfect guy in mind... Dean, a hunky guy that wears a sharp suit, with a diversified investment portfolio... and a house and picket fence and babies... until he became engaged to her sister Claire. So she needs to find someone LIKE Dean... for herself. And that's definitely NOT Dean's best friend, Brek (short for Breckenridge), who's a tattooed guy riding a Harley, and is band manager for one of the hottest rock bands around. With the group on hiatus, he visits his sister Aspen the wedding planner, only to be roped into the business when Aspen, late-term pregnant, was ordered to go on bed rest and de-stress. Now Brek has to deal with bridezillas, including Velma's own sister, and found himself attracted to Velma. But Velma's spreadsheet, where she graded EVERY potential date on various categories, indicated that Brek is NOTHING like her ideal candidate... In fact, he only rated a 4 out of 10 on the overall score. But he turned her on like no other... Maybe her system's broken?

Awww... a lot of fun as both struggles to define what they want out of life. And the darkest hour even made sense... and so did the grand gesture. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews The Beach Wedding by Lucy Kevin

NOTE: Lucy Kevin is Bella Andre's "sweet" pen name.

Jason is a successful novelist, but he always wondered if he could have made it with his one-time fiancee Liz. Now that his famous niece is getting married, he wants to arrange the perfect wedding for them, not stalked by paparazzi. So he went to Married in Malibu, who specialized in celebrity weddings. And guess who is in charge? None other than his ex-fiancee, Liz... // Liz let Jason go a long time ago, because he needed to be free of her to become successful. Meeting him again was... complicated. When news of marriage leaked, Jason and Liz must put on a show to distract the paparazzi from the real wedding couple, including dinners and more. But soon, the pretend romance turned very real indeed...

Oh, nice. Good plotting, with intertwining plots and motivations, further complicated by prior history and current circumstances. 5/5

GRR Reviews Why Stars Chase the Sun by C R Ellis

Jade, with her best buddy Jasmine, had gotten their wedding planner business off the ground. But her heart still wasn't healed from her fiance's sudden cold feet three years ago. A chance encounter (she threw a branch for her dog at the river) hit Emmett, canoe-ing and looking at her, in the head and they can't quite keep their eyes off each other. But Jade wasn't quite sure what to do with their attraction. After getting to know Emmett a little (who is indeed, charming, sweet, and handsome), and couraged supplied by alcohol, Jade proposed something outrageous (but made sense to her)... a day and a night with Emmett, no strings attached. And Emmett needs a lot of convincing, for he was wrestling with his own demons, having been burned by love before...

Seriously angst-y slow-burn kinda love. It's quite exquisite, as you will have to read quite a bit to find out why Emmett is the way he is. Pace could be upped a little, IMHO. 4.5

GRR Reviews Curvy Indulgence by Tara Brent

Blake is a playboy, and his family is rich... filthy rich. His brother's getting married, and Blake found himself fascinated with the BBW wedding planner, who's NOT falling at his feet like "other women",  Now he's REALLY interested... // Kira is a BBW and best wedding planner ever. Being handed a 1000 guest wedding with only three weeks to plan? Not a problem. Meeting groom's brother who's a notorious playboy and wanted to get under her panties? She's flattered, but she's also realistic... She can bed him... But she may not be able to keep him...

Hmmm... Sure, there's a certain chemistry there, but not much else. Nothing really stands out or being memorable. 3/5

GRR Reviews The Doctor's Bride by Elana Johnson

Shannon was abused by her ex, but escaped, and made a life for herself at Getaway Bay. She's now owner's assistant at the premier wedding planner in the area, but her own love life is barren, but she dare not trust her heart to anyone. A chance meeting with Jeremiah, however, made her wonder if she can take a chance with her heart again... // Jeremiah know of Shannon, but can't seem to bring up the courage to talk to her, until her flat tire gave him the perfect opening. And he asked her to be his plus one when he will be honored at an award ceremony... and she said yes. The connection between them is undeniable, but Shannon is not ready to be intimate with anyone just yet... esp. when she is getting a promotion at her job... and much more responsibilities...

Good push-pull, clean, sweet, but not much else.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below.

