A fun summer read covering running a family business, sisterly interactions, falling in love, Filipino traditions, and how a wedding planner deals with customers. A good book club selection. Would like to read more on these 3 sisters in a future story.

Good story about three sisters taking over the family wedding planning business. I really enjoyed this story about relationships and how the girls came to realize how much better they were together. A good beach/summer read. I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

Oh, I loved it! Wedding planner stories are my absolute favorite and this book combined wedding planning with sisters and an excellent Washington DC setting. There’s business and romance and food and it’s so atmospheric. If you love stories about weddings and family, definitely add this to your summer reading list!

SYNOPSIS

Mari, Jane, and Pearl de la Rosa have just taken over their parents successful wedding planning business. Technically, the three sisters are equal partners, but everyone knows that uber-controlling Mari is in charge of day-to-day business, Jane is in charge of the numbers, and Pearl is mostly in charge of social media (though Mari always keeps her on a tight leash…).

The sisters feel honored to take over the family business, but each is secretly wishing for a little more freedom to grow beyond their worn out family roles. Mari is desperate to escape her past and to reassure her family once and for all that she is responsible and competent. Jane just wants to be a good parent to her son while helping her huge extended family get along. And Pearl needs everyone to see that she isn’t a baby anymore, that she has legitimately good ideas and wants to contribute in her own right, without constantly being supervised and scrutinized. The question is, can these three very different women come together to keep their parents business afloat, while also moving forward with their own personal goals (and maybe a little romance…), too. Only time will tell.

MY REVIEW

This book is a mix between the movies The Wedding Planner and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I love the premise of three sisters running a wedding planning business. Already you know there is going to be so much entertaining client (and family) drama—and, spoiler alert, there is. But the real strength of the book is in its three main characters. The relationship dynamic between the sisters is so familiar and believable. They are very different from each other, but it’s easy to empathize with all of them. It helped, too, that their love interests softened them, made them feel more approachable and relatable. I truly was rooting for all three women to come together and make this business happen, and I enjoyed following them along their journey. This won’t be the deepest book you’ll read this summer, but it’s perfect if you’re looking for something on the lighter side.

The Key to Happily Ever After is a fun contemporary novel that is the perfect summer read! The story follows the three de la Rosa sisters as they try to find love while navigating their family's wedding planning business. I love the setting of this novel, the three sister's live in D.C. and are taking over the family's wedding planning business from their parents, and there's lots of wedding and behind the scenes sections!

Even though there are three de la Rosa sisters, The Key to Happily Ever After focuses more on Mari and Pearl, the oldest and youngest of the sisters. I really enjoyed reading about these sisters, and could totally relate to how they felt about each other. They love each other, but sometimes they don't like each other. This is especially true because they basically live together and work together. Most of the tension in the story is between Mari and Pearl. Mari is the oldest and is used to taking care of her sisters, and is still babying Pearl even though she's an adult and is great at her job. Pearl is frustrated with Mari because she wants more freedom, but her sisters don't seem to realize that. I loved reading and seeing how the sisters navigated this weird situation with each other, and seeing how they grew from it.

"Are you even listening to yourself? You're talking about guiding me and helping me and fixing it for me. What I need is support. Support because we are all equals."

I've seen this novel marketed as a romance, but just a heads up that it's really not. There are romances in the book, but the main focus of the story is the sisters relationship with each other. Before beginning the novel I read reviews where people didn't enjoy the book as much because it wasn't what they expected, but I think if you're aware it's not really a romance you'll enjoy the story more and won't be disappointed.

"We have all failed at one time or another. And we're always there for each other aren't we? We'll be there for her."

Overall the writing was good, but there were a few similes and metaphors throughout the story that were a little over explained and took me out of the story. I was also not a huge fan of how the backstory was sprinkled in. There were only about three flashbacks, but they kind of came from nowhere and confused me a little while reading.

