A bridesmaid and groomsman put their differences aside to get their friends down the aisle in this opposites-attract steamy romantic comedy.
They say to never meet your heroes, but when Vivian Liao’s roommate gets engaged to her favorite actor’s costar, she has no choice but to come face-to-face with Melvin Lee again. He’s just as funny and handsome as he is on-screen…but thinks she is a snob and a sellout. It’s none of his business how she chooses to live her life, no matter how charismatic he is.
Mel is used to charming audiences as an actor and stand-up comedian but can’t connect to Vivian. She’s a smart, talented artist–which is why he thinks she’s wasting her life as a corporate finance drone. The only thing uniting them is their goal for the wedding to go off without a hitch.
As they collaborate on wedding cake and karaoke parties, Mel realizes he might have seriously misjudged this bridesmaid, while Vivian discovers the best man might just be as dazzling off-screen as he is on. With the wedding underway, maybe more than one happily ever after is in the future.
Review:
I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I was that Vivian and Mel were getting a book–their opposite-of-a-meet-cute in Donut Fall in Love was absolutely everything–and I am so glad to say their story did not disappoint. Ms Lau is absolutely amazing at giving us delightfully complex characters who somehow manage to find the one person who is completely wrong for them only to eventually (after a lot of delicious food, LOLing, a healthy helping of angst and a stuffed animal or two) discover that they are somehow actually perfect together.
I loved that Vivian and Mel very much make their own path to an HEA that will work for them. Their romance is slow burn–Mel finds himself fascinated with Vivian even when he isn’t sure that he likes her all that much, and Vivian’s journey to reconciling IRL Mel with his professional persona is rocky, to say the least. But his ability to see and understand Vivian (the karaoke scene, OMG!) helps, as does the way they are each able to accept and even (eventually) enjoy each other’s quirks. And gah! that ending… <3
You really don’t have to read Donut first to love this book (you should, though, because it’s awesome); the disastrous meet cute is replayed here for those who missed or forgot it. Seeing Donut‘s two characters plan their wedding and get married is extra fun if you’ve read their book, but since this is really Vivian and Mel’s story it stands perfectly well on its own too.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
About the author:
Jackie Lau decided she wanted to be a writer when she was in grade two, sometime between penning “The Heart That Got Lost” and “The Land of Shapes.” She later studied engineering and worked as a geophysicist before turning to writing romance novels. She is now the author of over a dozen romantic comedies. Learn more online at www.jackielaubooks.com.