Jasmine Guillory has done it again with her sixth and purportedly final book in the Wedding Date Series. While We Were Dating is a nice, light closing chapter on the characters and world that readers have been invested in since the publication of the first book, The Wedding Date, in 2018. However, new readers should not hesitate as each book can stand alone, so anyone who wants to just pick up her newest one will not feel lost.

While We Were Dating follows Ben Stephens, a commitment phobic, fun loving, San Francisco ad man, running his first big advertising campaign. The star is Anna Gardiner, a Hollywood starlet looking to make a comeback after a tough year. Anna and Ben have immediate chemistry, which they both try to fight in an effort to stay professional on the set. Their plan is immediately run off the rails when a family emergency leads to a fourteen-hour road trip with just to two of them.

This is the perfect lighthearted, post pandemic book. Guillory mentions in her acknowledgement how it felt “impossible to write a book about love during a global pandemic,” but that the writing of it helped her find joy and love in the world. Readers will feel the same way. Honestly, this book is the most feelgood of all her books in the series. The stakes don’t seem as high and the ending feels like a foregone conclusion, which is just what I wanted to take on my first vacation in over a year.

That isn’t to say that our characters don’t come with challenges. Ben has commitment and abandonment fears from being left by his father at a young age. The appearance of a potential half-sister also shakes up his established idea of his life and relationships. Anna is dealing with recurring anxiety while making her way in a profession that does not look too kindly on fat, black women. However, these challenges never seem too perilous. Both of our characters have strong support systems and have access to and talk openly about therapy. Even Anna’s agent’s plan to use Ben as a publicity stunt seems to be a thin excuse (of which our protagonists happily take advantage) in order for them to be together.

All told, Guillory’s latest will definitely satisfy both new readers and her established fans. As always, her cast is diverse in many different ways, the issues discussed are current, mental health is centered, and the book is fun overall. Her voice is a valuable one in the modern romance field and I cannot wait to see where she goes now that she’s concluded this series.

This book was cute but had some flaws. I really loved the first half of the book but then it went downhill for me (still an overall cute read that I would recommend though!)

I really loved the build up of Ben and Anna's relationship. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if it was a little more slow burn. The couple ended up kissing for the first time pretty early on in the book, and I remember thinking "huh if they're already together what more could possibly happen in this book." It would have been nice to have a little more tension/build up before they got together for the first time, but still a cute meet-cute and loved seeing their relationship grow!

One of my main criticisms with this book is that it felt like the author tried to do too many things and didn't really follow through on them. For example, I don't think the "sister I didn't know about" plot was necessary at all in this book. It was honestly distracting from the main story and boring to read about. Especially since it was barely wrapped up at the end of the book (like 2 pages in the epilogue). It was just an unnecessary plot point overall. Same thing with Anna's dad's health. It seemed like that was going to be a main plot throughout the book based on the beginning, and it was a total non-issue.

While I enjoyed the overall story and the romance, I was too distracted by the odd pacing of the book to fully immerse myself in it and enjoy it.

This wasn't a bad book at all, just wasn't my favorite Jasmine Guillory book.

Jasmine Guillory gets better and better with every book. The dating a celebrity romance trope is always entertaining, but Jasmine makes the characters relatable and believable.

Jasmine Guillory once again gives readers a fun romance to read with interesting characters amid the glamour of Hollywood.

Anna wasn't my favorite - Alisha Rai already did the famous person with anxiety thing and she did it was better. But BEN! My heart for Ben. Probably my favorite characters in any of these books so far. He deserved better.

Final thoughts: How can you make a 1,000 mile car trip on one tank of gas? And why one earth would Anna change her name from ANNA ROSE?! That's a perfect famous person name!

Jasmine Guillory writes another great combination of silly, vulnerable, smutty bliss.

As in her past books, Guillory puts two people who have chosen career paths that keep them happily engaged but too busy for casual interaction into overlapping spheres where they have a chance to learn a little about each other in a safe space. In this case, a spur of the moment road trip after a hook up leads to a romantic and highly public relationship between an advertising king and a movie star queen. They see each other enough to unfold into their real selves, issues of trust and all!

Just when I think Ms. Guillory Wedding Date series cannot get any better am proven wrong. We first met Ben in book #3 where his brother Theo got his HFN story. Whereas Theo is the proper upper crust brother Ben is the brother who never has a steady relationship and is constantly dating someone new.
The story starts out where Ben is a part of advertising/marketing team which is putting together a commercial presentation for a phone company whose hype person is none other than the famous actress Anna Gardiner.
Unbeknownst to his company Anna shows up to the pitch of the presentation. Right away Ben is slightly distracted by her being in the room but is still able to compose himself and present the pitch. Later we find out the phone company went with Ben's company. Since Ben was the presenter of the pitch Anna insist to the company he be involve with shooting of the commercial. We get to see the day to day operation of what goes into a commercial shoot and with a famous person. At first Ben plays off the interaction with Anna as he being cordial and she being friendly. Their work relationship turn into more when she asks him to help her out with a family crisis. This was the beginning of them getting to know each other and boy did they to get to know each other. With this storyline I felt and could imagine every conversation and interaction both individuals had with each other and with their friends and family. I felt the storyline was pace realistically and I enjoyed imagining the behind scenes of how a movie star life could be. Love that the man is the vulnerable one in this story. Giving an arc by netgalley.