I do want to give a trigger warning for an abusive relationship - there's one scene at around the 40% mark and another at around the 70% mark as well.

The Key to Happily Ever After is a solid adult contemporary romance, and I highly recommend it! It's the perfect summer read, and it's a pretty quick read as well (so you know you can get it done while chilling at the beach or the pool). After finishing this book I immediately added Tif Marcelo's other books to my tbr because I really enjoyed this!

Amazing!! I loved everything about this story!! It was the perfect length and Tif did an amazing job keeping me turning pages!! My wish is for her to write a book on Jane - the middle sister. I fell in love with her character and would love to see more!!

This follows the de la Rosa sisters right after they take over their parents wedding planning firm,Mari is the oldest and also the new CEO.Jane is the middle sister , she is nice and she tries to keep everything positive and good between them. Pearl is the youngest and at some point I could feel her because I had the same issues as her trying to prove myself to the others.This story has drama and it's fast paced and lighthearted!I loved how different the sisters are. I was actually expecting this book to be more of a romantic comedy and it had elements of both romance and comedy but for me this was much more a book about family and sisterhood!

Such a lighthearted, sweet story about the power of love, family, and friendship! Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery Books for my free review copy. I definitely recommend this one, especially those who love a good story about the power of love and family. I can’t wait to read more from this author. :)

A pretty lighthearted family drama about three sisters who own a wedding planning business and discover love around the same time. The two main characters are Marisol and Pearl, the oldest and younger sisters respectively. There’s family conflict and a little bit of drama but overall it displays the closeness sisters share even when they’re fighting.

As an aside (and totally a joke, as I am a middle child) but in typical fashion, the middle child was left out from having a POV.

I received an advanced copy through Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Marisol, Janelyn and Pearl have taken over their family wedding business. But, it is not all it’s cracked up to be. There is a lot of family dynamics, crazy weather and just stressed out brides to deal with! Not to mention, the money issues they inherited.

Pearl is the younger of the three. She is the most laid back and easy going of her sisters. Janelyn is always the peacemaker. Marisol, the only way to put it is…THE BOSS. These three struggle with each other, as most families do. Pearl wants to expand her responsibilities. And because of her easy going nature, Marisol sees this as a big problem. Tensions ride high and emotions are everywhere. But, when the chips are down, there is nothing like family to save the day! These girls always have each other’s backs regardless of the fights, squabbles and tears. And believe me….there are plenty!

I enjoyed every part of this read. It is just adorable. This is a wonderful palate cleanser. It has everything…drama, romance, love and family messes. You cannot go wrong with this one! Pick this up today!

I received this novel from Gallery Books for a honest review

Tif Marcelo is PERFECTION! The Key to Happily Ever After is a story about three sisters who are all at different stages of their lives. It's about the importance of family and the strength of a bond that is unbreakable even when tested. I loved it so much. These sisters will always have a special place in my heart. Highly recommend this one! <3

This was such a fun read, just what I needed for a weekend when I all I wanted to do was curl up with a good book. When three sisters take over the family wedding planning business they are determined to make it work, hopefully together. The family dynamics are spot on, the interactions between the sisters as family and business partners were complicated and honest. It was interesting watching each try to make their own mark in the business while trying to grow professionally, but also remember that no matter what happens, they are also family, and will always have each other’s back. Add in each trying to negotiate their own personal lives at the same time, and the story will suck you in.
I enjoyed the look behind the curtain of a wedding planning business and learning more about the Filipino culture that Marcelo wove into the story. There are definitely moments that will make you laugh, and others that will make you cheer, and you will end this one feeling happy and satisfied.
#tallpoppywriters #bloomreads #tallpoppyreviewer

The Key to Happily Ever After was a true test to the bond of sisterhood. I don’t think I’ve ever read a sisterhood depicted in such a better way as Tif Marcelo did with the de la Rosa sisters.

