I read The Wedding Proposal, and I really enjoyed it, so I had high hopes for Guillory's second foray into romance (thanks for the ARC, NetGalley!). Sadly, I was disappointed.

The big positive here was the tremendous diversity of the cast. I'd love to see more of that in the romance genre.

The big negative was that I couldn't understand what they saw in each other beyond the physical. I couldn't feel the emotional chemistry, and found them to be annoying when they were together.

Minor negatives:
Why was Nikole even with her ex-boyfriend for months if she found him so boring?
The only well-written dialogue in the book was between Carlos and Drew (his best friend, and MC from TWP). The rest of it was clunky and immature, not painting the characters in a good light.
I had issues with how Nikole handled a confrontation with her ex, and with how she engineered the meeting to get back together with Carlos. Those bits were just icky.

I probably won't bother with another Guillory novel, but I do hope she gets back to the level of her first book.

I had loved Carlos in The Wedding Date and was thrilled to see that he was getting his own story, so when I got The invite to read this one, I couldn’t wait to get to it.

I love love loved Nik. She’s sarcastic and witty and smart af. Her friends Dana and Courtney were fun and I adored the scenes with the three of them together. Of course I was familiar with Carlos and he didn’t disappoint. He’s supportive and a complete marshmallow. I was so happy to see Alexa and Drew and I’m 1000% here for more scenes of all four of them.

Plot wise, it was, in a word, comfortable, and I mean that in a good way. Nik and Carlos build a relationship out of friendship first and it works. It’s absolutely adorable and when the inevitable conflict happens, I was crushed. Thankfully, it didn’t last long and I loved the grand gesture.

Overall, I loved this story more than the first one. It’s filled with women supporting women, has a cast of diverse characters, and loads of body positivity. My only complaint is that I wanted more at the end.

**Huge thanks to Berkley Books for providing the arc free of charge**

I hate to give up when I’m so close to 50 percent, but this is putting me in a slump.

First, there was no warning or disclaimer that this was a companion to The Wedding Date. I feel so lost like I’m missing out on something.
Second, I don’t feel a drop of chemistry between Nic and Carlos.
Third, to be honest, it’s quite boring to me. I felt like nothing has really happened since they met.

If nothing has happened this far and I don’t feel the chemistry between them. Then I don’t think I can make myself finish this one. I have a copy of The Wedding Date on my shelf that I haven’t read. Maybe I can read that one and come back to this later.

A fun, lighthearted, summer romance read with a wonderfully diverse cast.

I adored the author's previous work so I went into this with pretty high hopes, and while I did not love this quite as much The Wedding Date is was still a fun, sexy and cute read.

I loved Guillory's first book and this one was not a disappointment! It was just as much fun to read as The Wedding Date! Guillory writes such sweet contemporary romances that also have current issues in them. I love her writing!

This book is an absolute delight. I would dock it half a star for the sex scenes all fading to black just as they’re getting really good, but that half star is more than earned back near the end.

The Proposal is the sensational, charming, warm, sexy follow up to Jasmine Guillory’s The Wedding Date. While this novel contains characters from that story, you do not need to read that book to absolutely, thoroughly enjoy this one. I speak from experience.

Nikole (Nik) Paterson is not enjoying spending the day at the ballpark while her boyfriend and his friends bond over warm beer, pretzels and sports - but it’s her man’s birthday and this is what he wanted. She’s vaguely wondering if their five-month relationship has run its course when he tells her to look at the score board. Tearing her eyes away from her phone, she glances up to see the words, “NICOLE: I LOVE YOU. WILL YOU MARRY ME?” When he drops down on one knee and proposes, her slack jawed mouth closes just enough to form the word no. As her boyfriend and his buddies stomp off, calling her various names as they depart, she finds herself the object of horrified, angry looks from the 45,000 other people attending the game.

Carlos Ibarra can’t help but admire the courage of the young woman two rows in front of him who has the gumption to turn down the proposal of the overly tan dude with the man bun. When he sees said young lady about to be mobbed by news station crews, he and his sister Angela rush to her rescue. Feigning a friendship they don’t have, they ooh and ahh over finding her on such an unlikely day and help her skedaddle out of the park. They give her a ride to a nearby bar, where Nik meets up with friends and invites the Ibarras to join her in a drink. They do, and Carlos is impressed all over again, this time with Nik’s wit and humor. But just after a girl has had a very public break up is not the time to hit on her.

