A super sweet romantic comedy, perfect for the start of spring!

I LOVED the opening sequence and the entire set up for the story! Elevators are oddly intimate spaces so I found the whole idea behind the meet cute very compelling and believable. The cheese/crackers and champagne in Alexa's bag immediately made me love her! The POV switches were well timed and quick enough to suck me in. I couldn't put the book down for the first 25% or so until the fake wedding date was over!

I really enjoyed that the relationship was interracial, something I've never read before in a romcom! And I also appreciated that both characters had very demanding, high-power professions, especially Alexa, since that's something you don't always see in a romance! Having said that, I was a little disappointed that with the potential of both of the previous situations (as well as a long distance relationship) to provide real, plausible hurdles to overcome, the main conflict ended up being more about self-confidence and self-worth. The final scene brought it all back though, and I loved the ending!!

Recommended to fans of romantic comedies that are true to life and touch on real issues in the world!

FYI, I got this one on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

This title has been chosen for our annual summer reading guide, publishing May 16 2018 on modernmrsdarcy.com

This book has been getting a lot pre-release buzz, and after reading it, I can certainly see why. This book was an absolute delight to read. Sexy, charming, and just so, so sweet.

Alexa and Drew meet when they end up stuck in a hotel elevator. Somehow, by the time the elevator gets moving again, Alexa has agreed to be Drew’s date to his ex’s wedding that weekend. Not just the wedding, but also the rehearsal dinner, since Drew is a groomsman. Yes, he’s a groomsman at the wedding of his ex-girlfriend and one of his best friends. Because of everyone’s history, he knows he’ll be under a spotlight, so he really, really doesn’t want to go alone and manages to charm Alexa into going with him as his fake girlfriend.

Fake relationships are difficult to pull off well, but Jasmine Guillory manages to do it here. Drew and Alexa actually manage to do it right – they stick as close to the actual events as possible so their story is mostly true. They constantly check in with each other to make sure that everything is okay, and neither of them is uncomfortable with anything. They pay attention to what’s happening and have each other’s backs when questions come up or they’re expected to know something that they don’t. And they only do the fake relationship for the wedding events. Once the wedding weekend is over, the relationship becomes real and they leave the pretense behind.

Realizing they want to continue seeing each other, though, is the easy part. Actually making it happen is more difficult. Drew and Alexa have some things to work out. He lives in LA, she lives in Berkeley, and they both have careers they’re passionate about. They both want this relationship to work, though, and they’re willing to do what they need to in order for that to happen. It’s easy enough in the beginning; the flight from LAX to SFO is only about 90 minutes and it’s not prohibitively expensive, but eventually the distance and the stress starts to wear on them, and the cracks in their relationship become obvious.

I loved this book. Loved, loved, loved it. I loved Alexa and Drew, and all of the side characters. Drew’s best friend Carlos is the main character of the next book, and I can’t wait to get his story. Drew had some issues with jealousy, and he had a tendency to jump to (usually incorrect) conclusions without any evidence to support his position. Alexa struggled with her own insecurities, especially when she saw that all of Drew’s exes (and we meet several) were all tall, stick-thin blondes while she’s a short black woman with curves and hips and breasts. There are several cringe-worthy encounters with the casual racism she deals with every day, and I thought that they way Jasmine Guillory had Alexa fall back on her history in politics and diplomacy to deal with these assholes was perfect. I had no problem believing that a woman who’s built a career out of smiling and being polite even in completely shitty situations would be able to hold her own the way Alexa did.

And we haven’t even talked about that gorgeous cover yet, but holy moly. That cover is beautiful.

So why 4 stars instead of 5? There were some pacing issues with the second half of the book. There are a lot of repetitive scenes involving travel, and Alexa and Drew spending time together and feeling insecure in their relationship. After such a great first half, it was a little disappointing, though certainly not enough to ruin the experience of this book. A lot of the issues they each had could have been cleared up with a conversation, which generally frustrates me, but it seemed in line with Alexa and Drew’s personalities to hold back and stew in their own thoughts instead of having those conversations.

But don’t take that to mean that I didn’t love every minute of reading this book, because I absolutely did. I loved it, I’ve told everyone I know who reads romance to read this book, and several people who don’t read romance. And now I’ll tell you – go read this book immediately! You won’t regret it.

This story was definitely not for me. I'm in the minority though as most readers loves this book.

Super cute! So light and fluffy. Meant for those believe in fairy tales and love at first sight.

