Overall: 5/5
Spice level: 2.5-3/5
Tropes: fake dating/engagement, LGBTQ, plus size

TW: brief scene of colorism

First of all, this is a top read for 2021. Hands down. 6 weeks to plan a fake wedding that makes the families think it's real for TV? Count me in.

I loved the chemistry between D'Vaughn and Kris. The little affections throughout the book mostly made up for the lack of spice. There were a couple of sexy scenes but I was definitely hoping for more. Of all the sapphic books I've read, there's almost never any toys involved in the spicy scenes, which tells me I need to branch out more, for sure, but this book didn't even have on page oral.

Moving right along, I absolutely loved their families and all the group interactions. The camaraderie was beautiful. I loved how close-knit they were.

My absolutely favorite things about the book though: plus size rep, all the LGBTQ rep, and the fact that it was set in Houston. That doesn't happen often so it really made everything feel more familiar and connected. As a queer woman in Houston, this was great! Oh, also, Kris was very swoon-worthy. The way she doted on D'Vaughn and always made sure she felt seen and heard and the way she catered to her feelings was absolutely beautiful.

I got this from Net Galley. I love Chencia’s writing. I was so excited when this book was announced and it did not disappoint.

D’Vaughn and Kris were amazing characters. I loved how their relationship grew. The meet cute was adorable. Kris immediately won me over.

Their families were hilarious. The premise of the book was fresh. I enjoyed everything about this book.

I’m not going to spoil it. Read it for yourself. Trust me. You’re going to love it.

I will just yell SEXUAL CHOCOLATE and go about my day.

Thank you publisher and netgalley for the ARC, all thoughts are my own.

This was effortlessly a very entertaining and fun read.
The quirkiness of the characters, their stories, their connection, the plot itself, everything was well written. What I appreciated the most was how diverse the story line & characters were. They felt authentic as well as cheesy at the same time.

A definite read to expand your lgbt+ horizons

I've been reading a lot of 2022 contemporary romance and I'm really excited to see how much of it is LGBTQ and diverse in both protagonists and authors. Unfortunately, this one doesn't rise to the top of the list for me. Overall, I felt that it moved a little slow and didn't spend nearly enough time with the details of the reality tv show I Do (I was hoping that it would have more of the drama, intrigue, and bite that Love is Blind had with several other couples). That would have also highlighted this relationship and helped tease out love vs. lust. Thanks to NetGalley for an early review copy, all opinions are my own.

What I Liked: The representation in this book is incredible. The two leads are a fat, Black Lesbian and an Afro-Latina butch lesbian ,which would be amazing enough, but there are several queer side characters as well. This was fun from page one and I thought the reality show premise was clever and made the insta-love trope more believable. I loved that the angst in this book didn’t come from the main relationship but rather the very real and difficult task of coming out to your family.

What I Didn’t Like: The relationship between Kris and D’Vaughn moved very quickly and while I know that’s the point of this book, I’m not a huge fan of insta-love stories so I would have loved a few more scenes of them falling in love. I would have also liked more closure between D’Vaughn and her mother about her coming out and the feelings surrounding that. This was a large part of the beginning of the book and I would have enjoyed a conversation between them to wrap things up.

Who Should Read It: If you like your romances to be fun and low-angst, this would be a great read for you. The steam level is pretty mild so this would be a good book for people who don’t want too much explicit sex in their romances.

Review Wrap Up: It took longer than I would have thought but reality TV-themed romance novels seem to be popping up more and more (see “One to Watch” and “If the Shoe Fits”). While I’m not a fan of reality shows, I have to admit they make a great backdrop for insta-love romances. While I felt this story wrapped up too quickly, I thought it was really fun and I was rooting for Kris and D’Vaughn the entire time and had a smile on my face at the end.

Favorite Quote: “…it was no secret that reality shows tended to put a certain style and shape of woman in front of the camera. Petite, with flawless skin. Dazzling smiles and relaxed hair. Skin so fair it was almost translucent. So aggressively heterosexual they were willing to fight another woman over a man offering community dick that was mediocre at best.”

