This is a wonderful addition to Guillory's series. However, the main characters in this book weren't nearly as likable and their situation was as fun as in previous stories. Even with the drawbacks, I still greatly enjoyed reading this book.

If you’re looking for a fun summer read, this romcom structured book will be a good choice. Theo and Maddie are best friends of Alexa but hate each other. What will happen when they turn into friends with benefits but try to keep the whole thing a secret? Light and fun and a quick read.

I loved the Wedding Party! I couldn't get enough of it. Jasmine really needs to write Olivia's story next. I love how the Wedding Party is parallel to the Wedding Date and the Proposal. So fun. I just sighed thinking about how much I love her books. The food! I like how much food is talked about in the books. Another great read from Jasmine Guillory.

It was so nice to be back in Guillory's world! I love how all of these books weave together, so that you walk in already knowing so much about the other characters in the book. I love Guillory's fierce female characters, and the complex ways in which they have to come to figure out what they want. The dialogue is always delightful, the plot isn't too predictable, and I love me a happy ending.

Before I get in to why this book didn’t work for me, I want to mention something that did: Alexa and Maddie’s friendship, particularly the way Maddie processed how Alexa’s engagement and marriage could change their friendship. It is a big adjustment when your best friend gets involved with someone, especially if you’re not also in a serious relationship, and I liked how the story delved into this. It reminded me of conversations I had with my closest friends before they got married and really rang true. Plus, it’s just fun to see how Alexa and Maddie were there for one another, throughout the wedding preparations. Also, this book is going to make you want to eat all the pizza.

Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes but the reason the characters are enemies has to make sense. It has to be more than finding the other person annoying after a brief conversation. Theo and Maddie had a simple misunderstanding where neither of them came across well but I did not see how it added up to the vitriol between them.

But we all react toward people in ways that don’t always make sense so I rolled with it. However, they both came across as incredibly immature as the book progressed. I did not understand their insistence on not telling Alexa what was happening, nor their willful belief that she’d never catch on. (COME ON.) They were incredibly mean to one another at various points, which did not do either any favor. More than anything, I simply became tired of their protests that they were just hooking up short-term when it was clear from the start something more was between them.

Additionally, <spoiler>I did not believe a protest against universal healthcare would be violent, much less than that there wouldn’t be parameters in place to prevent it from happening in the East Bay. There are protests and marches happening all the time. Granted, the author has lived in the Bay Area much longer than I did so I’ll defer to her but it did not match my experience living there. Maddie’s behavior during the TV show interview didn’t match my understanding of her character either. And while supposedly “bitchy Maddie” is a part of her, I never saw it up until that point and so her reaction didn’t make sense, especially when she made a point early on to say how that kind of show could be handled poorly.</spoiler>

In short, there was too much for me to suspend disbelief. Other people seem to be enjoying this one. For me, The Wedding Date remains the most successful of her novels but it still is romance novel-lite to me. If you don’t read much romance, Jasmine Guillory’s books will be enjoyable enough. But if you are a romance reader, you can’t help but see the ways they fall short and this one much more than the others.

CW: reference to racial microaggressions, fatshaming, <spoiler>protest violence, concussion, brief hospitalization</spoiler>

A solid offering, not unlike the other books in the series, though there was something very low-key creepy in the dialogue between the main characters. It was slightly stilted, but more than that, it occurred to me more than once that if these were real people they would likely be serial killers. I don't know, it was just a vibe, but it made me unlikely to root for them.

Both Maddie and Theo adored their mutual best friend, Alexa, but they only tolerated each other. Maddie thought Theo was a condescending mansplainer with a stick up his butt, while Theo though Maddie was a shallow party girl only interested in her appearance. The two, however, agreed that they were physically attracted to one another, and when a one night stand turned into more, no one was more surprised than they were.

I became an instant Guillory fan after reading The Wedding Date. I have no problem becoming attached to her characters, and her tales are always the perfect combination of fun, flirty, and fabulous. Once again, Guillory has gifted me with a story, that had me hooked and happy from beginning to end.

It was great being back in this world, and I loved how Guillory took me full circle. I got to see Drew & Alexa get together in The Wedding Date, get engaged in The Proposal, and now, I finally got to see them say "I do". I liked how they, and their romance, was the common thread in all three books, but I also absolutely adored seeing this couple find their HEA in The Wedding Party.

The beginning of the book starts with a few flashback-snapshots. These were moments from the previous books, where Maddie and Theo gave into their attraction. I thought it was fantastic the way Guillory took me back, and showed me where it all began.