Favorite Quote: “Come to the wedding, be my sandwich.”

Alexa Monroe is the chief of staff for the mayor of Berkley. In San Francisco to meet her sister for an impromptu celebration, a power outage traps her in an elevator with the most gorgeous man she’s seen in a long time. Deciding a little harmless flirting never hurt anyone. Alexa sets out to charm this blond Adonis before the power comes back on and they go their separate ways.

Drew Nichols is in town for the weekend for a wedding. His ex girlfriend’s’ wedding. A pediatric surgeon from LA, Drew is not looking forward to the wedding and regrets agreeing to be a groomsman. Meeting the beautiful and vivacious Alexa brightens his day and gives him an idea. He wants her to be his plus one, that way he can spend more time with her before heading back home.

Alexa agrees to his proposition and a single date leads to a weekend of pleasure, opening the door to the potential of a long-term relationship if they can just get out of their own way.

A meet cute in a malfunctioning elevator sets the stage for Jasmine Gulliary’s debut romantic comedy; The Wedding Date. I will admit the cover and premise was the lures that hooked me. I’m a sucker for laughter filled romcoms and that cover is adorable. Fun and flirty, this story offers plenty of laughter, love, and some bittersweet moments as Gulliary tries to convince this stubborn couple how perfect they will be together if they would just get out of their own way.

The wedding is an eye-opener in terms of personalities and issues to come. Racism rears its ugly head and it highlights the issues they will face in their relationship and the race privileges Drew takes for granted.

Alexa is a strong, beautiful, intelligent, take charge African American woman who is normally secure in herself but finds being surrounded by a bevy of blond Barbies brings out her snark and insecurities. I liked that Gulliary chose to draw her unapologetically short and curvy. Short peeps don’t get enough representation (says this 5’1” ½ reviewer).

Drew comes off very sincere and attentive towards Alexa, trying to ensure she is well taken care of while he is attending to his groomsmen duties. But you can tell right away he hasn’t been completely honest with her in regards to his ex-girlfriend and how they broke up. This clues you into Drew’s possible commitment issues and fear of looking bad.

After the wedding, they spend the rest of the weekend together, getting to know one another better until it’s time for them to go home. Plans are made and soon they are traveling back and forth to spend time with one another.

It’s here I begin to question this couple. They are remarkably juvenile for being in such positions of power. Their communication skills are terrible and I hated the way they second guess each other’s motives and choose to make mountains out of molehills. Alexa becomes very judgemental when nervous or unsure. We see this on multiple occasions. For example, when she comes to visit Drew, his friend Carlo picks her up from the airport due to a surgical emergency. Alexa’s first thought is to internally chastise Drew for not picking her up and then internally degrades Carlos by claiming all LA men are rude arsehats, they drive like a manics, etc…It left a bad taste in my mind.

Drew is no better. He becomes extremely defensive and engages in emotional manipulation when he feels wronged or insecure. He not only lashes out at Carlo’s during what I like to call his “come to Jesus moment” but also has definite thoughts on how Alexa should act with him, getting angry when she rightfully demands more. His need to remain friends with all his exes and his inability to commit only reinforces his immaturity.

Chemistry wise, Alexa and Drew are smoking hot and a bit dirty *wink* in their sexual attraction. Their scenes together are well written though, for some reason, they mainly fade to black. Not a huge deal though this happens with all the scenes that are commonly used to help readers form an attachment to the couple and become invested in the romance. There is a beach scene that entails them getting out of the truck to walk the beach then getting back into the truck to go home. It was a huge missed opportunity for an intimate look into their relationship

The last quarter was the best part-aside from the elevator scene. Alexa and Drew finally drop all their guards and speak honestly with themselves and each other. It is an emotional cleansing of sorts and I wish that tone and narrative has been seen throughout the book. A rather cute epilogue assures us this couple has a very good chance of turning their HFN to an HEA.

The Wedding Date had some grand moments but the overall execution needed work. Alexa and Drew disappointed me with their immaturity and I felt their personality defects were written mainly to fuel the conflict. Regardless, this romance will have a broad appeal and I predict we’ll be seeing more from Gulliary in the future. Her next book, The Proposal, is Drew’s best friend’s Carlos book and I admit I am curious to see how Gulliary handles his romance.

Grade: C

This author has a nice voice and I will read her again, but this book is more interested in being a romantic comedy movie than an actual romance novel*, so the way it uses setup and conventions feels rushed and contrived in a way that simply doesn't work.

