Member Reviews
Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the authors!! This was an interesting, funny and wedding loving read. I liked it!! The book was about a woman that has her life all planned out until a "hitch' comes along and changing everything that he thought she had and how she wanted it to be. Not really a romance as we know romances to be now a days in novels but a good contemporary novel. It was fun.
This book was less of a romance novel more of an homage to wedding planning and being okay with not knowing where your life is going. I appreciated the details in the planning process and learned so much about the Dallas party scene, what to do and not to do in a wedding and even how picky flowers can be.
This book was read thanks to NetGalley
This book was a fun read, that it should be read. The lead character is a bit of mess, but is kind of funny. I recommend this book for those who enjoy weddings, since the book centers in her job, which is wedding planner. the love story is kind of predictable but doesn't mean isn't enjoyable
This was a good book. It's about a woman named Lottie who had a plan from high school which was to marry her boyfriend but failed and now she is working as a wedding planner with another goal (and sadly has to plan her ex's wedding). I enjoyed the writing for this book which was a mature style but with a fun, enjoyable story to read about. The pacing was perfect for this book from the beginning until the end. There were many conflicts thrown into the story as so many difficulties would take place for a certain wedding. Some were very funny and I laughed out loud for those scenes. I do have to say that this book is listed as a contemporary romance but I was disappointed with the fact that there was a very teeny tiny bit of romance and nothing else. This book is more about Lottie's development from her past and current time so readers can see how much she has grown over the years.
This book is written from Lottie's pov. She goes through a difficult journey in a way where her goals from high school failed and changed her life. She discovers her new self and starts to love the person she has now become. I enjoyed her development in this book as she shows that it's okay if your plans failed as you can make new ones. There were also some side characters in this book who some I enjoyed and some I hated (only because of the way they acted). I wish some of the side characters helped with Lottie's development as they kind were just there doing their own business. For the romance part, I was sad to see very tiny bit of romance which was a kiss at the end of the book. I was expecting to see more romance as this book lists as a contemporary romance novel and with the way the story was going from the beginning, I was thinking that Lottie moves on with a new person.
The ending was okay but I just wished there was more romance as that is what I was expecting the entire read. I did have some minor problems with this book as some things were lacking with the writing and with not getting the romance as this book is listed as contemporary romance. I think many readers will love this reader as it shows how Lottie is strong in a way she moves on and starts a new future for herself even though it's difficult. I still recommend this book to readers who enjoy women's fiction.
This was a great book, that I would definitely recommend trying!
I received an e-ARC from the publisher.
Lotte had her whole life planned out - college, marriage to college sweetheart, career as a lawyer, kids... She REALLY has it all planned out including the wedding details and she has booked the college chapel years ahead of time. But with all best laid plans, Lotte's don't come to be. While her boyfriend 's college plans work out great as he becomes a professional football player, Lotte doesn't get into law school. She gets a job working for a wedding planner of high-end Southern weddings. Weddings that are way over the top and with clients that have crazy demands and habits. But when Lotte gets assigned to plan her Ex's celebrity wedding - can she really pull that off?
I loved this book and appreciated that the author's know of what they speak. Huddleston owns and operates an event and wedding planning business while Paul is a journalist. Together they weave an entertaining, emotional and fun story.
This read was a light and easy book with some deliciously over-the-top weddings and a likable main character, Lottie., but it wasn't quite focused enough for me.
The story line, the weddings, and Lottie's romantic options felt all over the place. I guess I prefer a stronger main story, with a bit less extra side-story happening.
Lottie works as a wedding planner for one of the crazy high end planners in the Dallas area. We are talking the kind of extravagant and ridiculous weddings of the ultra rich. As she tried to move up the ladder within her company, we get to experience all of the hysterical and unexpected areas of putting on the perfect wedding.
This book doesn't have much in the way of a romance for our heroine, as her relationships take a back seat to the wedding planning aspect of the book. The weddings, and the many foibles that occur are fun to read about, and we get to see her rise within the company.
If you like to read about the strange things that the mega rich ask for at weddings, and the many strange things that can go wrong, then this book is for you!
