Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, this series has my heart. I keep thinking that each book can’t possibly be better but then IT IS. And oh MAN, this one is the best so far, because all the other characters recur! Yay for all of my loves!
The Wedding Party starts… at Theo Stephens’ birthday party! Remember that?
F L A S H B A C K
During The Wedding Date, Alexa attends Theo’s birthday party, and Drew and Carlos happen to be in San Francisco for a conference. Drew hears Alexa laugh, they make up after a weird fight, and the story goes on.
M E A N W H I L E
After Alexa and Drew leave the party to have sexy time, Maddie Forest – Alexa’s other best friend – gives Theo a ride home. On the way, she somehow challenges him to dance. So they end up in his apartment, drinking and dancing. One thing leads to another, and they end up hooking up. And it’s super great. Except… Maddie hates Theo. And she assumes that Theo hates her right back, even though that isn’t true.
F L A S H B A C K
In The Wedding Date, in the pivotal end scene, Drew flies up to the Berkeley to see Alexa present her big project at the city counsel meeting. They decide they love each other and then go out to drinks with the group. All is well and right with the world.
M E A N W H I L E
Maddie and Theo are seeing each other for the first time since they hooked up six weeks earlier, and they are having a hard time being normal people around each other. Maddie gives Theo a ride home again… and they end up hooking up again. It’s just so good!
F L A S H B A C K
Remember, in The Proposal, when Carlos has to fly up to the Bay Area for Drew’s engagement party? Yeah, so that’s happening, and he’s denying that he and Nik are a thing, and it’s wonderful to read. Everyone is at this party, and Theo spends most of it helping Carlos in the kitchen. He’s definitely not avoiding Maddie, that’s for sure.
M E A N W H I L E
Okay, they’re avoiding each other. This time they head out the door together, hook up again, and decide that they want to keep doing this thing. But, rules! It stays a secret from Alexa! It only occurs after they’ve seen Alexa! And it ends once Alexa and Drew get married!
Okay, but listen. What if they start to realize they want to spend all their time with each other, even their down time, even their small moments, even the day to day? Once feelings are involved, will they be able to quit seeing each other?
[Spoiler alert! There’s a happy ending!]
3 Things I Loved
- The tie ins to the other books! Oh my goodness, you have no idea how much I love this. It’s the same with any author’s worlds – I love finding the Easter eggs scattered through works by the same author. Sarah MacLean does this a lot, as does Sarah Dessen. And I live for it. These characters are all friends, so it’s more blatant, but I still just loved every second of it.
- Theo. I loved Theo from the first mention of him in The Wedding Date. He was supportive of Alexa then, and he’s good at his job, and he cares deeply about his work, and he’s fun! I also love that he’s a platonic friend of Alexa’s, and that’s truly only questioned by her mother, which is super relatable.
- Maddie. Okay, so Maddie is last on the list here because I really like how she’s always there for Alexa, but she’s mean to Theo in the first part of this book. Like, cruel at times mean. She grows, of course, and I didn’t dislike her. I just wanted her to see Theo differently than she wanted to see him, I guess. And she eventually does!
Dislikes/Problematic Content
There is solidly nothing problematic that I could find in this one.
However, I wasn’t sure what trope this was trying to be. I think that’s my only complaint. It’s advertised as an enemies to lovers, but Theo never disliked Maddie. So it’s only one-sided there. And it’s also sort of a secret relationship, except it’s only truly a secret from Alexa. And there’s a timeline to it, but it’s a wedding without a date, at least at the beginning. So it’s a bunch of tropes, like, half working? Maybe it’s just me that finds this slightly distasteful. It’s part of why I read romance! I like the tropes!
Ooooh I guess it is sort of grumpy/sunshine, except gender swapped! Because Maddie is grumpy toward Theo and he’s always liked her? I’m just grasping at straws now, honestly.
Rating
A reminder of the rating scale:
- Red = DNF, I hated everything
- Orange = Ugh, no thank you
- Yellow = I mean, I’ve read worse, but there were problems
- Green = This was good!
- Blue = Oh my gosh, I loved this book!
- Purple = This is the unicorn of books and I will be rereading it until the binding falls apart and EVERYONE should be reading it!
Even despite the personal trope issues I was having, this book was absolutely delightful. It’s not as much of a standalone as some of the others could be, since it relies pretty heavily on the reader already knowing Alexa and Drew’s story. But it’s still so great. I’m giving The Wedding Party a BLUE rating! Read the series, it’s so fun!
Thank you to the publisher and to Edelweiss for the advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. As you can see… I honestly loved this one. ❤
Happy reading!
Snark & Squee 
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