I really enjoyed Olivia and Max’s story in Party of Two by the amazing Jasmine Guillory, book five in her The Wedding Date series. I found this to be an interesting and timely story considering recent events in our country. A chance meeting with a handsome stranger turns into a whirlwind affair that gets everyone talking.

We have two intelligent, strong characters who have a wonderful meet-cute yet are totally opposite. Not only are they of opposite races but have opposite backgrounds and approaches to their lives and work. Max is a handsome, wealthy, respected, impulsive, hot-shot politician who is quite persistent in his pursuit of Olivia. Max is also sweet, funny, and caring; not some privileged white politician she assumed he would be. Olivia was a type-A person who needed to create a plan before making any sort of decision; looking at the situation from all angles, not caring for spontaneity, the unknown, or being thrown for a loop. Max’s high-profile job forced them to see each other secretly; which led to some funny situations and silly disguises. Max and Olivia fit together like pieces of a puzzle, his yin to her yang. As opposites, one’s strength might be the other’s weakness or vice versa. When they do go public, Olivia undergoes extreme media scrutiny, digging up dirt on her past and criticizing her job, or even her suitability as Max’s girlfriend. Max is all in, and Olivia recognizes how special her relationship with him is, but she will need to find the strength to live under a societal microscope, measuring her actions. I do have to admit that one of my favorite parts of this story was definitely the constant mention of cakes and pie. I can’t believe these two didn’t gain a ton of weight with all the sweets they ate.

Ms. Guillory wrote a wonderful, heartwarming story, filled with sizzling chemistry, life challenges, amusing banter, and charming characters that is definitely not to be missed. I totally enjoyed and highly recommend Party of Two to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

Olivia is embarking on a new chapter in her life: she has moved back to California, opened a new law firm with her best friend, and is finding new past-times and friends in LA. She definitely doesn't have time for a relationship. Then she meets Max, a handsome and charming senator, with whom she has a quick connection. It doesn't hurt that he shares her love of desserts and sends her cakes. They start dating secretly and it's wonderful, but can she handle what it means when it's time to take their relationship public in front of the whole country?

Olivia and Max are charming and wonderful in such different ways, but both are very real. Throughout the book, they complement each other well, despite their problems. One is overly methodical, the other is impulsive. One is very private, one lives in the public eye. But they are both supportive of each other, ambitious, and giving. That is what makes their relationship so easy to root for and lovable. It's also what makes their fights and differences so hard to watch (I'm not exaggerating when I say I was gasping and arguing aloud at Max's big mistake). But this book never stopped being engaging, and I'm so sad that I'm out of Jasmine Guillory's novels to read that I may have to start the series all over again.

📖💙 Book Review: Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory
•
•
Are you looking for a sweet, swoon-worthy romance? Then look no further than Jasmine Guillory’s latest, Party of Two.
•
The accidental meet-cute between Olivia & Max right in the beginning sets the tone for the rest of the novel & let me just say, it is so sweet & irresistible! The instant attraction between these two characters had me grinning right from the start & I loved witnessing as their attraction grew deeper & deeper.
•
In true Jasmine Guillory fashion, not only does she have me craving the delicious romance between these two, but she also has my serious sweet tooth cravings in full force. If you subscribe to her newsletter, you’ll know what I’m referring to — she gives the best, most yummiest recipes & we see them in her writing, too.
•
Jasmine Guillory’s romances are a good mix of heart & heat. Party of Two was such a refreshing, feel-good story that felt like coming home. The writing reads so natural & this particular story was fun to follow as Olivia & Max learn their new romance.

Party of Two is the fifth in a series loosely connected to Jasmine Guillory's first novel, The Wedding Date (you don't have to read the series in order to enjoy each book). Olivia Monroe has returned to California, after years in New York, to start a law friend with her dear friend, Ellie. While staying in a hotel prior to moving in, she has a flirty conversation about dessert with a cute guy, Max, who she later discovers is the junior senator from California. What follows is a cute romance, that on the surface is all fluff- secretly dating, etc. But what I love about Jasmine Guillory is that she also goes deep- this is an interracial romance and she doesn't shy away from talking about how that could affect, not only their relationship, but his political career. I also love how strong Olivia is- she doesn't take crap from anyone. Jasmine Guillory has become one of the few authors that I will automatically read anything she produces. I highly recommend this one!

3.75 stars
This modern love story has a strong female lead and some depth to it, but not at the expense of its general appeal and readability.