Thank you to Harper Muse for providing me with an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Lottie wasted most of her college years planning a wedding thst never occurred. However, working as a wedding planner seemed to be her lot in life. Until she has to plan the wedding for a blast from her past. A quirky photographer keeps crossing her path. Will she tie the knot or run back down the aisle? I liked all the eccentric weddings Lottie has time to endure, figure out, and fix. It’s a cite read with plenty of bridal splashes and details. Go to the chapel and read this book.
If someone knows me casually, they probably know one thing about me: I Love Weddings. It is one of my defining characteristics. I want to be a wedding planner someday and I research weddings and make wedding mood boards for friends in my free time.
That being said, if I, someone who is single and has read wedding magazines for the past ten years just to learn the trends, say there are too many weddings in this book, there are too many weddings.
I was really excited for this book so I wish I had more nice things to say, but I really don't'.
This book follows Lottie, an event planner for an extravagant Dallas-based event company. After planning her wedding to his college boyfriend without him knowing-only to have him later break up with her- Lottie's life hasn't turned out the way she has planned.
And...that's it? This book is billed as a romance but it doesn't quite fit the bill. I was unclear about who the real romantic interest was for most of the book and once I figured it out, it took until about the last chapter for him to show any real interest in Lottie, and even that seemed halfhearted.
This book just follows Lottie as she plans wedding after wedding after wedding. Each one mostly the same, each one with a problem Lottie even causes or is involved in and then has to fix.
The characters are bland, as is the repeated storyline. I honestly didn't care about Lottie. She was kind of a pick-me heroine and, I have to be honest, it was hard reading about her complaining about not doing anything with her life when she literally has my dream job.
I stumbled through this book and it was a struggle. The writing also kind of confused me as I never felt like I was in the action, but like Lottie was half-heartedly summarizing each event for me. Maybe you'll this book more than I did, I hope you do, but to me, it was a big miss. And also for sure not a romance book,
I can vouch for "Everything is Bigger in Texas" since I was born, raised and still live in Texas. And that for sure goes for weddings! Without a Hitch was such a delight to read! It is filled with fun and sassy characters that come to life and pop off the page.
Lottie is a transplant from Tennessee, but with her southern charm and TCU grad status, she fits right in with the Dallas wedding planning set. Although her life plans were not unfolding how she had expected, she learns that she is good at wedding planning and means to make a go of it.
Griffin is a photographer, grad of A&M (WHOOP!), and bumps into Lottie at almost every wedding. Sparks fly, but he's a little slow to get involved. He, too, has not landed where he expected after college, so both are trying to work out how to make ends meet and resolve issues from the past.
The reader is offered some of the most outrageous wedding mishaps, gaffs and just plain old "what in the world" moments, this was a book that was hard to put down at the end of each day. The story is a sweet, love story, with all the funny bits to make it one of the most enjoyable reads I've had in a while. Don't delay in getting this one!
Thank you to Harper Muse and Netgalley for the ARC. The opinions expresses are my own.
Thank you to the authors, Harper Muse and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a cute, albeit utterly foreseeable romance that was a bit too long-winded and a bit too short in the character development department. The wedding planning hook was interesting, but went on much too long and with much too much detail. The romance was very low-key and involved massive amounts of mixed signals, which were hard to interpret due to aforementioned lack of character development.
I don't always love romances that are about weddings, but this was really fun and a quick read. It did lean a little more toward women's fiction that I was expecting.
I love any book that revolves around weddings and bridezillas, and Without a Hitch was right up my alley! Lottie just happens to find a job in a wedding planning business that is very high end and competitive in the south. She runs into crazy brides, bizarre wedding plans, and a photographer she can't see to keep her eyes off of. This book was so cute and funny, and I loved the love story that blossoms. I cannot wait to read more by Mary Hollis Huddleston and Asher Fogle Paul!
2.5 stars
I really wanted to like this book much more than I actually did. I think this book suffers from a bit of an identity crisis. Is it a book about a girl learning to find herself and calling in life, or is it a romance? Not that a book can't be both things, but this one has pacing and development issues that cause it to be too chaotic. I liken it to feeling like I'm riding in a car with someone learning how to drive a stick shift. Lots of jolting ahead, revving forward, then dying only to start over again.