Nik is impressed with Carlos as well. Not only is he handsome, he shows himself to be a kind, caring gentleman. When its clear she needs some alone time with her friends, he and Angela leave, but not before he covers the tab.

He figures the only other chance he’ll have to see her again is if he hangs out at the bar, hoping to catch sight of her. She figures this is the totally wrong time to get involved with another man. But one thank you email later and they’re sharing food and fun at a local Thai eatery.  Funny texts and cupcake dates quickly follow. Before they know it, they’re seeing each other two or three times a week.  It’s been said that a simple rule of dating is that rebound relationships never last but aren’t the rules meant to be broken?

Like Nik after the spontaneous proposal from a man who couldn’t even spell her name, I found myself speechless after finishing this book. Unlike Nik, my shock was from my overwhelmingly positive emotions. There was so much I loved about this novel I could easily write a top 100 list of reasons to buy it, but I will try to limit this review to the top five.

One thing the author gets all kinds of kudos for is the best depiction of an alpha female/beta male pairing I have ever seen in romance. EVER. Nik is strong, independent, and tough as nails. A lot of writers end up making alpha females as much of a jerk as her alpha male jerk counterpart but that doesn’t happen here. Nikole is a kind person who has good friends and a caring, compassionate heart. What makes her alpha is her take charge nature and that she knows the difference between someone asking for a favor and someone taking advantage. She’s always up for the former, she’s never down with the latter.

Just the right combination of open-hearted and savvy, Carlos is beta male perfection.  He is willing to let others set the pace on most things but asserts himself when he needs to. He’s okay with being vulnerable to hurt in order to further a relationship along and isn’t afraid to do the heavy lifting in the romance department, but he doesn’t tolerate abuse. I loved everything about him; even his flaws and mistakes are endearing.

The characters, therefore, are perfect not in the sense that they don’t have flaws but that the author skillfully uses even those flaws to move her plot along and endear her creations to the reader. Another absolutely fabulous factor in this alpha-beta pairing is that Nik has a lot of back history with bad relationships. She’s had plenty of losers in her past but unlike many a romance alpha who uses that as an excuse to be cold, distant, untrusting, and unkind to everyone of the opposite sex whom they meet she is friendly, open and fun-loving with her dates. She gives relationships a chance and treats everyone with an open-minded fairness which is just so, so refreshing to see. I now want to go back through my reading history, grab by the hair every ‘wounded’ alpha who punished his new love for his exes’ mistakes, drag them to Nikole’s feet and say, “Learn from her!”.

And yet in spite of all this character perfection, the author is still able to find room for them to grow, become better and bring out the best in each other. Insert fan girl squeal here- that is so awesome! I love it when two great people become even better together.

The relationship building is out of this world fantastic and I just about swooned every time these two were together. I loved how fun their encounters are, how well they get along, how they are able to talk through simple problems and not make issues of them. Seriously, this is the best depiction I have seen of modern romance in a contemporary in a long, long time. Everyone wants the relationship these two have.

The secondary characters are handled beautifully. They lend the exact right amount of balance to the growing romance between Carlos and Nik and help add depth to them as individuals. Nik’s two gal pals know her, love her, support her and guide her. They help her laugh and when she gets lost, they help her find her way. Carlos’ family does the same for him. This is a bit odd to say, but I knew that if the two of them didn’t make it as a couple, they would be all right as individuals because their support networks are so awesome. Too many times the hero and heroine become so totally enmeshed that there is no room for them to stay individuals, but that isn’t the case here. They’re stronger together, better together but they’re fine as individuals, too.

Funny, warm and romantic The Proposal is a fantastic, not to be missed romance. I recommend it to anyone who loves – or even just likes – contemporary romance novels.

Buy it at: Amazon/Barnes & Noble/iBooks/Kobo

The Proposal is such a sweet and cute read!

When I first saw this book, I was in insta-love with the cover. I honestly didn't even care <i> what</i> the book was about, I just knew I had to read it because I was so in love with the cover. And thank goodness I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of this book because it was SO GOOD.