GRR Reviews Free to Dream by Tracey Jerald

Cassidy lived through physical, mental, and sexual abuse as a child, and barely escaped. She maintains a regimented life to give her the illusion of control over her fate, and she fell into the role of wedding and event planner. But she believes she cannot ever love, being too damaged. When the Lockwood wedding came to her firm, the Amaryllis, it brought her Caleb Lockwood. // Caleb is glad to help his little brother marry his lifemate... and in course of some standard background check, he found out about Cassidy's family... the Freemans... and how they survived and persevered through a nightmare. Caleb wanted to help Cassidy cope, and perhaps, even love, but the secrets he discovered will turn his family upside down... and reveal sins so deep and so dark, it had been covered up for decades... and someone is willing to kill to keep it all hidden...

Good plotting, with depravities so horrendous you'd wince, and let's just say "hell hath no fury like woman scorned", and let's leave it at that, as I don't want to spoil the story. The push-pull is pretty good, and setup for other volumes with the various brothers and so on are nicely fitted in.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 5/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below.

GRR Reviews The Wedding Chapel by Caroline Mickelson

Bella and grandpa had been running a Vegas wedding chapel for years, but business is down. She had enough experience to know marriage is bad news. So when she woke up in bed with a charming Brit, the last thing she'd expect was their respective grandparents insist they are now married, even though neither Colin nor Bella can recall ever saying "I do'. As they attempt to piece together the truth, what they found out about each other may be the most surprising discovery of all...

Gave me a bit of warm buzzy, but not much else. The reason for the grand deception seems to be either petty disregard of other people or misguided attempt at matchmaking.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 3/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Man Hunting in Memphis by Rhonda Russell

Wedding Planner Georgia hadn't found real love herself, despite helping many others achieve their dreams. When her latest loser BF stole her mother's ring and skipped bail, Georgia is forced to hire bounty hunter Linc to chase down the no-good SOB. It sure helps that Linc is oh so scrumptious bad boy, but Georgia had too many losers to commit to a guy, no matter how gorgeous he is... // Linc may look like a bad-boy, but he's got a heart of gold, and right ear for a sob story, and oh boy does Georgia have one. It also helps that Georgia was the calmest and most confident woman... and Linc enjoyed her company... esp. when he wanted to muss her up a bit... preferably with his kisses...

Opposites attract story w/ forced proximity, different worlds, a good setup to push the two together. Quite enjoyable.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Wedding planner hired bounty hunter to track down loser BF who stole her family ring...

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Accidental Bride and Groom by Iris Abbott

Emma's best friend Lynn is getting married, and Emma's the maid of honor and is heading down to their Lynn's family ranch to handle the last minute details. However, things are not entirely going well when Emma found Lynn and her fiancee Bruce flying off to Mexico as part of a search and rescue after a devastating earthquake. They will be back before the wedding, promise. Then Emma found Lynn's older brother, Landon, the boy she had a crush on, will be the guy on the ranch. Emma's heart is broken after her mother drove her away instead of standing up to her abusive husband. Landon found Emma is almost irresistible. Then the well-planned wedding started to turn into a nightmare. First flowers had to be changed. Then the wedding gown disappeared. Emma and Landon ended up spending more and more time together, trying to salvage the wedding. However, can they fall for each other, even when it seems that they will end up being the bride and groom?

Nice escalation of problems, from bad to worse to horrendous. Everything that can go wrong with this wedding did. Flowers went unavailable. The caterer had a fire. Gown went missing altogether. Moreover, the bride and groom seem to be stuck in Mexico... Add some family emergencies, nosy family (with best intentions), and it's a fun ride to "maybe we should get married instead"

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Can bridesmaid keep the wedding going with disaster after disaster, while woo'ed an old flame?

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Sunset Thunder (Caliendo Resort) by Shannyn Leah

Sunset Thunder is about a woman who thought she couldn't love again, vs. a man who wanted her for a long time. However, the ending made absolutely no sense whatsoever. The motivation for the nemesis is mud. I initially wanted to rate this higher but ended up giving it average.

Violet Caliendo is the wedding coordinator for Willow's Valley's five-star Caliendo Resort, and she puts on perfect events no matter what, that she's known as the "Ice Queen". However, her latest wedding to coordinate was her ex marrying someone else... Even if it's an ex she no longer loved, but got pregnant with. Despondent in private, Violet fell for the suave charms of Ryder Carlex, a well-known womanizer, and her ex's best man. She figured she just needed it one time, to get it out of her system. She hadn't had someone for years... But Ryder wanted Violet for a long time... Not that he'd ever get between his friend and wife... But Violet's single now, and available. Ryder and Violet got into a torrid relationship, but he has his own dark secrets to keep. And Violet's one indiscretion would come back to haunt her in a way she never imagined... Will their (lack of) trust doom their relationship?