Lottie had her whole future with Brody planned out when they were in college. She was going to be a lawyer and he was destined for professional football. She even reserved the college chapel for their wedding right after graduation. But Brody breaks up with her right before graduation (without proposing) and she crashes and burns on the LSAT, not sure she even wants to be a lawyer. She takes a job as a florist for weddings and then gets an opportunity to work with a high end wedding planner learning the ropes. When she discovers that she will be in on wedding planning details for Brodie and his superstar actor fiancée, Lottie isn't sure if she has enough closure or distance.
The main premise of the book is good, and the weddings Lottie participates in planning and executing (most told in extremely elaborate detail) are in turn funny, disasters, and heartwarming. Along with her work exploits she has two guys she's interested in and then there's Brody, who she sees basically as "the one who got away" and hasn't really come to terms with their parting of ways. (Even though she admits that they have been apart twice as many years as they were ever together)
I enjoyed the wedding details, but there were so many of them and I didn't think they were really ALL necessary to move the story along. Plus there was never any real chemistry between Lottie and any of the guys, although I did appreciate when Griffin finally called her on her not moving on from Brody after so many years. This book would have been SO much better had it just been about Lottie becoming the person she was meant to be and moving forward from her past. Leave out the romance which added zero to the story anyway.
TL;DR Uneven pacing and an identity crisis make this one difficult to like, but there are some funny parts and fun wedding planning details.
Here's the thing--I thought the story was quiet cute and funny. And I learned so much the fact that being a wedding planner is one heck of a hectic job.
Lottie Jones lands a job as a wedding planner while trying to do LSATs. The story is set in the backdrop of Southern states, where Lottie is involved in planning glamorous weddings--which range from having ducks behind the photoshoot, to a drama between the bride and groom's family and the last minute preparations. Lottie also have to plan for her ex boyfriend's wedding in California as well. And in the midst of all this drama, there is a tinge of romance in the story as well.
I like the plot but the story is a bit way predictable. But I do like the funny scenes and all the drama in the book. But the story got sightly boring towards the middle. And as you all know, I never DNF the book so I continued reading the story, although I have a strong feeling that the ending will be like that. And I was right--the ending was way too predictable.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.
This book was billed as Sweet Home Alabama meets Emily in Paris. It was more like Groundhog Day.
Lottie gives up her dreams of law school and taking on the world when she starts dating the quarterback. Then she puts all her energy into becoming a Real Housewife of the NFL. Until he dumps her. Rightly so, he said how when they met it was all he could do to keep up with her ambition, drive, and academic aptitude. That's the woman he loved. Not the one who was happy to be on the sideline in a bedazzled football jersey.
7 years later, she's still bemoaning why all her friends have jobs, relationships, happiness. She's just floundering around. Her job as a florist turns into a wedding planner job. But she's still moping about the wedding she spent two years planning that didn't happen. BECAUSE SHE WASN'T ENGAGED
The book is just over-the-top wedding/party with a mishap that Lottie has to handle, followed by Lottie wallowing, her friends telling her to date, a little office drama and then another wedding/party. Lather rinse repeat.
B O R I N G
*I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and I am required to disclose that in my review in compliance with federal law.
This was a super easy read with likeable characters and a fun plot. This was my first book by this author and it was so well written.
This was a lighthearted, quirky, fun book about a wedding planner that was dumped by her boyfriend. It was cute as a palate cleanser but nothing more for me. This is not my usual genre, so I don't want that effect my review. The characters seemed shallow and cliche, but I find that a lot in books like these. It wasn't bad, and if this is your genre, you probably thought it was a good book. I like the Southern references and the descriptions of over the top weddings, but there was nothing really to pull me in.
I just really hate doing this, but I could not get this book over with faster. They compared this to Emily in Paris and Sweet Home Alabama and I found no similarities to either of them. This was categorized as a romance, but all I really read was Lottie fantasizing about her ex, the guy she's "seeing" (who we barely see more than 2 or 3 short dates) and the guy she works with but is brutally honest about not wanting a relationship. This book was 90% Lottie working weddings and telling us about the weddings she was at. If you like reading about ridiculously expensive weddings you will enjoy this book.