But, there was so much more to Maddie and Theo than steamy hookups. It was easy to see they were falling for each other. There were all these small and sweet things they did for each other, as well as these bigger moments of need, where I saw how much they cared. I won't pretend that their insecurities about each other didn't drive me batty, but I accepted it, and was happy with the way it all played out.

I also really liked both Maddie and Theo. They, at first, seemed so mismatched, but they had much more in common than they anticipated. Both had some great ambitions, and they were working hard to make them come to fruition. They also shared a love of pizza, reality shows, and quiet nights at home. I had no problem embracing their homebody life, though, because it was in those quiet moments, that they revealed so much of themselves, and I fell in love with them both individually and as a couple.

I am definitely giving the author a round of applause for those final pages, as well. She made the wedding day and the conclusion to this romance a lot of fun. I smiled and laughed, and the whole thing was just perfect.

I really hope I get to attend Theo and Maddie's wedding, because I think they are my favorite of Guillory's couples.

Maddie and Theo are best friends with Alexa, but they are NOT friends with each other. That is until one night out changes everything. If you loved the first two Jasmine Guillory books, you'll love this one too!

I loved, loved, loved Guillory's previous books, The Wedding Date and The Proposal; fresh, fun, and smart, I nearly stayed up all night to finish them. So I was really looking forward to the final book in the trilogy. Unfortunately, it disappointed. The plot felt half-baked and sloppy; I didn't buy the conflict between the two protagonists, which felt underdeveloped at the beginning. There was barely any plot, and the prose just didn't sparkle the way it did in Guillory's previous books.

I still haven't read the first book in this series, however I did read the second book, The Proposal a while back.

I will say, I liked this book better than The Proposal.

I like Theo and Maddie right from the start, and I did like the snark between them, , though I think calling it an enemies is a bit of a stretch. They don't really know each other, and they say they hate each other, but it is not really that at all. But this could just be me.

You can't deny the attraction between them though. Spark fly, and clothes fly off whenever they are alone together.

I did roll my eyes a bit at them keeping things a secret - dudes, you are both best friends with the same person, they are going to know what it going on.

The pacing was a little off at times as well, it slowed right down in the middle with them doing the same ol same ol, then bam the end was really fast. We didn't really get to see the romance develop between our lovelies.

However, I am invested enough to keep going with the series, and I have the next book ready and waiting on my Kindle thanks to Berkeley and Netgalley!

“But, Theo, this doesn’t make sense. We don’t even like each other.”
He laughed as he traced her ear with his finger. “What does that matter? Did it matter the last time? Or the time before that?”

I am a sucker for any and very enemies to lovers trope -- it doesn’t take much for me to fall in love with the dynamic of two people that can’t stand to be around one another suddenly feeling very different, and the particular brand of nasty banter that comes along with it. I live for it. When I heard about the premise of The Wedding Party, I was already in. Yet, I could have never expected to fall so deeply in love with Maddie and Theo. This book has a beating heart that follows the characters on their journey together, always present. All-in-all, The Wedding Party is a tale about being being more than they seem, opening your heart to something new and different, and the ultimate downside to lying to your best friend about your secret romance.

In Guillory’s previous books, I’ve always liked one character more than the other. In The Wedding Date, it was easily Alexa: the self-assured career woman with a non-traditional body that looks like my own. In The Proposal, it was absolutely Carlos, who steals any reader’s heart based on his premise alone: a doctor that cooks? I’m in. But with The Wedding Date, both Maddie and Theo pull at your heart with their particular stories, different yet similar at once. Maddie, the young entrepreneur who’s confidence knows no bounds, and Theo, the nerdy PR guy who can dance. These two do not like each other -- where one sees a pretentious jerk, the other sees a vain party girl. Thrown together to plan Alexa’s wedding, they begin to see the cracks in their understandings of one another.

As always, Jasmine Guillroy’s writing is sharp, biting, and sexy. Guillroy has written us some very sexy love stories, but the tension of the enemies-to-lovers trope adds something distinct to the banter, which was equal points laugh-out-loud funny and lip-bitingly sexy. Guillroy does an excellent job of making a book that is, on its face, a fun romp, something a little more nuanced as Maddie and Theo get to know one another. This is the way that Guillroy lifts her stories above others, in the way that we can watch Maddie and Theo fall in love, but we can also see the ways that racial prejudice and a world that judges before it knows effects our two protagonists. This story is sexy, sweet, and sometimes serious, a perfect summer read.

