I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This book was a typical romance novel where I found the storyline to be predicatable and boring.

My review can be seen at RT Book Reviews.

Review: Kate is just trying to make this a memorable time for her best friend. She works for a wedding planner who happens to have a grudge against Kate problem one. She also was jilted by her fiancé who took off with her sister. Now as she tries to heal (I for one don’t feel as if a wedding planner is the right job for Kate)her sister wants to contact her make peace…I am just not feeling this. Charlotte couldn’t have picked a worst time. Kate is now trying to rein in the groom brother who happens to be the best man. The chemistry between Kate and Alec is strong. But Alec has problems of his own.

Family…is what it all comes down to. Kate wants nothing to do with Charlotte (who realizes her mistakes, knows how to fix them but Kate won’t talk to her). And then there is Alec who is trying to get his brother not to marry but to come back home and work in the family business. Why can’t he do both.

Ms. Miles gives us interesting well rounded character like Kate and Alec. Showing a more realistic relationship she slows it down and gives that love/hate balance. Then just for some depth to the story she adds family issues and a mixed up dynamic. With these elements you get a full spectrum of emotions.

I enjoyed the story and the characters. It was fun to watch them grow, share and mature. With the personal growth Ms. Miles also showed that second chances were a good thing, forgiving leads to moving forward and healing. Which I felt brought warmth into the story making it seem…real.

This is a book to recommend to someone that needs to look at moving on and taking a second chance.

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer jerjen

Kate Daniels is a wedding planner, and a pretty good one , if she does say so herself. She has to be because this will be one of the hardest weddings she has planned. First of all, it is for her best friend, Elizabeth. She wants everything to be perfect and go off without a hitch. Secondly, she has something to prove to everyone. She was supposed to get married herself, but the wedding never took place because her fiance cheated on her with her sister. So she has to prove to everyone (including herself) that she is over the heartbreak and able to do her job well. She has to make everything (the flowers, the dresses, the tuxes…) are perfect and make sure the best man does not ruin the wedding.

Alec, the groom’s brother and best man, is determined to keep his brother from getting married. He does not want to lose his brother to a wife and he feels his brother should stay and work in the family business. So he is going to try and keep his brother from making a big mistake. Alec has his own set of problems to deal with. He has not completely gotten over his mother’s death, he misses his brother a lot and he tries to gain his father’s approval by becoming a workaholic. Deep down he is really an unhappy person, although you would have to look deep under his hard exterior to know this.

The characters are well developed and well rounded. Both Kate and Alec have baggage that they have to deal with. But I thought that baggage made them seem more realistic and human, which I enjoyed. It was great to see them both start to open up, especially after the rocky start that they had. Both of these characters showed growth and maturity as the book progressed. As they spend more time together, they start to share things and begin to develop feelings for each other. Things moved slowly between Kate and Alec, which I felt made the book seem more realistic.

This book is about second chances, forgiveness, family, betrayal and moving forward. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted women’s contemporary. I am a little excited that this is the first book in the series because I can look forward to reading more books in this series.

This is my third book that I have read of Olivia Miles and like the last two books she did not disappoint. Olivia does a great job of mixing both romance, heartbreak and a little bit of humor all into one book. This is the first in the series of Misty Point so she did a great of introducing a variety of characters into the book in addition to the main characters so that you could play around in your head with who the next story was going to be about.

In regards to character development I think Olivia did a great job of giving you enough description of what occurred in Kate's past as well as Alec's but didn't spend a huge amount of time on it where you felt like it over powered their romance developing.

With storyline and how she built Alec and Kate's romance I felt she did a good job on this as well. I am glad she didn't make them fall head over heels in love right away because that is just unrealistic with what Kate went through. It was nice to see those characters really develop through out the book.

I can't wait to read the next book in the series about Charlotte's story and get to read her fall in love but also read about her relationship mend with her sister Kate!

This book did nothing for me. I thought at first that I was enjoying this book although, it did not a bit to warm up to the characters but then I realized that I never really found my groove with the story or the characters. In fact, not by purpose (in the beginning) but I stopped reading at the half way mark. As time passed I found my desire to go back to the book lessen. To be honest, I can't remember what happened in the first half of the story.

Kate is planning her best friend's wedding and she wants it to be perfect. Kate's life hasn't been a bed of roses-she's working hard, but her boss still has some sort of grudge against her and when she was planning her own wedding, she was jilted by her fiancee, who cheated on her with her own sister. Time has passed, but her sister's betrayal still hurts and it doesn't help that people in the town are trying not to upset Kate, when the weddings topic comes up. Kate is trying to show that everything is under control, but sometimes some things take time to heal. When things seem to get better, Kate's life becomes messy again- her sister starts to search contact with her and the workaholic best man gives her a headache, even though there's an attraction between them.