Thank you to NetGalley, for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I wanted to love this book so badly and had so many green flags I normally love in all other forms of media that are my brand from queer romcom, to reality tv show for high stakes, to a wedding, but unfortunately this book missed the mark I was hoping for on many of these areas. However, maybe the hype I had heard around this book prior to reading set my expectations to high.

The entire romance of this books start to finish takes place over 6 weeks and while insta love can be really up my alley, this texts romance felt stagnant or not fully developed. The main character fall in love at first sight and never lose that love or have it threatened. While unquestioned queer love is great to read slightly larger hurdles would have made it more believable.

In addition, the reality tv show format felt like a burden by the end with no questions of whether they would move on to the next round, week to week, or discussion of possible elimination.

Finally, the wedding was only 5% of the book and if I blinked I almost missed it.

All of this being said this book may not have been what I expected or for me. However, I can see it’s slower pace being a comfort read if you can get hooked on the characters.

D'Vaughn signed up for Instant I Do (a show where you get engaged and plan a wedding within 6 weeks while convincing your family it's real. If you and the person you just met make it to the end without anyone finding out it's a lie, you win $100k! No pressure!) The show this season is accepting Queer applicants so this is her time to come out to her family. That sounds terrifying but having an example of what it looks like and how to react to a negative or positive response is helpful to a lot of viewers in her shoes. So that got her on the show.

Kris signed up to find love after becoming internet famous and not being able to find any authentic partners. She's a fitness/health type influencer and has a lot of loyal fans but not what she's looking for.

I just did not want this to end. This fake relationship had immediate chemistry the kind that when a person walks in the room and you choke on your drink. I had a feeling from the way D'Vaughn was reacting and the jittercam confessionals that she would be matched with Kris. They had such different family lives and stories but complemented each other so well. There was also such a slow burn with the casual kisses to make the relationship believable that they would forget it was fake. There were such real moments as D'Vaughn tried to educate her mother with her siblings' help and the love and acceptance was beautiful. It was a little painful but it wasn't nefarious, just unsure of how to communicate. Kris' family immediately accepted D'Vaughn and loved her. I loved Kris' family and her parents were goals! The ending was heart bursting, thank you for that! I got worried a few times. A quick wedding to a stranger is scary especially with a reality show trying to get ratings but they pulled out all the feels. Also the rep of a sapphic reality show with a black, curvy, femme and an afro-latinx butch - peep the cover!

❤ Fake Dating 
❤ Reality Show with confessionals
❤ Serious topics
❤ Steam 🔥🔥🔥

I would like to read what the other contestants were doing! Or I want Diamond to have a book, please!! Or Tanisha. Maybe Darren and Ray, haha jk.

Thank you HarlequinPublicityTeam + HarlequinBooks and the author chenciachiggins  for the gifted copy!

3.5 stars!

I really enjoyed this Black lesbian romance with fake dating! The romance was a little swoony in a way I don't often feel contemporary romance tend to be, and I like how much communication there was both between the main characters and between them and their friends or relatives (especially their one person who knew about the relationship being fake).

Personally I was a little surprised seeing the book being narrated in first person by the two different POVs of D'Vaughn and Kris simply because I haven't read an adult romance in this person in ages. It threw me off a little at first because I'm so unused to it and because it comes with a much heavier internal monologue than I like, but it was easy enough to get back into it. While it's still not my favorite narrative style I admit it worked for this book and to really show D'Vaughn's and Kris' personalities.

There's a lot that went on in the book with all the wedding prep that was part of the show unbeknownst to their families and it was a little much at times but it was also easy to skim a little if that's not your thing (like it isn't mine). Things sped up towards the end where it felt like just a list of things they had to complete while involving their families but I liked at the beginning especially when things moved a little more slowly, especially I liked how D'Vaughn's coming out was handled. I think the easier way to handle it was to have D'Vaughn be happy with the reaction she got from her mother, but I like that she didn't settle for that and was actually angry at her mom even though she objectively knew it could have been worse. But her anger was rightful and I love seeing queer characters not settling for that type of reaction. Silence ≠ support and she struggled for all those years and it was refreshing to see her not brush it off.