The ending left me exasperated as in "what was the author thinking? This made absolutely no f***ing sense!"

SPOILER

ALERT

I WARNED YOU!

Couple years ago, Violet fell for Joel the rebel, but Joel's really after her family fortune. Joel got Violet pregnant. Violet's father paid off Joel's debts with one proviso: marry Violet, because the kids will not be born as bastards. On the night before the wedding, Violet realized she was stupid but the wedding must go forward. In a drunken haze, violent had a one-night stand with Ryder... and Joel somehow got video of them bonking.

In the present day, Violet divorced Joel and is having a fling with Ryder even as Joel is about to marry someone else. Suddenly, Joel blackmailed Violet... "break up with Ryder, or I'll release this tape of you f***ing him just before our wedding night". Violet can't let her family business be shamed, so she puts on a brave face and broke up with Ryder, and Ryder, having figured out what Joel did, confronted Joel, and Joel just basically handed over the footage without a struggle. The end.

WTF?! What's Joel's motivation for this? This is a LAME villain who's ONLY around to mess with the hero/heroine, for no particular reason!

Add to some bits about her mom and uncle knowing something (and did nothing), the dead daddy always manipulating people, even after he's dead, I honestly can't tell whether it's redemption or douchebaggery. At least the slow seductions made up for some of it. I really was tempted to rate this a 2/5 for a while.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Hotel heiress and even planner fell for the best man who wanted her, but her evil ex (who's getting married) has evil plans...

Overall Rating: 3/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews YIELD - Emily & Damon (Fettered) by Lilia Moon

Yield managed to capture the excitement and sensual feel of kink while understanding the lifestyle, even though the premise, upon reflection, is trope as heck. It is, however, very well polished and enjoyable.

Emily is Seattle's best wedding planner with the superpower to handle all details and not leaving out a single one. When one of her clients wanted a wedding in a BDSM club, she didn't bat an eye, even though she never been in one. Her preparations lead her to Club Fettered, owned by Damon Black, the most "notorious" dom in Seattle. Damon knew Emily was way too innocent to play in his world, he hoped he can scare her away with a demonstration... 24 hours with him, as sorta BDSM for Dummies. But she didn't react the way he thought she would. Now he can't stay away...

This is about the sensual way to do BDSM, just light spanking and some toys. Though it's basically a fantasy... an experienced dom somehow found a noob that turned out to be an ideal sub after ONE encounter and gently groomed her. But it is quite titillating and enjoyable.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Can a wedding planner who had never done BDSM as a sub fall for the city's most notorious dom after just 24 hours?

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Barefoot in Lace (Barefoot Bay Brides) by Roxanne St. Claire

Barefoot in Lace started as one of those "no way these two people would meet in real-life" meetcutes, but managed to pivot into the character exploration very deftly as both characters are dealing with deep issues that are more than typical "jilted / betrayed".

Destination wedding planner Augusta "Gussie" McBain has a crisis... Her wedding photographer just quit a week before the wedding. When she ran into famous photographer TJ Demille, she had to ask him to help. But TJ does not do weddings... he's a high fashion photographer. Gussie was surprised when he said yes... If she will agree to one thing in turn: keep his niece entertained. // Tom "TJ" Demille prefers to be alone, after having his heart broken by circumstances beyond his control. When his sister died and left the care of her 12-year old daughter to Tom, he is lost. When Gussie came to ask him for help, and his niece took to Gussie like a duck to water, Tom agreed to the unthinkable: be a wedding photographer (and deal with bridezilla and her mother, among other things). As he gets to know Gussie, he found that Gussie's wigs conceal scars from an old injury. When he needed to take a job in France, he needed to take his niece with her, but she refused to go unless Gussie can come along too. And Gussie agreed. Tom and Gussie had fallen for each other, but he believed he hurt people around him, after losing his parents, then his sister. Gussie thought her own stupidity lead to her injury that drove her brother away and broke up her family. Can these two get past their own wounds, forgive themselves, and learn to love again?

The pivot after the initial story (be wedding photographer) to the subsequent story (lets all go to France) was nicely done, as Gussy gained confidence in her style and beauty, while additional serendipitous developments resolved yet another aspect of her life that she had regrets in (no spoiler!) All in all the extra polish and balanced plot (half about him and half about her) made for a very enjoyable reading

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman needing a photographer found a photographer needing some help with a niece he had to raise alone...