It was a sweet and engaging story about love, betrayal, misunderstandings, devotion and friendship. I found the characters well developed and the story well written, I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait to read the next book in the series.

In an Oyster Shell – A poignant tale of forgiveness and moving forward.

The Pearls – The concept was surprising to me. The surprising aspect was the sister who cheated with her ex’ fiance. I don’t know why I find this surprising but it was. Learning to forgive her sister is a part of the story. It’s hard and Kate struggles and that kept me turning the pages. The added depth of a romance with the best man made this a great story.

The characters were everything in this story. There was Kate a high strung no non-sense wedding planner. Then there was the bride who was on cloud nine the whole story. Then Alec the self-absorbed best man who gets a little less so with Kate around. Then there is Charlotte who is kind of a sad character but adds to the story none the less.

The romance was perfect for what Kate was going through. It was unexpected but ended up being something she could count on. It was a great addition to the story.

The Sand – Charlotte was really a sad character and stars in the next book. I don’t know if I will continue.

Wedding planner extraordinaire Kate Daniels is planning her best friend’s wedding and nothing can go wrong. Not like it went wrong when she was planning her own wedding when she was jilted by her fiancé weeks before the ceremony when he admitted he was cheating on her…with her sister! So Kate has some redeeming to do. She needs to show herself and everyone else that she is ok, back on the saddle, ready to rock and roll. And so that sets the stage for this lovely little story of healing relationships, love, and friendship.

I am a big fan of this genre. I love stories that are real life with a touch of romance thrown in. I am not a big fan of the title of the genre, “women’s fiction” but beggars can’t be choosers! I thought Olivia Miles did a nice job telling the story of Kate and her woes. She gave me romance. She gave me friendships. She gave me the hurdle of Kate dealing with forgiving her sister, moving on, and then finding love again. The only thing she didn’t give me was the hurt of Charlotte betraying the one person she should never betray. I get it. Kate was brushing her off and not bothering to think about her, but I think that this would be a big deal to me. If my sister had sex and ran off with my fiancé weeks before my wedding, I’m not sure the hurt would be able to be stuffed down. The anger. The betrayal. That is some big stuff there and I felt like it was missing in the story.

I am able to forgive that slight though because I really enjoyed Kate’s romance with Alec. Alec was so stuffy when we first met him as he was dealing with some things himself, mainly the fact that his brother and best friend up and ditched him for a woman and sent the family business to the shitter! Miles did a nice job moving Alec toward forgiveness of his brother and acceptness of a new life for himself. I enjoyed reading the budding relationship between Kate and Alec. He was very sweet to Kate and I felt like they had good chemistry. I would have liked a few more scenes with Alec and Kate. Their relationship felt genuine but rushed. And note, if you’re looking for sexy times, look elsewhere.

Another on the plus side, the imagery of the town: Kate lives in a small beach town and it was very quaint. The cobblestone roads, the lighthouse, the friends and families, even the hotel were painted as picturesque, the kind of place you go to raise a family, not vacation! It is a town I wouldn’t mind living in if it exists.

There are plenty of characters and Miles sets them up nicely to make this into a series. This book was a really nice way for me to spend a rainy morning. If you’re looking for a lite read, check this one out.

While I was reading One Week to the Wedding all I could think of was how would I have reacted if I was in Kate’s unfortunate shoes. And I’m certain it wouldn’t be with the relative grace and strength that she showed. There is a bitter sweetness to this story that I would consider more Women’s Fiction than Romance. As a wedding planner it’s Kate’s job to make certain that the bride’s wedding goes off without a hitch – or at least solve those hitches before the bride learns of them. Yet for Kate, planning her friend’s wedding is pure agony for all it’s bringing back are the thoughts of what should have been her’s – if only her ex wasn’t a sneaking, cheating jerk… and her sister hadn’t betrayed her in the worst way possible.

There is a touch of a possible romance when Alec, the bride’s future brother-in-law makes his appearance, and his growing attraction to Kate is soon returned. Aside from that fun side event, I found One Week to the Wedding to be very much a healing story of one woman’s dealing with the shock and consequences of the actions of those she loves. I never felt that Kate’s situation was treated with triteness or an unrealistic solution. It hurts to be betrayed. Bottom line, it hurts. And it takes time to heal those wounds. Yes, a flirtation with a handsome man, the possibility of more with him in the future and the overtures of her sister, Charlottte are parts of Kate’s story – the real star is Kate herself as she learns a new life, different from what she’d planned and moves on.

