The first book--The Wedding Game, by Meghan Quinn--is the second book I've read recently that revolves around a reality TV show. And, just like the other one, both heroes are jaded divorce lawyers. Go figure. Have I just discovered a secret trope?
https://www.amazon.com/Wedding-Game-Meghan-Quinn-ebook/dp/B0899QWN9Y/ref=sr_1_1
USA Today bestselling author Meghan Quinn’s latest bauble is the charming story of a crafting queen battling a jaded divorce lawyer on a wedding reality show.
Luna Rossi is a veritable crafting genius—she can bedazzle and bead so hard her Etsy site is one of the hottest in the world. So it’s only natural that Luna would convince her brother and his husband-to-be to compete on The Wedding Game, a “do-it-yourself” TV show, for the title of Top DIY Wedding Expert.
As a jaded divorce lawyer, Alec Baxter scoffs at weddings and romance. But when his recently engaged brother begs him to participate in The Wedding Game, Alec grudgingly picks up a glue gun and prepares for some family bonding.
Both fierce competitors, Luna and Alec clash on national TV as harsh words and glitter fly with abandon. But as they bicker over color swatches and mood boards, they find themselves fighting something else: their growing mutual attraction. While Luna is torn between family loyalty and her own feelings, Alec wonders if he might have been wrong about love and marriage all along…
The Wedding Proposal (by Sue Moorcraft) is not technically a wedding book--but it starts with a botched proposal, so I think it counts. It opens with a forced proximity trope--two former lovers find themselves sharing space on a houseboat in Malta.
Asher Wright has spent his career creating and concocting the perfect dishes and is about to open his very own restaurant. Life is good. His love life, however, is far from cooking! He hasn’t thought about Lucy Gray in years – not since they both graduated, reeling from the shocking loss of her then boyfriend and his best friend Kris, who tragically died at 18. So when he witnesses the breakdown of her wedding in all its humiliating glory - old wounds and long-buried emotions resurface.
As Lucy lands a right hook on her soon-to-be ex-fiancée in front of their entire wedding party, she has a moment of realization... Love is not on the menu for her! Fate, however, has other plans... A chance twist of events lands Asher as the private chef for Lucy’s spirited grandmother, Mitzi, and what begins as awkward encounters in Mitzi’s Portland mansion soon evolves into a simmering connection she never expected.
As Asher and Lucy work through their past they discover a bond that feels both familiar and excitingly new.
So, this book was a surprise. It doesn't appear on Lanyon's website--as far as I can tell. Personally, it's not my favorite site to try and navigate. It's not in "standalones" which it wouldn't be since I believe it's part of a series. It's also not on the series page, however. Although, to be honest, I'm not sure which series it belongs to, so I might have missed it. She's got quite a few books with FBI characters and it's been awhile.
Lanyon is one of those authors--like me and so many others I know or knew or try to follow--whose output has slowed dramatically in the past ten years. It's been rough.
Anyway, this is one of the better books I've read lately, even if it still catches me off-guard how emotional her FBI characters tend to be. I mean, they all claim to be good at compartmentalizing, but I think that's just one more thing they're in denial about.
That having been said, her profilers are a lot better at reading people than the run of the mill agents, so maybe it's my own (completely non-existent) experience with FBI agents that's at fault?
For Lucy Greco Cavanaugh, life is a dream come true. She has it all. The perfect family. The perfect husband. The perfect marriage. What more could she wish for? Other than the chance to do it all again. To experience once more the agony and ecstasy of falling in love with the man of her dreams. To recapture the joy and uncertainty that comes with starting over.
As far as Dan Cavanaugh is concerned, his life has become a nightmare. His storybook marriage is on the line when Deirdre Shelton-Cooper, the runaway daughter of a former girlfriend arrives in Oberon intent on proving Dan is her father. Even though he's convinced the girl's claims are false, Dan decides his only chance to keep from losing everything lies in keeping her very existence a secret from his wife and family.
But, sometimes, what you don't know can hurt you--and those you love. When Deirdre, masquerading as a surfer girl named Monica, accidentally hooks up with their son, Seth, Lucy and Dan are left to wonder: has their perfect, fairy-tale romance, turned into a classic Greek tragedy?
Sometimes you get exactly what you wish for. And it's more than you'd ever dreamed.
Have I mentioned how, so much of the time, Charles' regency world reminds me of Georgette Heyer? Not a complaint. It's like finding Easter eggs when you're least expecting to. This book, for example has a premise very similar to the one in Heyer's The Reluctant Widow, which I wrote about earlier this year. And honestly? I think Charles does it better.