One thing I didn't like at all was the whole concept of the reality show and how they're supposed to lie to their families and actually involve them in all of this only to be like "surprise everything was fake" at the end, but I knew that was gonna be that when I went into it so I knew what to expect. But I also felt like there were so many plot holes within it that it was a little distracting. Like I think it was mentioned that the cameraman was supposed to be inside D'Vaughn house after church (where she eventually got to talk to her mom after coming out publicly to her) but he was never mentioned again and her mom only saw the cameraman the next time they all met. And I couldn't really believe people were okay with being filmed for so long with so little explanation?? The parts where D'Vaughn and Kris were supposed to do the filming were also either missing or possibly I'm the one who missed them because it was only mentioned in passing but yeah overall I found it a little hard to actually suspend my belief about this being part of a reality show and I tried to just enjoy the fake romance aspect of it.

Overall while there were some things that didn't fit my personal tastes this was still a cute and really enjoyable lesbian fake romance with a heavy focus on (big!) families, so if that sounds like something you're into I can only recommend you check this out!

Story line is good in theory but poor execution. This book is very slow and hard to get through. Would not recommend but the cover is beautiful and I love how it centered a Black lesbian.

I don’t watch reality TV shows – I have enough reality in my life, thank you very much – except for an episode here and there of baking shows when the people close to me are watching, but I would absolutely have rooted for Kris and D’Vaughn had Instant I Do been on my TV.

In Instant I Do, strangers have six weeks to convince their families that they’re getting married, but falling in love isn’t mandatory. It isn’t forbidden either, however.

D’Vaughn hopes being on the show will help her come out to her family, Kris hopes to find true love. While both work with kids – D’Vaughn as a ninth-grade guidance counsellor, Kris as a middle school gym teacher -, they couldn’t be more different. Kris is all swoony butchness, her charisma and sexiness obvious whenever she enters a room. D’Vaughn seems a bit on the shy side, unaware of how gorgeous she is.

D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding could have been a 5-stars read had the editing been more convincing. First of all, I love the energy. There’s something in the way this story is written, especially in the dialogues (and the Jitter Cam moments) that I find extremely satisfying.

I also love the characters. I have a huge crush on D’Vaughn. She’s unassuming but sharp. Watching her come into herself was a thing of beauty. She’s full of surprises, especially once she’s out and lets herself just be. Her relationship with her mother broke my heart and I half wanted more of it and also not. There’s so much unconditional love mixed with a failure to understand, the ambivalence was hard to take. D’Vaughn’s siblings made up for it. Also, her friendship with Cinta is wonderful.

My feelings about Kris are more layered. D’Vaughn chokes on her drink the first time she sees her and that would be me too. Too much sexiness intimidates me. She has her share of insecurity though, and I liked that, I like that she’s not all stud and no personality. I wish the author had delved further into Kris’ social media gig, though. The reader is told Kris’ public persona isn’t who she shows herself to be with D’Vaughn but we don’t get to see who that is, nor, really, why she’s the big deal she seems to be. I decided to believe it anyway but I could have done with more details. My favourite thing about Kris, however, is her family. They’re warm, they’re welcoming, they’re fun. I loved the bilingual aspect, the starting a sentence in one language and finishing it in another, it made me feel very at home.

I‘ll have to look up Chencia C. Higgins’ other f/f books…

<i>I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.</i>

This was incredibly delightful. So many people love a dating show IRL, so I'm glad this trope seems to finally be taking off. It's so fun and has the potential to be so tropey: forced proximity, fake dating, insta-lust, maybe some enemies-to-lovers. This book absolutely delivers on several of those, all while threading a really sincere emotional note through the story.

The pacing was a bit wonky at points, and I did find this specific iteration on the dating show trope a little tenuous at times, but overall, this was such a fun, funny book, and I want to be invited to the next Zavala family party, please.

I freaking love this book!!!