*I'm actually not sure if this is supposed to be a romance novel or general fiction with a romance and a HEA. Granted, I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between those two, but the marketing signaled, to me, that this was not quite genre romance or at least that it was aiming for an audience beyond romance readers.

A delightful rom-com of a novel. I didn't always think the writing was smooth, and I definitely questioned the characters' lack of communication skills at times (though in a rom-com, many things could easily be solved with transparency and honesty...but then you wouldn't have a story, so perhaps it's on genre). I liked that Jasmine was able to realistically work in the topics of race, white (male) privilege, the doubts that crop up in early relationships, and the realities of dating long-distance. It was light but it wasn't "fluffy." Still, I would most recommend this as a vacation/beach read.

Alexa and Drew meet in an unconventional way when they find themselves stuck in an elevator together. As they begin chatting Drew reveals that he is in town for his ex-girlfriends wedding...and he's dateless. On impulse Drew decides to ask Alexa to be his fake girlfriend for the weekend and Alexa agrees to it. What starts out as a fake relationship blossoms into a real relationship as they both learn how to maneuver long-distance dating and figuring out if they can make it last. This book was such a quick, cute & charming read! I couldn't believe this was her debut book. Her writing was wonderful and she did a great job at developing the characters and making you *feel* what they were feeling.

Alexa, is a gorgeous independent woman who is the Mayor’s Chief of Staff in Berkeley California. She is focused and has a tendency to overthink things. And even though Alexa is really good at getting other people to open up and talk about themselves. She can be hesitant to be open herself. Mainly because she is afraid of putting herself out there and then getting hurt.

Drew is a handsome fun loving, laid back Pediatric Doctor residing in Southern California. He also happens to be a commitment phobe. He is afraid of labeling his relationships. Of making the big commitment. He thinks he is going to screw things up inevitably. Which is one of the reasons why his past relationships have been short lived.

Alexa and Drew meet randomly one day when they get stuck in a hotel elevator together. They make an unique connection almost instantly. Drew knows he wants to see Alexa again, so he does what any guy who thinks quickly on his feet would do. He invites her to his ex-girlfriend's wedding of course. Surprisingly, she says yes. From there on out, they decide to keep seeing each other and see where this might lead...

I liked that this story featured an interracial couple (Alexa is black and Drew is white). And that they both worked high powered jobs. They had good chemistry...You could feel the attraction that they had for one another. Drew and Alexa both worked a lot, but they always supported each other as well as made time to go out together. Another plus. I would have loved it if the characters would have been a little bit more fleshed out. It would have been nice to have had more of a backstory for Drew and Alexa. I thought the story was entertaining. It wasn’t a story I was hooked on, but I enjoyed reading it.

The Wedding Date is a light meet cute romance story with traces of humor throughout. A good choice for romance readers who enjoy HEA’s.

This was a fun rom com that will leave you swooning for more!!!😍 I requested this novel because I was looking for something to lighten my mood! Well this book definitely did the trick and gave me more! I was in a rough patch and my power was on and off but this was something that gave me the light and and the bliss, I was searching for!😍 If you are looking for something sexy, swoon worthy and something that will make you laugh out loud, then look no further than this outstanding novel!😍
I want to thank NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I appreciate this opportunity and all views expressed are my own.

This was such a fun book to read. I got hung up a few times in the story but overall, it flowed beautifully and I enjoyed the characters. It was super fun & flirty with a good story intertwined. And of course, conflict!!

Amazing, sweet, sexy, highly recommended

It was a fun read but not a book I would read multiple times. But for sure fun but not my favorite. I would suggest it!

Review will be posted week of 3/12/18

Alexa is a successful female who works for the mayor and while on her way to visit her sister, she ends up stuck in the elevator. Except she isn't alone. She's "stuck" with a hot doctor who just so happens to not only be single, but also be attending a wedding in San Francisco. While stuck in the elevator, Alexa and Drew actually hit it off and sparks fly. Somehow Drew convinces Alexa to be his date at this wedding since his previous bailed on him. This isn't just any wedding though. This is the wedding of his ex-girlfriend and it would really stink if he showed up without a date. Alexa accepts, because what does she have to lose? This leads to a whole fake relationship that turns into something more plot line, but what separates this novel from the usual frothy and overly saccharine plot lines is the fact that it's a pretty real portrayal of a relationship and the big question that hangs over a couples head. Does the couple want to take the next steps and make it an official relationship? If you like romance novels that will have you blushing and are like your favorite rom-com, then definitely give The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory one a try.