Tropes: resort, wedding planner, photographer, scars, single parent, family secrets

Overall Rating:  5/5

GRR Reviews THREE BOOK SET--Serendipity Falls serie by Patrice Wilton

Serendipity Falls collection is a 3 book collection featuring the small town of Serendipity Falls, and the resident Cupid... yes, the cherubic guy with the arrow and wings, not just a human proxy. Each of the three novels is quite fun to read,

Serendipity Falls -- in the town of Serendipity Falls, not far from the ski town of Mammoth, California, romance is in the air. In this tiny town, people are getting married every month, and virtually no divorce. Tara was the new pastry chef for the resort having requested a transfer after seeing her partner in bed with someone else. She did not expect to fall for the handsome former Olympian skier and local bar co-owner. But when Cupid is hiding out in this little town, there is no denying love.

Wedding Fever -- in the town of Serendipity Falls, there is a wedding boutique called Wedding Fever, owned by Mila. She sells happy weddings, in a town known for it, but she doesn't believe in such herself until Cupid sets his arrows on her, and the reporter Chase from San Francisco. Chase wanted to be famous, and getting his knot tied in a small town is not helping his ambitions, esp. when he believes there's a rational explanation to all this. But when Cupid's arrows struck, there is no denying love.

Love Struck -- in the town of Serendipity Falls, changes are coming, and not all of it good. Samantha is the new realtor in town selling eco-friendly housing, but she's being threatened by some newcomers in town after the rumored gold mine near the waterfall. Kyle is the co-owner of the bar and came to her rescue. But the town is also under siege from a different threat... single women who flooded in, all insisting on catching the love bug and marry any eligible bachelor in town, not that there are too many left. But you can't force love where there is none, and Sam and Kyle have to figure out a way to save the quaint little town and fall in love themselves.

As this is rom-com, don't expect high suspense, though the third novel was a change in tone with a little bit of suspense. But it's interesting and fun.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot:  N/A, collection

Tropes: small town, matchmaker, jilted, betrayal, bar owner, athlete, reporter, wedding planner, protector, woman in peril

Overall Rating: 4/5

GRR Reviews The Sheikh's Secret Bride (Adjalane Sheikhs) by Leslie North

Sheikh's Secret Bride is an insta-lust and surprise proposal book where an Arab oilman must marry or risk losing his position to his evil uncle. I find the premise rather... not credible, nor FMC's agreement to it. But the book was otherwise okay so it deserves a 2.5/5 rating rounded to 3/5

Sheikh Nassir Adjalane is not a playboy. He is a business shark, and he had no time for fake niceties. But a few too many PR disasters, and his own family (esp. his father) and his board of directors of Adjalane Oil ordered him to take a bride (preferably American) in 30 days, or the business will go to his (evil) uncle Hazim, and all the charity and projects he worked so hard for will be gone. After also having been ordered to attending a rival family's wedding (a public gesture), and getting to know the wedding planner, Janna Davis, Nassir hired her on the spot to come to the Middle East to plan his wedding in 30 days... with UNLIMITED BUDGET. Janna cannot deny that Nassir's initial business-shark persona put her off, but once she got to know him he seems to be a nice guy and with enough money he'd make someone very happy, but she had a job to do. What Janna did not know is Janna herself is the intended bride, and someone is willing to stop the wedding by any means necessary...

The first half of the book feels like a rather... childish caper. It wasn't until like 60% point where the ruse was up and Nassir actually convinced Janna to be the bride, then the book shifted into romantic suspense where you know who is trying to stop the wedding or get Nassir married to someone he can control (which barely made sense as well).

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot:  Can an oil sheik convince a girl to marry him for his sake without telling her first?

Tropes: royalty, family pressure, wedding planner, fling to a thing

Overall Rating:  3/5 (rounded up)

GRR Reviews Planning Bliss (Bliss Series Book 1) by Michelle Jo Quinn

Planning Bliss, (previously published as Confessions of a Wedding Planner) can be best described as a reformed rake trying to woo a girl who got her heart broken and ground into dust, but it's for real this time. It was at times tropeish, rom-com-y, and sentimental. Which makes it a good read.