I am in love with Kris. Damn she is smooth. Chencia C. Higgins has created a stud that when she walks into a room everyone, including heteros, checks her out because she is that sexy. Her words can seduce anyone into her bed. Kris is a go-getter plus a teacher. Seriously, how can you not want her? I haven’t even gotten to her relationship with her family. Yeah, serious girl crush here.

Oh by the way, I am talking about D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding (chuckle). I got so distracted by the sexiness that is Kris.

Now let’s get to the foxy D’Vaughn. Higgins gives us a curvy, giving, and damn let me let you lead character. When they finally get to an intimate position, D’Vaughn comes out with a definite take-charge attitude which is beyond hot. I should probably add here that Higgins makes steam come off the pages. I needed a moment…that’s all I’m saying.

The inclusion of both characters' families makes it a hoot and holler. Holy sugar, some of the things that came out of Ray's mouth had me chuckling. I obviously fell right in love with Kris’ family. They are phenomenal. The mix of Spanish and English keeping true to the characters heritage is a delight. Now I don’t know about anyone else, but I kind of see some possibilities with Ray and Darren. Just saying, I wouldn’t mind seeing a story about them.

I gobbled up this book because it is just that good. Higgins has created a couple that if anyone saw them on this reality show, they would totally be rooting for them. I love their chemistry, repartee, and their individuality. The diversity in D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding is what I want to see all the time in books. I’m just in love with this story. You have to read it.

I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.

This story was an absolute delight! D'Vaughn and Kris meet on a reality TV show where the premise is that they have to pretend to be engaged, and spend six weeks convincing their family the relationship is real while planning a wedding - and at the end they can either get married, or win $100,000 each. Kris decides to go on the show in the hope of finding true love; D'Vaughn is using it as the push to come out to her conservative family.
As premises go, this sounds awful - full of deception and artificiality and with the potential of really horrible family drama. (I admit, I picked this ARC up entirely by accident).
It was utterly wholesome and sweet and delightful, and had me laughing at the beginning and crying at the end, because it was so unspeakably romantic. It was also casually diverse and affirming and very, very funny when it wanted to be.
D'Vaughn has a truly marvellous turn of phrase. I loved the way she prayed out loud at the start for whoever was faced with the overwhelming hotness of Kris, and that when she got matched with her she was like 'Lord, I see you enjoy your jokes...' She had a lovely generosity and confidence, matched with the insecurity that comes from not being quite sure anyone would love you if they knew who you really were.
I loved that Kris was the romantic of the two, and very straightforward in going after what she wanted - something that was absolutely necessary, given D'Vaughn's tendency not to really believe that she was interested.
The other thing I loved about this story was the two families. Kris's family is Black and Latinx and they love Kris wholeheartedly and welcome D'Vaughn to the family with enthusiasm. I especially liked that Kris's father is conservative and patriarchal and uses slightly problematic language to express his support for his two lesbian daughters, but his love and acceptance of them just as they are is palpable. D'Vaughn's family, meanwhile, was a more complicated equation, and I liked that we got to see that knowing the right words to use is not necessarily the same as being accepting, even if it looks that way from the outside.
The relationship between Kris and D'Vaughn was charming, and I liked the way that even their executive producer seemed to be rooting for them - possibly unrealistically, but it was adorable and I didn't care.
If you are looking for a fun, romantic, feel-good lesbian romance, I can highly recommend this one. I had an absolute ball reading it.

A fast read, but a sweet one, with lots of chemistry. The kind of bright and positive book that's a good choice going into 2022.

I recently read an ARC of D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a wedding by Chencia C. Higgins. The basic premise is these two people meet on a game show and have to convince their families that they are in love and getting married. Their love story is cute and I felt really invested in the two main characters. I really like reading about the character of Kris and her family. I will say that I wasn’t a huge fan of the premise of the show because it just seemed mean to trick people’s families, but such is reality TV, I guess. Overall, it was a cute romance and I’m really glad I gave it a go.
There is so much representation in this book, being that it is a love story between a afro-latinx woman and a fat black woman. I can only speak to the fat representation, and it was flawless. There were multiple fat characters. All of them were seen as desirable, which I love. There was no self hatred for body related issues. I loved that. That being said, it does address some religious trauma related to the LGBTQ+ community, so if that is a concern for you please check for other reviews or trigger warnings.

