This story has a female lead with strong skills but isn’t as confident in some other areas. Her beau and his secrets play a role in the progression of the story. The read is low on heat, but is still a good read for those who like to travel to fictional far away places in a fairytale romance. Thanks to Montlake and NetGalley for the early copy of this read.

I think my only real feedback is that I do want my characters to be a little flawed, and Everly and Max are almost too perfect.
HOWEVER I did like the HEA in this one. There are some issues in the 3rd act too, but this is cute.

Thank you, Netgalley, for allowing me to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own.

It was the first romance novel that was completely unpredictable, and I loved it. Vella was by far my favourite character, but everyone is pretty lovable.

Party Favors by Sariah Wilson is full of likable characters, fun plots and swoony romance! I was so excited when I got an advanced readers copy. This book was so much fun to read. I didn't want to put it down.

Thank You NetGalley and Montlake for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

What would Everly do?

Everly Aprile wants a promotion from her boss’ assistant to event planner but to get the promotion she needs to have a sixteenth birthday party based on the country of Monterra. Now Everly needs someone with more knowledge about Monterra and finding Max Colby who had moved to New York City was her source about all things Monterran. Everly had a hard time opening her heart after the disaster of her parent’s marriage but she could always follow what Queen Katherina of Monterra did when she felt in a bind because she was a perfect example.

Everly volunteered to be Max’s NYC guide if he will teach her about local Monterran birthday customs to make her event perfect. But will Max be another crush or can she actually open her heart to falling in love.

You will love Party Favor is you like New York City with over the top events and finding out Max is more than a crush to Everly!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the author and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Another very sweet read from Wilson. I enjoy her books immensely and definitely recommend everyone pick them all up! She writes sweet and swoony (kissing only), so they are good for every romance audience. I also love that they have characters mentioned from other works of hers and she likes to focus on the imaginary country, especially the royal family, of Monterra. Picking out those crossover moments is a treat!

Party Favors is about a young girl, Everly, working as a personal assistant to one of the main event planners in NYC. The boss depends on her and she basically runs the show for him. He’s just one of the big-wigs, and the other top brass mostly see her worth and wonder why after so many years she’s still a PA and hasn’t been promoted, especially since she’s the one running things… Since she’s working 24/7, she has no other life but one day does manage to go out and meets Max, who happens to be from Monterra, a country who she happens to be interested in and fascinated with the royal family (Queen Kat is her idol).

The pair hit it off but decide to be friends - Everly is too busy for anything else and doesn’t know why anyone would be interested in more with her, anyway. Her “interesting” roommate Vella keeps pushing her to go for more with Max but her introverted self just can’t. The pair is able to help each other with some work situations (she organizes his cousin’s baby shower), but of course there’s always something that has to throw a wrench into the situation, no matter how innocent they try to keep everything. That’s what keeps the world spinning and these books having us so hooked! The way Wilson is able to work this one and the big twist ending is perfect and unexpected and I absolutely loved it! Brilliant!

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Montlake, and this is my honest feedback.

Party Favors is the kind of book that just has you smiling the whole way through. It’s light & happy, the story of a girl with a crush (or rather, crushes).

⭐️ rating: 4/5
😘 spice: some kissing, suggestive comments

💭 overall thoughts:
This was a low-stakes, easy, feel-good read.
It’s romantic in a cheesy way, and sometimes that sort of escape just feels good 🥰

Everly is young & inexperienced with love/men, crushing on her older, taken boss. She’s his assistant, and he pretty much takes advantage of her, relying on her to do his work and not giving her the promotion she deserves.

When she meets Max at a bar, this man is like a dream. Attractive, kind, and wants to get to know her. She immediately puts him in the friend zone, before he can do the same.

They become friends, and Everly has a ton of growth, mostly because of this relationship. She begins to see what love truly can be, and how she’s worth so much more than she’s been made to believe.

This definitely had me wanting to go back and read Sariah’s Royals of Monterra series - while it’s not at all necessary to enjoy this book, Everly’s obsession with them had me intrigued.

🤍side characters:
Obsessed with Vella, Everly’s roommate & best friend - she’s the perfect black cat/snarky character with hilarious one-liners!

🎙️ audio thoughts:
The audio was perfect, I felt like Bailey Carr totally embodied the sweetness of Everly, and really fit her character!

tropes + topics:
🌻 strangers to friends to lovers
🗒️ event planner fmc
💙 he falls first
🤍 virgin fmc
🐢 slow burn
💖 single 1st person pov

Thank you to Sariah Wilson, Montlake & Brilliance Publishing for advanced ebook & audio copies. All opinions are my own.