Maddie and Theo have known and disliked each other for a long time - as long as they've had the same best friend, the newly engaged Alexa Munroe. When they end up hooking up after Alexa's engagement party, it was unexpected for both of them to say the least. They both end up in the wedding party, and they know they will be thrown together more often. When they find themselves unable to resist a second hook-up, they put some rules into place, the chief one being that they'd only hook up until the wedding and then they'd go their separate ways forever.

If you read that synopsis and thought that you knew exactly where this book is headed, then you are correct! This is a very straightforward romance. What you see is what you get. I was expecting a little more. I thought it would be a comedy or maybe there would be some political commentary since our leads are both people of color but neither of those things were present. That said, I actually found the straight-up nature of this read to be surprisingly refreshing. I knew exactly what I was going to get and I got it. I didn’t learn anything new, and some aspects of the story were frustrating (for example, they don’t hate each other so much as tolerate each other with mild annoyance) , but all was resolved by the end. It was a good palate cleanser, and next time I don’t know what I’m in the mood for, I may pick up a Guillory book.

To be completely honest, I don’t read a ton of romance (which is how I would classify this book, perhaps mistakenly). If you like contemporary romance, I see no reason that you wouldn’t like this one – its a sexy read with believable characters and scenarios. 3 stars. Despite myself, I ended up kind of liking it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley publishing for the advance copy which I got in exchange for an unbiased review. The Wedding Party will be available on 16 July, but you can put your copy on hold today!

Happy I got to read an ARC of this book! Love following up with characters we already know for their love story. I loved how this one went, and how time was skipped in order to give us Maddie and Theo's whole story, not all the details of every single day. Guillory continues to give her characters authentic POVs, which is part of the benefit of having a series from the perspective of all different characters.

I’m having a hard time deciding whether my “it was okay” feelings about this one are about the actual story or about the tropes within. I honestly just don’t love enemies-to-lovers or secret relationships in books and since those are the entire premise of this story, I couldn’t fall in love like I did with the first two books in the series. The thought of being physically intimate with someone I detest is so off-putting to me that the initial relationship between Maddie and Theo felt very inauthentic. And keeping a relationship secret past high school just seems.....WHY?

But all that aside, I loved continuing with characters from The Wedding Date and The Proposal and spending time with all of these characters who just LOVE to eat. Seriously, the amount of pizza consumed in this book should win an award! There are current issues addressed and I loved Maddie’s professional evolution throughout the book.

So, while this isn’t my favorite in the series due to the tropes, I’m still a massive Jasmine Guillory fan and can’t wait to read her holiday story coming out in October!! And I love that it’s a continuation of this world!

Jasmine Guillory really turned up the heat in her newest book! Maddie and Theo start out hating each other but can’t deny the passion that exists between them. I enjoyed reading a smart, funny, and engaging romance story centering two black characters. The supporting characters were also well developed. Can’t wait to read the next Guillory book!

Theo and Maddie might be my favorite of Guillory's couples so far. When I read Theo in The Wedding Date, I think I imagined a Steve Urkel (though that's not really fair) or a Richard Splett (more fair), but his character gets fleshed out oh-so-nicely in The Wedding Party. Theo and the fashion-savvy Maddie are both in Alexa's bridal ("brodal"?) party, and while they can't stand each other in general, chemistry dictates otherwise. The keep their flings a secret--will their chemistry fizzle if their friends find out? Thanks to Theo, we get more action at the Oakland mayor's office, and the tension ramps up with some scary violence. But there are also margaritas and Carlos' cooking, so rest easy. I can't wait for Royal Engagement!

While I did enjoy this one better than The Proposal, The enemies to lovers could have been done better. Guillory kept them constantly denying their feelings for each other and it got old. Along with that, I had a hard time believing the chemistry between these two. We really didn’t get a lot of banter between these two other than when they are eating pizza.

With a too tame romance and the weird time jumps, this book was just okay. I’m just starting to think that Guillory just isn’t for me.

Jasmine Guillory has knocked it out of the park once again. She knows the tropes of the romance genre, but always manages to present them in a way that feels fresh and exciting. Her characters have such depth -they all read like real people!

The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory is the 3rd book in her The Wedding Date series. This story revolves around Maddie Forest and Theo Stephens whom we met in the previous books. Alexa, our 1st book heroine, is getting married, and both Maddie and Theo are her best friends; except they both hate each other. Theo is a bit arrogant, and Maddie, though very smart and outgoing. With Alexa depending on them for help, and that Maddie is a bridesmaid, and Theo a bridesman, they try to get along for her sake, and which forces them to be around each other a lot.