Feisty lawyer Olivia Monroe has just moved from New York to L.A. to start her own law firm with her best friend Ellie. Before she has even moved into her house, she meets an intriguing stranger in a bar. When she sees the same guy on TV and realizes he is actually hot young U.S. Senator Max Powell, she figures she has a great story to tell. But they meet again at a community event and the chemistry is still there.

Olivia has plenty on her plate and isn't really interested in romance, but there's something appealing about Max. She is thoughtful, deliberate, private and measured, and he is charismatic and impulsive. And yet ...

As their relationship grows more serious, Olivia has to decide if she's cut out for life as the love interest of a very public man. And she has to decide if their differences can be fixed or will keep them apart. Olivia is a strong woman, and she isn't willing to put up with a relationship that involves too much compromise for either of them. It is a pleasure to see a female main character who is this honest and who stands up for her own needs.

Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I've read and loved all of Jasmine's books, but Party of Two might be my favorite yet. When I heard this was going to be Olivia's story, I was thrilled. And it truly lived up to all my expectations. Her dedication and love for her job felt so real and relatable to me, and I just loved how she went from feeling like she'd never find anyone who truly accepted her--all of her--to being completely in love in the best, most supportive relationship. Such a fantastic cast, too. Also, as ever, all the food in Jasmine's books is THE BEST.

Well, this one is definitely my favorite of the series.

I’ve been intrigued by Olivia since we met her in The Wedding Date. She’s smart and loyal and strong and seriously kickass. Max is charming and adorable and so impulsive. Together, they are opposites and it was delightful reading their meet cute and bonding over desserts.

Plot wise, it was good. Their relationship moved organically and even though they were often apart, it didn’t feel that way. There was a good amount of communication and the lead up to the angst was deliciously slow. The break up was short and the grand gesture was perfect for them.

Overall, it was so easy to root for these two and while I wanted just a little bit more from the epilogue, it’s only because I’m greedy and wasn’t ready for it to end.

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

This may be my favorite book of the series so far. I loved it so much! Olivia and Max were both really fully fleshed out MC's and I was just in there with them the whole time. Plus I love books about politics. Jasmine's books never fail to make me happy.

Thank you Berkley Publishing for gifting me an e-galley of PARTY OF TWO by Jasmine Guillory. (partner)

I was in the mood for a romance and decided to give this book a go. I have loved Jasmine Guillory’s previous books and was anxious to read her newest installment in the Wedding Date series. I adored this heartfelt, laugh-out-loud, and steamy story following Olivia and Max as they attempt to navigate being in a relationship and also being in the spotlight. 


Max’s character was adorable and I was quietly rooting for him from the couple’s first encounter at that hotel bar. He had me wishing that there were more politicians out there that had his heart of gold. I, also, relished in Olivia’s take on the situation and found her to be a breath of fresh air in the romance genre. 


Additionally, I would like to mention that it is probably wise to not go into this book hungry as there were enough references to cake and pie that as soon as I finished reading PARTY OF TWO, I immediately looked to see what ingredients I had in my kitchen so I could start baking. If you don’t believe me, read this book and then message me to tell me what you’ll be baking. I’m serious.


Thank you, Berkley and Jasmine Guillory for gifting me an e-copy of this title!


PARTY OF TWO will be published on June 23, 2020, and is available to pre-order now!

Rating: 4.5/5⭐️⁣⁣⁣⁣
Rationale: Jasmine Guillory never disappoints; this story has a super realistic approach to making a challenging relationship work and might be my new favorite of the series.
⁣⁣⁣⁣
𝗪𝐡𝐨 𝐈’𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐨: anyone looking for a fun romance that centers around a healthy relationship
⁣⁣⁣⁣
𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝: The writing in this book is full of banter, depth, drama, and so much dessert. While a lot contemporary romances play up the “will they/won’t they” dynamic, we all know they will so it can feel formulaic. Not here! Guillory gifts us with characters who, instead, have difficult internal monologues and open conversations about race and privilege to determine whether its worthwhile to fight for their long-distance relationship.

Olivia and Max might be my new favorite Guillory couple (sorry Alexa & Drew!). They are such well developed characters on their own, but I especially loved the “opposites attract” dynamic between them. Olivia is a planner: she’s driven and very private. Max is a public entity thanks to his job as a senator and he flies by the seat of his pants. Their romance is charming and I enjoyed watching them figure out if a relationship between them could be possible. As another reviewer wrote: it was refreshing to read about the struggles of managing their relationship vs. the struggles of trying to get into one.

A question I get a lot about these books: “can this one be read as a standalone?” In my opinion—YES! None of the books are closely tied with plot, just linked by characters; but Party of Two has less interaction with previous characters than others and can easily be read first if you are a newbie to the series.
⁣⁣
𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞: The ending was a little rushed and I was really hoping for an epilogue because I didn’t want Olivia and Max’s story to end! Since I read an advanced/unfinished copy, I’m holding out hope that I’ll be revising this note when my finished copy arrives.