Nikole is a character that gives zero shits if you like her or not. She's kind of cold, especially when it comes to men and she's very upfront in general about not wasting her time on people she doesn't care about. I feel like Nikole is a character that people will either love or hate because she can be very stubborn and when she reacts to things sometimes, she can be harsh. Luckily for me, I loved her but even though I loved her she definitely frustrated me a time or two. But I really do love how much she strives to be confident in herself and how she struggles with letting people in because of stuff that's happened to her in the past. Her being cold and stand-offish with people really makes sense and I could understand where she was coming from. I also like that we got to see some character development not only with her but Carlos as well. They learn from their mistakes and they grow as characters which I really enjoy in books.

Carlos is honestly the cutest hero ever. I loved him <i>so much</i>! He's definitely a carer, the one who wants to take care of everyone and protect everyone from harm. He's also someone who shies away from love and relationships but it's not because he's incapable or unwilling to love someone but rather the love he has for his family is his first priority and he won't let anything else get in the way of that. Honestly, the scenes with his family and reading and seeing how much he cares for his family made me so soft. I loved each relationship he had with them and seeing that dynamic on page was so great. I also loved his friendship with Drew and Alexa, two characters from the author's debut novel, that I haven't read yet, but definitely need to move up my TBR because they were awesome.

I loved how Carlos and Nikole's relationship started off as friends and then slowly they begin feeling more for each other. This is a great case of friends-to-lovers, or more accurately friends into friends with benefits into holy crap I'm in love with you lovers. I loved seeing them spend time together and be vulnerable with each other in ways they'd never been with anyone else. It was also super amusing to me that they kept insisting that they just spent so much time with each other because they were "friends". However, this is also where I have my one complaint about the book. I feel like the transition from "friends who are hooking up and having a great time together" to "I want to spend the rest of my life with you" felt a little rushed. I loved seeing them during that time where they clearly had feelings for each other but hadn't realized it and were just enjoying each other's time but I thought that the "I love you" parts came out of left-field (look at me using baseball terminology LOL) and I didn't necessarily feel like they were there yet. Do I think they have feelings for each other? Definitely. But for some reason that didn't translate to love for me. At least not yet. Maybe because they haven't been together long enough? I'm honestly not sure however, I can say that despite feeling like that, I do feel like they will be together forever and I can see them having that HEA and being together long term.

If all the things above haven't made you want to pick this book up yet, here's a list of some great things to love about this book:

🔹A hero who likes to cook

🔹Diversity (both with POC characters and LGBT+ rep who come in all shapes and sizes)

🔹Talks about important topics like death, abusive relationships (verbal, emotional abuse mostly), feminism, and so much more

🔹Girl friendship scenes that are DA BOMB!

Honestly I feel like I could go on and on about how cute and great this book was. I definitely recommend it to fans of Contemporary Romances and I can't wait to check out more from this author!

<b><i>*Received a copy in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!!</b></i>

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher (Berkley) for the free e-copy of The Proposal. All opinions expressed below are my own.

Synopsis:
Every girl dreams of a grand public proposal...right? Well not Nikole. Especially not with her casual boyfriend. Especially while at a baseball game she doesn't want to attend. And especially when he doesn't even spell her name correctly on the screen! So starts The Proposal. Needless to say, Nikole does NOT accept (I promise that is not a spoiler), but she is luckily rescued by a couple of other fans. The Proposal tell's Nik's story after the proposal goes totally wrong.

Review:
I read Jasmine Guillory's The Wedding Date this past winter and found it totally charming, so I was excited to see The Proposal as an option on Netgalley. Thankfully, Berkley approved me for an e-copy of The Proposal, which is the same format that I read The Wedding Date.

I think you'll love all of the cute (and steamy) shenanigans in The Proposal. Plus, the main characters love food (in this one we have tons of gourmet cupcakes and Mexican food!). I especially loved that Nik was independent and didn't need a man in her life to feel complete. I also adored that Carlos was so close with his family and was an awesome cook (swoon!). Plus, our favorite couple from The Wedding Date makes an appearance!

I am quickly falling in love with contemporary romance. I love the sweet couples going through every day problems, but ultimately finding love. I love the new trend of independent women and even role reversals (think Kiss Quotient). Plus, I'll admit it, I love the occasional steamy romance scene. So publishers, pick more of these titles! Oh, and go ahead and send me a copy when you do!

I would have to rate The Proposal a strong 3.5/5 (rounded up to 4) stars. I enjoyed the story and really liked the characters, but it was simply missing that something extra for me. That being said, I think fans of The Wedding Date and Kiss Quotient will adore The Proposal. I sincerely hope this is a new trend and we'll see more and more books like this being published.