Absolutely ebullient- that's how I felt after reading this book. Guillory rounds out this series by giving us the best of everything:
-The best of character-depth and motivation-- despite appearances, Anna and Ben are real people dealing with life challenges and going to therapy for it.
-The best of cameos --with Maddie and Theo saving the day in hilarious fashion.
-The best of steam-- because this book was hot!
- And the best of endings-- when a main character steps up to take the high road in a difficult decision.

If we have to say farewell to some of our favorite characters, this sure is the way to do it-- brava!

I love Jasmine Guillory! I really liked this book although probably not as good as some of her other ones. This one seem to have a lot more plot than romance. I also think that I am not as much into the media and Hollywood as I should’ve been to love this book even more. That being said, I have course loved the romance and have a couple had to fight through life circumstances, past tribulations, and their own minds to find their happily ever after.
Jasmine always write a really cute romantic book that I enjoy

"Fake relationship and then someone catches feels" is one of my favorite tropes. It's just consistently good. Add in the dynamic of an Oscar nominated actress being part of the couple and it can only get better. Have it written by Jasmine Guillory? YES, PLEASE.

Heart, humor, and a key In-N-Out moment make this Hollywood romance a fun summer escape. Ben (Theo’s brother from The Wedding Date) and Anna meet in a conference room, of all places. He’s presenting his marketing agency’s next big ad campaign; she’s the talent appearing in the ads. The connection is instant: he’s starstruck, and she’s smitten. As they get to know each other better during filming, they develop a real connection, and people can’t help but notice how good they look together. So when Anna’s trusted manager encourages her to embark on a fake romance because the publicity will help her land a coveted role in the Vigilantes movie, she says yes—and when they start playing the part of committed boyfriend and girlfriend for the public eye, things get complicated. Heads up for a few open door scenes.

Enjoyed this read, but it felt very similar (as it should!) to others in the series. It wasn't my favorite of the series, but it was fun and engaging with a fair amount of sexy scenes. I often struggle with books where communication (or lack thereof) is central to the plot, but in this case the things that kept them from opening up to each other felt fairly realistic minus the final hurdle the couple had to go through. Overall, a fun read that I will recommend to those who enjoyed Guillory's other books but not the first one from the series that I would recommend.

Another great romance by Jasmine Guillory! Her ability to put into words the internalized fears and hesitancies of the characters as they open their hearts up to the potential of a new relationship cannot be beat. But one of the best things about this book? Escaping into a world where COVID doesn't exist, where Ben and Anna can go out with colleagues after work, go on a road trip, have a drink in a hotel rooftop bar, and as we've come to expect from Jasmine Guillory: build their relationship over the best food!

Jasmine Guillory does it again! Here books are always touching and sizzling at the same time. I like that she writes nice guy characters. Ben is a bit a a player but a respectful one. I enjoyed Anna and Ben's sweet story.

Oh Jasmine Guillory, how I love your books! Whenever I am down, I turn to your characters to take me out of my rut. While We Were Dating extends the Wedding Date universe further with the love story of Ben Stephens (Theo's brother) and famous actress Anna Gardiner.

Anna Gardiner is a rising star in Hollywood and is set to work on an ad campaign for a big tech brand. She meets Ben after crashing his pitch to the company, is immediately impressed by him and wants him to lead the project.
Their chemistry is instant but they don't want to admit it because they both have a dont hook up with coworker policy. That all changes after an emergency road trip to make sure Anna's dad is ok. Sparks fly, fake relationships are started and the rest you just have to read!

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC!

Here we have another fun romp by Jasmine Guillory. This time we get Ben and Anna. He is Theo's brother that we read about in book 3, The Wedding Party. Ben is an ad man who is a bit of a player and Anna is a movie star he writes an ad campaign for. They fall for each other pretty quick but are determined to keep it easy and fun. Of course, things don't always go the way we plan do they?!

We get a short cameo appearance of Nik and Carlos towards towards the end which is neat and Theo and Maddie return as well! I love the connections between everyone in this series.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review. I've read all the books in Jasmine's series and I always go back for more!

I love this series. It’s easily my favorite series I’ve ever read. And this book did not disappoint what do ever. I had it pre-ordered prior to being approved for the ARC and I’m so lucky I was chosen to read it early. Wow I can’t put until words how smooth and beautiful the authors writing is. You feel the characters feelings with them. It’s deep, moving and so much more.

Love a Jasmine Guillory story, and While We Were Dating was another hit for me. Movie star characters are always a hit or miss for me, but she absolutely nails this one. It was a really satisfying read, fake-dating is always a fun plot point, and great characters that work well together.

Jasmine has done it again. Each time she writes a book it enters my to-be-read list. I couldn't put this one down, If you want a fun escape with an interesting love story filled with romantic tropes, this is the one for you!

This continues the fun rom com series with fun and surprisingly believable characters since one of them is a movie star> Well paced and satisfying, I recommend this as a great summer read