With a fresh, sparkling voice and keen storytelling instincts that don't shy away from real issues, Higgins spins a tale that's hard to put down. Come for D'Vaughn and Kris's instant and absolute enchantment of each other and stay for the drama both in and outside of the reality television setting. Higgins has a knack for writing characters you really want to root for and family dynamics that'll make you nod with familiarity. This one will make you smile, laugh, sigh, and blush—everything you want in a romance without putting your heart through the meat grinder first.

- Queer screaming time! I adored this F/F romance between a butch Afrolatina and a curvy Black woman as they fall in love while fake engaged for a reality show. It's deeply queer and deeply lovable. It's laugh out loud funny while also handling some hard emotions.
- This book strikes the perfect balance between electric chemistry and gentle, caring support.
- POSSIBLE SPOILERS: I admit I was a bit nervous about the part of the plot where D'Vaughn is using the show to come out to her family (especially as Colton Underwood's show is under fire for doing just that). But Higgins uses the situation to talk about a coming out experience that is under-discussed: how even when your family is supportive after you come out, the fact that they kept quiet before can be hurtful and damaging in a different way.

This was an absolute delight of a book. I loved every character and every bit of this book was so much fun. The plot of this book is right up my alley so I enjoyed every second of this book.

This book is an absolute delight. I read the entire thing with a stupid grin on my face and almost immediately fell in love with both of our MCs. This book is both fun and funny while also having a side dose of a little bit of seriousness. It is the perfect light and fluffy rom-com that y'all need in your life.

The entire premise of the book kind of cracked me up because as an arospec asexual person my brain doesn't always comprehend the trope of love at first sight or committing to someone that you barely know and I consider it a success that I fully believed in this romance and their love story even though it all happens in 6 weeks.

So both of the MC's, Kris and D'Vaughn are contestants on this show called Instant I do and basically these contestants are randomly paired and they have to convince their families that they are engaged and have to plan a wedding in 6 weeks. If they make it to the end of the 6 weeks they either say I do or they each win $100,000. Kris goes on to the show claiming that she's looking for the love of her life. She walks in there fully intending to find a wife and is the hopeful romantic of the duo. D'Vaughn goes on to the show so that she has an opportunity to come out to her conservative religious family.

This one is a whirlwind. A lot of things happen and D'Vaughn's coming out scene is super super emotional. Make sure that you maybe have a tissue or two nearby. The representation in this book is also the stuff of dreams. Kris is an Afro-Latina stud lesbian and D'Vaughn is a fat Black lesbian. There are a ton of secondary queer characters including a fat Black trans woman, non binary character, Black gay men, I'm pretty sure that there's also a pansexual secondary character in addition to lesbian and gay characters. Kris is also bilingual and there's a decent handful of Spanish in the book.

So I loved both Kris and D'Vaughn, but Kris's family absolutely took the cake for me. They are the definition of joy and that type of family connection is so unheard of to me that I love reading about it. They're all so invested in each other's lives and supportive of everything.

Y'all I cannot recommend this book enough. It comes out later this month and I am super grateful that I was able to read an advanced copy of this through NetGalley (and that I actually read it before it's pub date). I can easily see myself rereading this book especially if it comes out on audio. It will 100% be a comfort read for me. Also there's a fucking rainbow cake on the cover, of course I love this book.

A fast-pacing, easy, feel good romance book with amazing representation. I loved every single character and the two MC were made for each other. I personally think the fact that they were on a reality TV show might have played a bigger role on the storyline than it ended up doing, but I am still happy with the book overall. rep: fat Black lesbian mc, Afro-Latina butch lesbian mc, Black side characters, Afro-Latine side characters, lesbian side characters
tw: bigotry, colorism