This is my first book I e read by Jasmine Guillory but most definitely won't be my last. I absolutely loved this book. The characters were great and I loved their chemistry. This was such a fun, easy and fast paced read. It's also a great summer Rance book.

This was a perfectly fine romance. Certainly it was leaps and bounds better than her last book, which felt rushed and forced. But Party of Two was missing the spark for me that her earlier stuff had, particularly the second book in this series, The Proposal, which is my favorite of hers.

Our two main characters, Olivia and Max, are very cute together. They meet at a bar one night when Olivia is slightly tipsy, and charm each other while arguing about dessert. (This part had me loving the book.) Olivia leaves without getting his name, but when she turns on the TV she realizes he's famous, a senator (I was a little unclear about if he was a state senator or not, that could use some clarification. I believe the text said he was, but everything after that made it seem like he was in the actual Senate). Olivia has just moved to LA to start her own law firm with her friend Ellie, and is consumed by getting her business off the ground. She doesn't have time to date seriously, let alone date someone with the fame and responsibility baggage Max has. But then, it was just more of them being cute and seeing in flashes as they get to know each other and fall in love.

My problem is that aside from moments of them being cute together (the scene where he tells her he loves her for the first time made me feel gooey inside), this book didn't really draw me in emotionally. There just really wasn't much emotional conflict! Olivia is bothered slightly by Max's impulsivity, and made uncomfortable by the level of public scrutiny she comes under by dating him, but they seem to move past all of their speed bumps relatively quickly, so you as the reader do, too. Even the calls from the press, her race, and the issue of her being arrested in high school are moved through rather quickly. It felt like an easy ride to their HEA.

Which is a problem, because as we learn in the last 20% of the book, it didn't feel like an easy ride to Olivia, and we should have been let in on that much earlier. Where the first 80% of the book felt like an easy ride that I never really felt an urgency to finish, the last 20% is full of angst and pain and conflict and I needed to know how it would resolve. All of a sudden, all those little things add up for Olivia(view spoiler) It was just bad pacing, in my opinion. That conflict should have been there from the beginning, and should have been building up the whole time, not just exploding all at once at the end.

On a personal preference note, she's at it with the rhetorical questions again as a narrative device, and there were a ton of them, which was irritating. They weren't as bad as they were in Royal Holiday, though, so there's that. I will read her next book, but if the books continue to feel as, I don't know, *uninspired* as these last two have felt, I may be done reading Guillory's books.

[3.5 stars]

Party of Two was every single thing I needed right now-- and more! Fans of Guillory's series will not be disappointed, and the book also offers an "in" for new readers. Though this book is part of the Wedding Date series, it can also be read alone.

If you love a Type A hero, a real and badass heroine, adorable moments, and with food descriptions to make your mouth drool, this one's for you!

I read a lot of romance-- and this one stood above the others!

I received this ARC from Net Galley!

I have read all of Jasmine's other books in this series and I have liked them all on different levels. This one was good but not as smart or as fun as previous installments. I loved the main character and the journey she was on but I really didn't feel the spark between the two leads as I had felt in 'The Wedding Party'. Still, a nice relaxing romance with anyone who loves the genre.

Jasmine Guillory is BACK. Not going to lie, I was a little worried about this book – Royal Holiday was a royal flop, and I was disinterested in reliving that (see my full review here). But Guillory definitely has her spark back, and I’m even more confident that Royal Holiday was out of her control.

Olivia Monroe has just moved back to LA after working for a giant law firm in New York, in order to start her own firm with her best friend. In a chance encounter at the hotel she stays at when she first arrives, she meets a handsome stranger…who later turns out to be senator Max Powell.

Olivia isn’t interested in a relationship, but she just can’t seem to resist Max (and those incredible cakes he keeps sending!). And the feelings are mutual; Max is tired of being lonely, and wants a girl who will stick by his side as he grows his political career. But their jobs and the demands of life in the spotlight may be too much for the both of them.

Like I said, Guillory really rebounded here. I didn’t love it as much as The Proposal (I think that’s her best to date), but it falls right on par with The Wedding Date and The Wedding Party. I also think this book is quite timely and readily tackles some issues about race that the world is now turning our attention to, on par with The Wedding Date. It adds that extra depth in the characters and the plot that Royal Holiday was missing… which is what makes Guillory so good.