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory
Nikole Paterson a smart, hip, freelance journalist, has been dating gorgeous actor Fisher for five months. When he asks her to attend a Dodgers game for his birthday, she sucks it up and goes along thinking maybe it is time to end this relationship because they don’t have much in common. But Fisher surprises her with a marriage proposal. On the Jumbotron! Nik is shocked and unsure what to say, so Fisher and his bros storm off leaving her to deal with the waiting press. Carlos Ibarra and his sister Angie witness the entire scene and swoop in to rescue Nik and get her home. The opening scene was hysterical
What follows is a rebound hook-up turned relationship but we don’t want to have a relationship novel that has its sweet moments but lacked depth and made it difficult to invest in the characters.
Ultimately, the novel was a little hollow and the characters a little shallow. Carlos --Hispanic pediatrician, and Nik-- Stamford educated journalist with a great pedigree, have great chemistry but each is blind to what makes a relationship and how they could benefit from one. They spend an annoying amount of time having great dates and then thinking about how they are sending the wrong message to the other about the status of their non-relationship. It was all rather wearying. And a chapter towards the end where Nik interviews a woman who was in an abusive relationship felt wildly out of place in the narrative.
Perhaps this is the way some folks structure their relationships and I am sure many will identify with this couple but I didn’t find their journey romantic at all. However, there is a great deal of positive girl power here as well as a few sweet moments and I am sure fans of Guillory’s first novel will find this one appealing as well. 3 stars.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An MLB scoreboard proposal with her name spelled wrong! And she doesn’t like baseball, his man bun, or his bros… and it’s only been 5 months. Luckily Carlos Ibarra (a fun supporting character from Guillory’s fabulous and popular The Wedding Date) manages to swoop in and get her out before the media can descend on her when her now-ex storms away. And Carlos keeps being there for her until their no-strings affair starts to feel like a big and scary relationship. The story has humor, heart, and a lot of fun food. I might have liked it a smidge more than The Wedding Date, which I loved!

A fantastic follow up to Guillory's first book "The Wedding Date." Funny, realistic and fun to read. Well developed characters, realistic conversations, and a slew of real life drama (such as dealing with grief, abusive relationships, troubled pregnancies and self love) all make their way into the story, but none of it feels heavy handed or too much. Contemporary romance fans will soak this one up.

After reading and loving Jasmine Guillory's The Wedding Date last year, I was thrilled to get my hands on an ARC of her follow-up, The Proposal. And it did not disappoint! It had all of the things I loved about TWD, with a fun new premise and endearing new characters.

The Proposal begins with our main character, Nik, being proposed to unexpectedly in front of 45,000 people on the Jumbotron at Dodgers Stadium-- a nightmare for most people, but especially so when Nik has only dated this guy for five months and is most certainly not in love with him. Enter our hero, Carlos (who you might remember from The Wedding Date!), who manages to rescue Nik from the camera crews surrounding her after her public proposal rejection. The story goes from there, and surprise surprise, thus begins an adorable romance.

I was so excited to read more about Carlos, and this book did not disappoint! We got to see his devotion to his family, his love of food and talent for cooking, his new job, and of course, him falling in love. I really enjoyed being inside Carlos's head; he's just one of those rare, genuinely good humans.

I also loved Nik! I appreciated the way she knew what she wanted out of life and didn't take any sh*t from men. Plus, her friend group was so much fun to read about. Jasmine Guillory really excels at writing female friendship-- from Nik, Dana, and Courtney's evenings at their neighborhood bar to their group chat, all of their interactions felt exactly like the everyday interactions I have with my best friends.

As with The Wedding Date, there is some excellent discussion of identity in The Proposal! We have a black heroine (which is #ownvoices rep) and a Mexican-American hero. I loved the scene between Nik and Alexa, the heroine from The Wedding Date, where the two women share a laugh about the fact that neither of their partners told them the other woman was black before they met for the first time.

Guillory not only can write a great romance, but she also excels at writing the details that make the story feel all the more real: from Courtney's cupcake shop, to the gym where Nik and her friends take a self-defense class together, to all the delicious descriptions of food (seriously, this is such a foodie book), all of these elements made the story feel vibrant and alive.

Overall, whether you've already read and loved The Wedding Date or you're just looking for a good romance, I highly recommend picking up The Proposal next time you need a fun, compulsively readable romance between two people of color!