I have read a few other of Ms. Wilson's books and this one disappointed me a little. In one book she had a protagonist who didn't take any guff and wouldn't twist herself in knots over a crush, and this time this person was the sidekick. Vella is a great character. I wish the "heroine" had some of her gumption.

Everly Aprile is a people pleaser to the core. She does everything her boss requires, including some silly things that no one should have to do for their boss, like asking a Parisian hotel to send him more toilet paper on his behalf, while he is currently in said hotel and she is in NYC. Vella, Everly's BFF and roommate, encourages her to get out of the house and meet some people and takes her to a bar that is frequented by people of the imaginary country, Monterra (kind of like an adult Genovia) as Everly's family is obsessed with their royalty. Here she meets Max, who is drop dead gorgeous and Everly convinces herself he is far too good for her.

And then she proceeds to do this for 60% of the book. She is a cute character but good gravy I wanted to smack her more than once. I almost put the book down because I did not want to attend this pity party. That might have been a better name for this book....

This is a fun rom-com book and Vella is the best part. She made me laugh multiple times. Unfortunately, this book reminds me of a Hallmark movie and since they are nearly always the same tropes I was disappointed.

Thank you to Montlake Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

A very light hearted book which is a good read.

Everly lives in New York who has a crush on her boss, she works for an events company but is just an admin assistant but does all the planning for her boss. She lives with Vella who is a bit unique. Vella persuades Everly to go to this bar where it is based on Monterran where Everly and her family are obsessed with. There she meets Max Colby who says he is from Monterran. We see them over the course of the weeks becoming friends but so they want more.

The book was good but it kind of is like most books of this kind where we know what the outcome of what happens and the ending.

A nice book.

A party planner obsessed with Monterran royalty can't believe her luck when she meets a Monterran local who has recently moved to her city. When he agrees to show her more of his culture, Everly is thrilled. 

This was just an okay romance for me. I felt the royalty aspect dominated a lot of the storyline and I didn't like how insecure Everly was about herself, constantly putting herself down. On both these fronts, I struggled to feel the chemistry between our two main characters. I love reading Sariah's books though and will still eagerly look out for her next book.

<b>Party Favors by Sariah Wilson was a sweet romance between two very different people with a touch of royal fairytale. Everly has a kind heart and sweet soul but she has so many insecurities and vulnerability those stem from her past. She never thought someone charismatic and sexy and gorgeous like Max will fall for her. She kept on self sabotaging till she found a space to be open and confident about her feels.</b>

Everly has been assistant to a cold and indifferent but sexy boss in a big event management company for a few years now. She has been doing most of his job and she really deserves a promotion. The opportunity comes when another big boss pushed her to do a presentation for a prestigious client and she nailed it. But she needs more information about Monterran culture because that's the theme she proposed as she is obsessed with the royal couple. By fate's intervention, she meets a handsome Monterran man in the bar that night. Max is so out of her league but he is so nice and caring and swoony..is it too good to be true?

<b>The event planning business is a tough one but Everly has all the skills. Patient. Smart. Hardworking. Innovative. Compassionate. Organized. But this girl has so many hang ups from her past. She refuses to believe she has a single good thing except her event management skills. Her roommate aka best friend Vella was so awesome and so quirky and she did her best to show Everly that she has so many great qualities. But Everly was stuck in her head. She messed up so many times and made things complicated unnecessarily. Max is what I call unicorn boyfriend. Hotter than hell. Swoony. Charming. Caring and protective. Appreciative and respectful of her profession. But he kept some secrets too those almost ruined everything. At the end, Everly decided to face the life in a constructive and bold way and that was best for them. Max showed his adoration and desire in so many small but significant ways.

Having said that, can someone explain to me why the fictional country with fictional royalty was put there with so much importance? The story takes place in New York. That part just slowed the story and felt completely unnecessary to me..except the author trying to put it to make us read another story by her. Second, the crush Everly had on her boss was another totally unnecessary part. This book has a very slow pace with slow spice and many times I found myself turning pages.</b>

I reviewed an early copy voluntarily from Netgalley and Montlake

Overall this was a really cute and quick read finishing it in one sitting. Although I didn't find the characters or dynamics that unique, I enjoyed the FMC and MMC, plus the typical sassy roommate/friend trope.

Every was struggling a bit with failure to launch situation. Having an unrealistic crush on her boss when she is devastated to find out he was getting engaged. When crying in a bar she meets Matt. A gorgeous charming man that turns everyone heads. She is shocked he would even talk to her. Matt is very sweet and just an overall good guy, which made the third act conflict hard to really see the issue and why Every would be so upset with him. Every also struggles with body image and overall self love. She can't see what others would love her or find her desirable. This gets a bit old after awhile.