I really liked Alexa from the beginning. She's a successful confidant woman who is witty, charming, and funny. Her relationship with Drew, in the beginning, is just a physical one, but I liked how once they got to know each other better, they developed real feelings for one another. Drew is sort of a "perfect" guy. He's a good looking pediatric surgeon who is somehow still single. Like I said, he needs a date for his ex-girlfriend's wedding and spontaneously asks Alexa to go with him. It was a lot of fun going along for their "fake relationship" ride at the wedding and even after the wedding as they still continued to see each other, but ultimately, the question remains. To quote Old Dominion, "Are we written in the stars, baby, or are we written in the sand?" Meaning where does their relationship stand? Is it a real one? Can they actually share their true feelings or has this whole thing been a facade?

I rolled my eyes a few times reading The Wedding Date as so many circumstances seemed a little too good to be true, but the novel had some depth. It wasn't just your usual romance. It deals with interracial relationships as well as true relationship issues. I thought that Guillory portrayed the complexities of a new relationship very accurately. But that isn't to say it wasn't romantic. I mean this book got pretty racy and quickly. I wasn't completely expecting it and I didn't mind, but be forewarned, especially if that isn't your thing.

I think The Wedding Date will appeal to romance fans the most, especially if you are looking for a rom-com type of novel with some depth. This would be great spring break reading for sure!

This was a light, fun contemporary romance, not too angsty, with a great heroine.

The Wedding Date is set in California, with a 'fake relationship' trope, lots of descriptive food enjoyment, and a lot of moderately spicy sexy times. Alexa is smart, hard-working, poised, diplomatic and absolutely adorable while still being badass. She keeps things together, and faces the world from behind a calm facade. She has good relationships with co-workers, friends, her boss, and bsically most people very soon after she meets them.

Our guy Drew does his best, and may or may not deserve Alexa (you decide). He is a pediatric surgeon, a bit selfish and is mildly clueless when it comes to how to relationship. They have instant attraction, and coast on the lust for until feelings.

I really enjoyed this read, and am looking forward to further books from this new author.

It's a very cute fluffy romance that keeps you guessing to how it is going to end. You never know if Alexa and Drew will get it all together and make it work. It has that Grey's Anatomy feel by first using the elevator to get things started. I love the use of the characters and the supporting cast.

It was such a quick read and something that I needed for a break in some of the heavy stuff I was reading. I just couldn't put it down! One thing I noticed was how much the characters ate. They were always eating donuts and it would make me hungry for donuts. :) One thing that kinda of bug me that it was more developed was the body image issues that Alexa had and maybe through Drew she was able to get over them but that was one thing that I noticed too. She was always comparing herself to those blondes.

I just finished Jasmine Guillory’s debut novel, The Wedding Date, and what a DELICIOUS DELIGHT of a romance! The Wedding Date is so FUN, FRESH, FLIRTY and just FIRE-HOT! I found myself reading most of this novel with a big sappy smile nearly glued on my face. I was completely CAPTIVATED and CHARMED!



He looked like every romantic comedy hero at the end of the night, just before the heroine pulled his shirt out of his pants and started unbuttoning.


The hero and heroine are MAGNETIC together. Drew and Alexa have chemistry that combusts! This story shows that the right woman can conquer the playboy and turn him into marriage material. I LOVED the fake date to lovers theme executed to perfection in The Wedding Date.

”Tell me. Tell me what you want.”

“You. I want you.”


A sexy romance with strong characters that will captivate you from beginning to end, The Wedding Date is a definite page -turner. It's a little playful and a lot of fun. This love story is as sweet and swoony as it is smoldering hot. The Wedding Date is such a breath of fresh air, a FEEL-GOOD ROMANCE that every reader will absolutely adore.

💋💋💋💋 sweet and smoldering kisses

This book was so cute I could die from it. I absolutely adored this story, from their meet cute to the very end.

I loved that Jasmine portrayed strong characters who were well adjusted, settled in careers, and were mature and respectful. I loved Drew & Alexa's chemistry, both in and out of the bedroom.

The Wedding Date really was a refreshing change of pace in the romance genre, the characters real and relatable, their relationship felt authentic and the issues they had were genuine, and dealt with in a real and rational way.

The secondary cast of characters was great as well. I could easily see this book adapted into a wonderful movie.

This book was just full of heart and utterly enjoyable, and it's one I will read again and again.

A wonderfully delicious romantic read--perfect for a day of curling up with a good book.