This story incorporated one of my dream jobs; wedding planning - these sisters were given the wedding planning “key” to the business from their mother who had run the business previously. And as it goes when you work with family, things are not going to run as smoothly as one would think! From brides having issues to love life’s that are way too complicated and a Cold War of epic proportions happening at the de la Rosa with the poor middle sister Jane having to run interference between the elder and younger sister.

I enjoyed this book thoroughly and I could have read more about these sisters if given the chance.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me a chance to read and review, "The Key to Happily Ever After"
by Tif Marcelo. I was impressed with the family dynamic in this novel but I was looking for a little bit more romance. I love the cover!

I almost never see Filipino culture depicted in the books I read so I couldn't wait to get my hands on The Key to Happily Ever After. The three de la Rosa sisters – Marisol, Jane and Pearl – have just inherited the family business of wedding planning and even though they've grown up seeing what goes on behind-the-scenes, taking over is a whole other ballgame. There's the financial side, dealing with mercurial brides, couples arguing and the sisters themselves figuring out where they each fit in their new roles. It's a lot of old and newfound tensions bubbling to the surface as they struggle to make the business their own and explore what they each want as three very different women. And sprinkled throughout the book are many, many nods to Filipino culture: in the way they handle certain situations, their family dynamics, the food and more. It was such an amazing reflection of my own family interactions and how I was brought up, even though I don't have any sisters myself. But I have to say, aside from that and seeing all the ups and downs of wedding planning (to all the IRL wedding planners out there, you deserve a medal), everything else felt a bit lackluster. Even though there are three sisters, only two were given their own chapters, which I didn't really understand the logic of, and unfortunately, I only enjoyed one of them. But I can't say I connected to either one regardless. And to call this a romantic comedy feels a bit misleading. Yes there's romance in it but it wasn't developed enough to feel like relationships I'd necessarily root for wholeheartedly. They were sweet and that was the extent of it for me (aFYI, don't expect a lot of sexy times). Instead I would probably call this a family comedy because when it came down to it, the book was really about sisterly love and the obstacles (and hilarity) they faced together.

Imagine working with your family every day. There has to be someone in charge, someone to keep everyone on the same page. But there also is bound to be drama, differing opinions, and butting of heads. The three sisters who are running the de la Rosa family wedding planning business want the business to succeed, especially after their parents have retired leaving them all equal partners. I love how they worked together, how they fought with each other, and how they managed to make the business successful. They were true sisters, they loved each other with their whole hearts, but they each had their own reasons for wanting to succeed and those reasons did not always work well together.

My favorite part of the story is the dynamic of the sisters but I also love the tidbits of romance. From the brides and grooms that they were working with to the sisters own searching for the happy ever after, it warmed my heart. This wasn’t a full romance book but there was enough in it to make me happy and satisfied with what I was reading.

The Key to Happily Ever After is a wonderful book about three sisters, a family business, and family drama.

This was a great summer read, not a just a contemporary romance but a heartwarming story of sisters, with a little love on the side. The story dealt with difficult family dynamics - told frok both character view points to really show how complex life together really can be. I would recommend this book to fans of similar summer reads The Flatshare, Dear Lily, and I Owe You One.

Triggers: casual coarse language, emotionally abusive relationships

All the while I was reading this book I kept thinking this must be a Hallmark movie. It was a easy book to follow, like able characters but, very predictable.

What a sweet and tender story about such adorable sisters! This was such a fun read. I found myself smiling throughout the book. It had cute, rom com vibes that wouldn't quit! I could easily see this book turning into a chick flick. This is the perfect beach read for the summer!

I am so happy about more Filipino-American representation in contemporary fiction and romance and Tif Marcelo does a stupendous job of seamlessly weaving it into the story.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was such a treat. I loved the sisters story and the wedding planning business set in one of my favorite cities of DC. I really loved this book.

This book will be featured in my blog:
What I am currently reading 5/13/2019, and 5/20/2019
May 2019 Anticipated Book Releases
Summer Reading Guide