One night, after spending time with Alexa and their friends, one gives the other a ride home, and out of nowhere, they end up in bed with each other. To their shock, they enjoy the hot steamy sex and make a deal to enjoy the fun, but keep it a secret from everyone, including Alexa, at least until after the wedding is over.
What follows is an enemies to lovers romance that was fun, as well as very steamy. They both look forward to trysts, as they cannot resist the passion between them. As the wedding draws nearer, will they admit to each other about their growing feelings? It was fun to watch them slowly learn more about each other, and see things in a different light, as well as become aware that they have begun to fall hard. I loved seeing Alexa and Drew, as well as Carlos & Nik (2nd book), as well as Alexa’s sister; as they all made a fun group. A misunderstanding will break things up, but it was pretty funny when Alexa and their friends pulled a fast one on Maddie and Theo, to bring them back together, as the secret was never a secret all along. LOL You will need to read this part to enjoy.

The Wedding Party was a fast, fun and enjoyable romance. This does read well as a standalone, but why miss the fun, and start with the first book, The Wedding Date.

Any Jasmine Guillory novel is guaranteed to be a good time. The Wedding Party is another slice in that tradition; romantic, funny, sweet and easy to relate to, it’s a breezy read that will be like catnip for anyone who likes a good enemies-to-lovers story.

No two ways about it - personal stylist Maddie Forest and mayoral press secretary Theo Stephens loathe one another.  Maddie, outspoken yet homebodyish, can’t stand his snobbishness, the way he looks down on her job and past experiences.  Nerdy, sometimes-smug and opinionated Theo can’t take what he interprets as Maddie’s celebrity-obsessed shallowness seriously.  But they have one person near and dear to them in common – Alexa (last seen in The Wedding Date), who is their shared best friend and is about to be married.  Theo and Maddie are naturally part of the wedding party which means – for better or for worse – the two of them have months of events, dinners and parties to deal with in tandem.

There’s one very big reason Theo and Maddie don’t get along. On the same night Alexa met her Mister Right, Theo and Maddie also had a one night stand they immediately regarded as a huge mistake. And have continued to make that mistake repeatedly since that night, in multiple beds and on multiple surfaces whenever they’ve met again.  Vowing never to tell Alexa about their peccadilloes, the more time they spend together, the harder it is to suppress the truth and the sparks flying between them.  They try to limit the course of the affair, deciding to conclude it when the wedding is over. But then Alexa moves the date up when she scores her dream venue, leaving Maddie and Theo with only months to continue hooking up. They should be thrilled, shouldn’t they?  But a violent act changes everything, making them reconsider the strength of their bond and their own happily ever after.

The Wedding Party is charming in a perfectly relentless way, an incredibly human one.  Maddie and Theo are flawed people who act like real human beings – stubborn, loving, soft, giving and tough and stubborn as two cats dueling over a piece of tuna.

I liked the way they eventually came to friendship, then love – with lust, naturally, being the first emotion coupled with hate that faced them.

How much you love Theo and Maddie’s relationship will depend on how much you like love/hate tropery; the book has this in spades, and while normally these kinds of relationships don’t work for me, Guillory’s work sold it completely. Theo and Maddie never really deeply hate each other, and they do get to talk out the personality faults and insecurities that caused their negative impressions of each other.  They’re ultimately very cute and very dorky together.

The supporting characters are great. Alexa is frantic, adorable and a good foil for both of her besties, and I loved Maddie’s relationship with her mom (who is slated to be the heroine of the next book in the series; hooray for older leads!). It’s always fun to settle down and enjoy time with Alexa and the rest of the folks in their friendship group. Everyone’s unified support of her and the way they act as a ballast against some of her mother’s negative viewpoints is absolutely touching.

The protagonists have interesting careers; Theo’s political life (where he works with Alexa) is fascinating and well-constructed, displaying careful research, while Maddie gets to make her dreams come true as her stylist job brings her into the world of the candid reality television she so admires. I admit I wanted more of that movement to be explored, but the research for this is also impeccable.

My only quibble about the whole book isn’t even a quibble – everyone’s baffling obsession with pizza throughout was both hilarious and also eyebrow-raising.  I’ve lived this kind of situation within my own friendship group, where we love one thing and we will eat that thing for months, but in a fictional format I was waiting for the book-long reference to wrap up in everyone having steak or lobster or something!

The Wedding Party is adorable and easy to grab hold of.  It’s not my favorite Guillory (that’d be The Proposal, followed by The Wedding Date in close second), but it’s a very, very close third, and still a fizzy champagne toast of a cocktail that never flattens out.

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