Wedding planner Veronica had her heart broken when her boyfriend (whom she thought she'd marry) moved on to engage with a French socialite. She had her heart grounded into dust when he came to her wanting her to plan his wedding. Then she found out the bridezilla wanted a huge wedding in merely 1 month, involving 400+ guests across two continents, and a gown flown in from France. Her work ethics demanded she gave it her best, even as her heart bleeds. She was not ready for attention from the best man Levi, a known playboy. He wants to get into her pants, she's not in the mood. But Levi is actually royalty, and rich, and have plenty of patience. And he's actually serious this time, but how does a rake convince everybody, esp. the girl, he's no longer a rake?

I have a little problem seeing the chemistry between Veronica and Levi, though I guess it could work. The book tried to throw in a bunch of prequel scenes to explain Levi's earlier attraction to "Nica" (at prior events) but it wasn't until this wedding that he could act on the urges. It doesn't quite build-up right. The rest of the book kinda makes the whole thing worth it once you get past this point.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot:  Broken-hearted Wedding Planner (planning her ex's wedding) Wooed by the Best Man (and a rake/playboy)

Tropes:  jilted, wedding planner, commitment-phobe, reformed rake, best man

Overall Rating:  4/5 (rounded up from 3.5/5)

GRR Reviews Make Him Wild (Intoxicating Book 1) by Christie Ridgway

Make Him Wild is a "enemies into lovers" romance where both MC have a lot of baggage.

Alessandra Baci, youngest of the Baci sisters, had an unfortunately nickname: Nun of Napa. Her fiancee died of a heart attack on their way to the altar having survived cancer the year before hand. She had not dated for five years, still not yet over him, but she can't sulk any more, as their family vineyard, Tanti Baci, is in serious financial trouble, and their only idea was to turn the cottage into a honeymoon suite and make the vineyard into a wedding venue. Unfortunately, the contractor did a runaway (for better gig) and the only other help in the area... was the Baci neighbor, and host of the most popular TV house-renovation show, Penn Bennett. Penn was recently heartbroken when his "girlfriend" emptied out his house and his bank account, so when he saw Alex all he saw was an expert manipulator, so he was surprised when he agreed to help out Tanti Baci, probably because he and his brothers are technically part owners. But the more time he spent with Alex, the more Penn found out that Alex was actually very weak inside, but he kept looking for deception that didn't seem to be there. But he also enjoyed teasing (mercilessly, often with an edge) Alex, and when caught alone, Alex actually found Penn's swagger rather... enjoyable. Not that she'd ever admit to it, of course. When the wedding plans started to fall apart, what sort of plan will Alex and Penn come up with the save the vineyard, and perhaps, take a chance with each other?

Let's just say the darkest hour was great, as almost all the previous chapters really played up each other's fears, and the darkest hour played upon BOTH of their deepest fears and drove them apart. However, the grand gesture, while grand, was a bit... of a spectacle. And let's just say it involved a dunking booth. As for how, you'll have to read it for yourself.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: woman needs a TV handyman's help to save her family vineyard

Tropes: enemies to lovers, scars, wedding planner

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review: Twist of Fate by Callie Quigg

Book No Longer on Amazon, here's the GoodReads link

Twist of Fate by Callie Quigg featured an interesting twist on fake BF/fiancee trope, a FORCED fake fiancee, where the FMC lied about having a fiancee, then have her mortal enemy show up pretending to be her fiancee ready to expose her, but to fall for her instead as he realized he had been played. Did I confuse you? Let me start from the beginning.

Quinn Marshall is in trouble. Her treacherous ex just drained her bank account and about to destroy her wedding planner business. Her only hope is to start with a little white lie that she's engaged, in order to book a celebrity wedding in an Irish castle in six weeks. It's literally do... or watch her dream die. Ronan Donovan despises liars and cheats (esp. his ex-fiancee) and he can't believe he lost this business to a no-name biz. When his less-than-reputable Irish buddy told him the firm that beat him was a cheater, he saw red. On impulse, he jumped on a plane to Ireland, and barged onto the castle, claiming to be her fiancee in front of everyone, forced her into pretending along, so he can expose her later. Except... the more he lived with Quinn, the more he realized this girl is not a con. Can he deal with the growing physical attraction between them, while making things right?

The author managed to start the action as late as possible, as well as blend in several plot lines that did come together, with the wedding, weather, and other external factors all threatening to undo the attracting between the FMC and MMC. I enjoyed this book quite a bit.

Category:  Contemporary

Primary Plot: Wedding planner besieged by her enemy must accept him as pretend boyfriend lest he exposed her deception; he found she wasn't the conwoman he was expecting...

Overall Rating:  5/5