I enjoyed Kate’s journey. Charlotte will have her story told later in the series. There are a few twists and turns along the way that kept this story lively and entertaining. In all, I’d have no trouble recommending One Week to the Wedding for any reader who enjoys Women’s Fiction or light Romance.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Kate Daniels is a wedding planner and right now she is helping with her best friend, Elizabeth’s wedding. She is trying to calm Elizabeth’s nerves as her fiancé, William’s father doesn’t seem to care for her. William’s mother passed away some years back and his father is a high-powered financial executive. William’s brother, Alec, who works with his father will be there for the wedding as well. Elizabeth feels that he doesn’t approve of the wedding either.

Kate was to have been married a year ago to Jake but the wedding was called off at the last minute. It turns out that Kate’s sister, Charlotte, had slept with Jake. It has been difficult for Kate to get over her broken heart but she is working hard to do so.

Kate has a monster for a boss. The woman does all she can to trip her up and make her look like she missed some detail. Therefore, Kate always has her many checklists with her.

As the days of the last week pass, Kate is busy with being sure the dresses, tuxes, parties, flowers, food, cake, etc. are all in order. In addition to being the wedding planner, she will be Elizabeth’s maid of honor.

When Kate meets Alec to discuss the rehearsal dinner and his part as the best man, he appears to be somewhat arrogant to her which makes their discussions rather rocky. But as they get to know one another, an attraction develops between them. Could this lead somewhere or is it just a fling in the midst of the excitement of a wedding?

I enjoyed this story very much. Kate is a character that has been perfectly developed by the author. We see her pain, her kindness, and her determination to be a success. I hope readers will enjoy this sweet and clean story as much as I did.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is #1 in the Misty Point series.  Besides reading books on fireman, SEALs, etc, I love when books are centered around a wedding.  

Kate has to plan her best friend's wedding.  It is her job as a wedding planner, but this wedding is special to her.  She wants everything to go perfectly, but the bride, Elizabeth, thinks her groom's family does not like her and is worried the groom's brother, Alec will pull something. 

Could you plan weddings for a living if your fiancé let you before the wedding?  I am not sure I could.  It is a constant reminder of what you lost.  Add he cheated with your sister (it's in the description).  How can you be sisters with Charlotte anymore?  Could you forgive her? 

I definitely want to read the next book that is on Charlotte.  I was hooked from page 1 and did not want to stop reading.  I love Ms Olivia Mile's writing.  

☆☆☆☆☆
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.
Recommend this book? Yes! Author? Yes!
Read more from this author? Yes!

Happy Reading!
Melissa

Recently jilted Kate finds herself planning her best friend’s wedding. This is all fine and dandy, in theory, but after watching her ex-fiance run off with her sister, she would rather hide under the covers with her dog and a book than look at centrepieces and attend fittings. With the wedding one week away, Kate is busy. But just because she is busy doesn’t mean she can’t hang out with the groom’s brother a little bit. Right?

When I stumbled across One Week to the Wedding by Olivia Miles, I knew I had to read it. As you know, I have been trying to incorporate some titles to get me excited for my upcoming nuptials and I have been trying to consume any summer beach read possible, so this one was a no-brainer for me!

Fun and endearing, I found myself completely wrapped up in the week leading up to the wedding and all the drama that surrounded it. Mostly narrated through Kate, our protagonist, as she tries to navigate the world of wedding planning while trying to mend her own broken heart. We also get a perspective from her sister, Charlotte, who is trying desperately to make amends and, finally, from Alec, the groom’s brother who is a serious business man with a serious soft spot.

Plenty of twists and several turns had me interested in the story but the characters and the feel-good story kept me continuously reading. This one reminded me of those Nantucket novels that I love to get lost in during the summer; think Elin Hilderbrand and Kristan Higgins.

The first novel in the new Misty Point series and I know I will be anxiously awaiting the second book! This novel comes out tomorrow so if you are looking for an indulgent summer beach read, add this to your TBR piles!

I'm so not a wedding person yet somehow I just can't seem to resist a book about wedding planners! I love reading about all the details and all the stress of favors and seating arrangements and fittings but at the same time being relieved that I didn't have to do any of that! Kate is wedding planner extraordinaire desperately trying to make sure her best friend has the absolute perfect day all while trying to deal with a broken heart, betrayal, and a horrible impossible to please boss. I loved the community of Misty Point. It is a small town on the beach with a casual feel and interesting characters just begging to have their story told.