I liked Olivia and Max, but I think their personality traits were more alluded to than demonstrated. Often, when the two described each other, they said things that weren’t part of the impression I got from the story and dialogue. For example, Olivia tells her sister (oh yes…we get updates on Alexa and Drew!) that Max is too self-centered. I see no evidence of this, honestly and truly, and certainly not prior to Olivia making this comment. His entire work as a senator is dedicated to others, to making America and California better based on the opinions of others – he really listens to his constituents, his staff, and Olivia. Self-centered isn’t the word for him…he does become blinded by his idealism, but it’s never about him. This book makes a lot of passing comments like this one that aim to change what we know and understand about Olivia and Max, but provide no evidence through the writing. Essentially, the problem is a lack of planning this novel out, and including personality traits more organically or not at all. I wish it had been done better.

Other than that, this was definitely an enjoyable read. I liked Olivia and Max a lot, and I liked that we had this whole background story happening about criminal justice reform and racism. They were both change drivers, using their pasts to revise the future. This is what I absolutely love in new contemporary romance (as I’m sure you’ve seen me write a thousand times before!): an element of something real and feminist, where women are not powerless and men are woke. Guillory does that well.

Definitely recommend this book! What a fun read and a great rebound for Guillory’s series. I was given a copy of Party of Two by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It will be released June 23, 2020.

Olivia just moved back to LA from New York to start her own law firm with her friend. One night, she meets Max and they instantly bond over their love of cakes and pies. When they accidentally run into each other again, Max makes sure to get her information and they must come clean, because they were both kind of hiding their real identity. Max is a high profile senator and is not looking for a fling, like Olivia expected. He's great, but Olivia is having a hard time seeing herself in his world. However, they have very real feelings, so will they be able to work out their differences. I honestly recommend reading ALL Jasmine Guillory books, I've read them all and they never disappoint.

I was really excited to read Party of Two after loving The Proposal and The Wedding Party, but unfortunately, I just couldn't get into this one. About a hundred pages in, I decided to put the book down and did not finish. Though I liked the premise of the novel, I found the book hard to read— I found the writing to be stilted and the plot points too cheesy. This was the same issue I had with The Wedding Date, but since The Proposal & The Wedding Party were significantly better than the first, I felt that Party of Two was sure to a be a great read, too. Perhaps I'll return to this to see what happens in the end, but for now, I'm putting it aside. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me a copy of Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory in exchange for an honest review.

Party of Two is the latest in Jasmine Guillory's series of romances revolving around a familiar cast of characters.
Olivia (who we've met before) and Max are well-drawn characters who have a typical meet cute, grow together in love, suffer from the all too well-known moment of doubt, and eventually overcome it all to be together. While all of Guillory's books are fun and satisfying, this might be one of my favorites. This book features a lot of the same elements and previous books in the series, and most modern romances. However, all of the elements are executed well and are enjoyable to read. I love Guillory's ability to weave in pertinent discussions about politics and social justice issues naturally within the context of the story.

Dare I say Party of Two is my favorite Jasmine Guillory book yet?

Olivia has recently moved from NYC to Los Angeles where she's establishing her own law firm with her best friend. With a new business, a new city, and her general badassness, Olivia does not have dating on the mind. So when she meets a cute guy at a hotel bar a little harmless flirting ensued, but nothing more happened. When she runs into him again at a professional event she realizes that the cute guy is actually Senator Max Powell.

A reluctant whirlwind, but realistic, romance begins despite Olivia's reticence and Max's enthusiasm.

I love how Jasmine Guillory infuses her books with realistic depictions of biracial romances. She doesn't shy from the harsh realities her characters face, but she also doesn't make caricatures of them. These are fully fleshed out characters who I learn from every time.

I really enjoyed “Party of Two” as I always enjoy Jasmine Guillory’s books. They are always fun, happy and a good escape from the world. Plus, they always make you crave a certain food; this time it was chocolate cake!
This story focuses Olivia, a lawyer that has just moved to California. She is the sister of the main character of the first book, which is another thing that I love about Jasmine’s books because she keeps them in the same world so you can continue to see what the characters are up to.
Olivia meets Max, who turns out to be a senator. Max spends a lot of his time in Washington D.C., so the two not only have to deal with deciding when to reveal their high profile relationship, but also have to navigate a long distance relationship. Additionally, Max is a white politician and Olivia is black, with something in her history that could stir up drama for the two. All of these factors create struggles in their relationship, but as any good romance novel ending, they get their HEA.
On a personal level, I had been in a reading rut for the last few months with everything that is happening in the world. This book lit a spark in me and made me excited to read again!
I hope Jasmine continues to write in this universe, because I will keep reading!