Have you read The Proposal?

Jasmine Guillory is a fabulous writer. Her characters are relatable; they feel like people you would want in your inner circle. They are not perfect people, but their flaws are human and ultimately make them more likable. The diverse cast of characters is fantastic and Guillory does an excellent job depicting the variety of cultures and backgrounds prevalent in modern society.

The romance is sweet and breaks from the typical mold of contrivances.

LOVED THIS! This was a great book. The character development was fantastic, and I loved the ending ;) I will definitely be reading more of Jasmine Guillory in the future--you have a devoted fan!

I really enjoyed this book, it was a very quick read. Refreshing to read a romance book where neither of the main characters were white! Nik the main female character is black and Carlos the main male character is Latino. There are a lot of diverse characters in this book which was exactly what I expect to see in 2018 so preach! I liked that this book was steamy without feeling over saturated and it still had a lot of heart and meaningful character building. I did feel like Carlos was a more well rounded character than Nik though which is why I’d give this book a 4 rather than a 4.5!

I thoroughly enjoyed this one though and I really recommend it if you’re a fan of books like The Hating Game!

The Proposal is a feel-good romance that has more confident characters and less repetitive dialogue than The Wedding Date. I enjoyed it more than The Wedding Date because Carlos and Nik don't spend so much time doubting themselves like Drew and Alexa did. I enjoy how Guillory's male characters don't need to be shown how to respect women--it's already part of who they are. That's refreshing in a romance.

When freelance writer, Nikole (with a k) gets blindsided by a public proposal from her kind of boring, but pretty hot boyfriend (who spells her name wrong) at a Dodgers game, Carlos (and his sister) saves the day. After that, the two form a quick friendship that turns into a friends-with-benefits thing. And they're both clear that's what it is. And they're both clear that that's what they want. Until one of them isn't so clear anymore...

I'm really loving Jasime Guillory and her casual use of inclusion. This book isn't necessarily about the race of the main characters, it's about the love story. Which just happens to be between a black woman and a Mexican man. End of story - or I guess beginning since we know that from the start...

This was a fun read and I enjoyed reading about both Nikole and Carlos. I loved Nik's complete feminism and her struggle to let go of her baggage. My only complaint is more sex! None of this fade to black nonsense... :)

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory is a standalone novel. Having read and enjoyed Guillory’s debut novel, The Wedding Date, I looked forward to reading this book.

Nikole (Nik) Paterson, our heroine, is sitting at a Dodger baseball game with her boyfriend and his friends, when she sees herself on the huge scoreboard. When she looks down, her boyfriend of 5 months is proposing to her in front of the huge crowd, Nik is totally shocked, and speechless. She never expected this, and with the pressure of everyone watching, she does not accept the proposal, which then angers her boyfriend, and the media is now ready to crash in.

Carlos Ibarra and his sister are also at the game, and only two rows behind the shell shocked Nik. Knowing she is going to be bombarded, they come to her rescue pretending to be friends, and pull her away from the media to safety. Not having a ride, Carlos and Angela will take her to a bar, where Nik’s best friends were waiting for her, and they all talk about what happened, and get to know each other.

Carlos and Nik become fast friends, but both are not interested in any relationship. Nik is swearing off men (ok to be friends) and Carlos does not believe in true love or getting into a serious relationship. They have fun together as friends, but in a short time their attraction to each other will heat up; but they are both determined to enjoy the benefits without anything more. Each has their own baggage, as Nik knowing Carlos is a doctor, and her other relationship that failed was with a doctor who cheated on her; Carlos takes care of his family, and because of his father leaving them, he doesn’t believe in love.

This turns out to be a very nice, sweet, engaging romance between two very likable people. This is also a multicultural romance, with some great diverse secondary characters. Guillory does this so well. We have Nik, a beautiful black woman; Carlos is latino; his best friend is Korean and her best friends are gay or white. It was a fun group.

What follows is a difficult journey for both of them, with each falling in love with each other, but having to get past their own baggage. You will have to read the book to find out if they open their hearts to their true feelings and allow love to lead the way. The Proposal was a sweet fun read.

The storyline and characters are fun and fluffy. The writing was a bit more 'tell' than 'show', which meant I didn't feel that the characters connected as deeply as the author likely intended, but that may be more of a personal preference.