Lastly what didn't make this book a 5 stars for me was some of the tropes that were chosen. They just are some of my least favorite, one specifically about Every, that I felt was shared but then never really explored. I'm not sure why it was in the book.

I would definitely read from Sarah Wilson again. This was well written and I would interested to see what else she comes up with in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake publishing for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

Everly is an assistant who wants to break out as a party planner. Her big shot comes in the form of a party for royalty...Monterran royalty to be specific. The problem? She doesn't know enough about it. Thankfully a gorgeous man comes to her rescue: Max, who knows everything about Monterra. (But why?!?) Come along for the ride in this new sweet romance as Everly finds her footing within her career and her love life!

I enjoyed this book! I'm fascinated by the fact that so many authors have banded together to create a fictional country called Monterra, which has a rich cast of royals, all looking for love! It was neat to see a book about Monterra that was set in the U.S. Sariah Wilson brings her trademark humor to this new adult romantic comedy. I found this book to still be super steamy but still within the definition of a "sweet clean romance," which I appreciate! I fell just as hard for Max as our heroine!

There are some plot twists within this story I never expected. The story was engaging. Added to the cast, with nearly as much "screen" time as Everly herself, is her best friend and roommate Vella, who I didn't always love, but was entertaining regardless. The pacing of this story might have felt a smidge slow, but was a very enjoyable read nonetheless. I adore Sariah Wilson, and look forward to reading more of her in the future!

I'd like to thank Sariah Wilson, Montlake Publishing, and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Overall, for the most part, I enjoyed it. I did like that this book coincided with her others and the Royals of Monterra series and characters.

I definitely think that this book was a little too overly cheesy for me. I don’t know if I’ve changed in my romances, but this one was just a little too fluffy.

I did enjoy the characters, the storyline, and the overall plot throughout the whole book. But in the end, it was just too cheesy for me.

Okay this was the cutest.

But I wanted to yell at Everly. Then Max. Mostly Everly. Communication 😅

They were cute and fun. I really did enjoy this book. If miscommunication and slow burn tropes are not for you though skip this book.

But I personally loved it and especially the Royal fans that she and her mom were.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review!

Thank you to Montlake & NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

This one is for all my happily ever after, fairy tale obsessed, Rom Com loving girlies! If you’re looking for a new romance to get swept up in, complete with all the swooning, pick this one up!

This is the sort of light rom com HEA read that might do the trick if you're in need of an uplift. Everly and Max are trope-y to be sure but the scenario works. As does Vella, Everly's roommate -she's a hoot. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Cute and clean (kissing only) contemporary romance. Everly Aprile is finally getting a chance to do event planning at her company. She was the personal assistant to a horrible boss who deserved a comeuppance that didn’t happen. She meets Max Colby at a bar and they connect. She believes he is from Monterra and she is planning a high end princess themed sweet sixteen party. His knowledge of customs and culture will be useful and in exchange she will show in NYC. Best friend Vella is a stand out and gets some very funny lines.

Not part of the author's Royals of Monterra series, it is nice that there is a tie in for those readers. I was surprised Max doesn’t show up until 15 percent of the way into the story. There is some predictability and cheesy lines but it is offset by Aprile sharing her real insecurities. You can see growth in Aprile's character over the story. (3.5 Stars)

Sariah Wilson’s Monterran royals series are some of my favorite books by her and in Party Favors she has the royals element tied in with a contemporary romance. Party Favors is out on July 30th!

Every is a party planner with a big passion for the Monterran Royal Family. She then meets a man, Max, from Monterra and ends up falling for him…or who she thinks he is. This definitely started off as a slower burn romance (in some parts painfully slow) and so I wish it moved a little faster but I still overall enjoyed it. I saw a lot of myself in Everly who loves watching the royal wedding and following her favorite royal in style and life “what would Kat do?” I liked Max too but he seemed a little frustratingly closed off in parts which contribute to the conflict in the story but maybe in some small was unnecessarily. I love a story with an epilogue and this one was good (while wildly unrealistic but a girl can dream! 😂)

This was not enjoyable. I found myself putting this down and then feeling a tiny sense of dread when I had to pick it up again. At least the main character is aware of how prone she is to instantly crush on the opposite sex but it was annoying. She was more than just enamoured with the hero and they had only just met! It was too insta-love for me.

I get the sense this story was meant to be quirky and light-hearted but it was boring and cringey.

The two stars goes to the roommate - she was the only light in this story.