It took me a little longer to warm up to Kate and Alec than it did to Misty Point. Neither of them are in the happiest of spots and are just starting to realize that it might be time to change. This change isn't quick for either of them and there were times it felt like while the story itself was progressing they weren't really changing. Despite that Miles' continued to keep me invested in the story and it was a book I just wanted to keep reading - and the pay off was definitely worth it!

This was perfect back deck reading (with maybe some blue corn chips and guacamole inspired from the author's own snack choices!) and I enjoyed every minute of it despite my few quibbles. This is a series that I think has a lot of potential and I can't wait for the next book!

What is meant to be a cause for celebration, could end up being anything but. One Week to the Wedding is a tale of sisterhood, betrayals and second chances. Olivia Miles always delivers stories that are full of substance, not just entertaining. Kate and Charlotte are sisters with a complicated relationship. What should have been an unbreakable bond has ended up tarnished by betrayal and jealousy. I guess that old the statement about not realizing how important something is until too late is true. One regret too many has left Charlotte estranged from the most important person in her life. Will Kate every forgive her? One Week to the Wedding is a thought provoking story of heartache, family and forgiveness told through the eyes of love and a heart of regret.

I adored the last Olivia Miles series I read, so picking up One Week To The Wedding was a no brainer.

This is the first in the Misty Point series, and more of a cross to women's fiction than romance - though there is still plenty of romance, I mean, there is a wedding in the title!

I adored Kate from the start. Through all her hurt, she is doing everything to give her best friend the most amazing wedding, even though it is killing her slowly on the inside. It really is a kind of Hell Week for her, but she battles on with a smile.

Alec - well, even though he is a bit of an ar$e he is a loveable arse.

I love the spark between our lovelies, the bit and snark that they bring out in each other. There is a love/hate kinda thing going on there, which makes for all kinds of heat.

There is sort of 2 parts to this story, there is Kate and Alec, then there is Kate's sister Charlotte. She plays such a big part in the making of the Kate of today, and while I should hate her, I kind of couldn't.

I laughed, I cried, I smiled whilst reading One Week To The Wedding.

Now I am impatiently waiting for what Ms Miles brings us next.

*review to go on blog and Amazon etc on release **

The author did a wonderful job at introducing us to a new series, with all the friendships and romances wind around each other. I loved all the characters and the story line was great. I can't wait to see how the relationship between Alec and Kate progresses and moves forward. I look forward to reading more.

One Week to the Wedding was a sweet book. It is your typical fall in love with the arrogant guy who turns out to be loving and sweet; but it was so much more than that. There were multiple characters in this book that switched back and forth, and each story tied into the other in a way that was different from most romance books. There were many surprises along the way. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the other books in this series!

I love when an author is able to tell a good romance without having to resort to XXX scenes every chapter to fill up the page quota; you know the whole tell don’t show thing. Olivia Miles does a great job of spinning a tale that’s so much more than girl meets boy and falls in love.

Most of the story is told from Kate Daniels point of view but you also get a bit from her sister Charlotte’s and like they say there’s always 2 sides to every story.

Miles paints Kate as this strong but bruised woman. She was in a committed relationship that didn’t end well and has to keep living in a small town where everyone knows her business PLUS she works in the wedding industry which just keeps rubbing salt in that open wound. All around her healing process isn’t going well but the strength of her character definitely makes her the kind of friend any of us would be lucky to have.

Charlotte is the kind of sister that comes straight off some soap opera plot; hell bent on wrecking her sister’s life not because she’s an evil watch but because she’s immature and selfish. Those personality traits are going to end up seriously wrecking her life. Even by the end of the book she still has this mile wide selfish streak where she seems to want everyone else to fix her problems rather than make the difficult choices to do it herself.

It looks like in Book 2 the focus will be on her and hopefully Miles has her see the light because right now I seriously couldn’t stand her and found NO redeeming qualities so I’m not that looking forward to the sequel. I’ll read it since I like Miles writing but after I get through everything else I want to read first.

Aside from the craziness of Charlotte’s character Miles does bring her story to a great conclusion with the satisfactory happy ending for most. A curve ball got thrown in at the extreme end that perfectly sets up Book 2.

I tried. I really tried to get through this book but it was so predictable and annoying. I'm sorry you were stupid enough to get knocked up with your sister's fiance's baby and then he dropped you. There's Legal Aid and other pro bono lawyers who would help with your case to get the support you need and a family who would love to get to know your daughter regardless of who her father is. Embarrassing? Perhaps a little, but its also the right thing to do.

As you can see, I thought the characters were so annoying and very predictable. Gee, I wonder if Kate and Alec will find love? Will Alec be able to save the business? Who really cares.