Sariah Wilson has become a go to author for me. I will pick up all her books. Some I have liked more than others. This one I really liked. It was a fun combination of tropes. The characters had dimension and humor. Definitely will recommend.

Let's start with the good.
Max and Everly had good chemistry. I enjoyed the leadup to their relationship.
The roomate was also a highlight. I would read a book featured soley on her. She had enough backbone to make up for the rest of the characters. Unfortunately, that is the extent of the good.
The bad: Everyly was the most insecure lead character I have read in a long time. While I can appreciate self doubt, Everly was next level. I wanted nothing more than to get her a therapist.
The entire plot with the Royal family fell flat for me. That coupled with the fake name and accent was just a bizarre twist.
The way these two went from 0 to 180 and the ending dialogue was so corny it had me rolling my eyes.
It was a forgettable book.

Great chemistry between the main characters. Max is my new book boyfriend! Everything Sariah writes is always so good. I suggest you read her Royals of Monterra series first (especially book 1), although it isn't required to understand this story.

The slow burn was worth the wait! The chemistry was off-the-charts, and the humor was perfectly executed. It is definitely going on my reread list!

What a wonderful romantic comedy read. Thank you for letting me read this arc!

*Spoilers Ahead*

Has anyone seen maid in Manhattan? This was a little bit of a ringer for that. Except reversed. He felt that he could only be loved if she didn't know who he was.
I get it. And the couples were lovely.

I will have to say it took a few chapters for me to get into it
But it was worth the ride

I love books with modern day royal elements, so I was drawn to this book based on the description. And I’m so glad I read it! This book was incredibly cute and fun and not as predictable as I’d worried it would be. This is a great book if you’re looking for a sweet, slow burn romance with lots happening throughout. I loved the event planning element and the characters (especially Vella). I also really enjoyed that the MC was in her young 20s - it made her life very relatable to me and many books I’ve read recently have older characters. I can’t wait to read other books from this author!

This author’s books have been a tremendous hit or a disappointing miss for me. Unfortunately, Party Favors was the latter. I just did not care about the main character and felt disconnected from the plot.

I thouroughly enjoyed ready "Party Favors" by Sariah Wilson. The book follows Everly Aprile, a young girl from Alabama, as she navigates life, work, and love in NYC. The cast of characters were charming. I would consider this a cozy read with a slight love triangle and a miscommunication (lie?) that was resolved in the end. Throughout the book, we get to see Everly grow, come into her own, and get her happily every after.

Although not the main focus of the story, Vella is a stand out character. Everyone needs a Vella in their life. She is unappolgetic in who she is. She will be a wing-woman, your biggest cheerleader, and tell you hard truths. She's a ride-and-die friend to the end.

Thank you Sariah Wilson, NetGalley, and Montlake for an ARC of "Party Favors" in exchange for an honest review.

This is a nice, decently quick read that checks all the boxes for a romance.

Girl meets guy, guy seems perfect, but is he? Is it all an act just to string her along, or is she really that (willfully?) obtuse? Can she believe what’s happening with him?

My ONE criticism is where we get a bead on Everly’s mom’s age. It’s mentioned Everly is wearing an old Duran Duran tshirt that used to belong to her mom. That puts the mom in my generation. My generation is not that idiotic about texting! That would far more likely be a baby boomer. My generation bought our first cell phones in our late teens - mid-20s, and were the first ones to text. Leave the mom’s age more generic. That whole “MOM SEND” thing was suddenly insulting when a specific age was tacked on. Maybe the tshirt was something Everly found in a thrift store, instead?

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

Party Favors by Sariah Wilson is a delight!

Every works for an event planning company quietly crushing on her boss, Adrian. She basically does all of his work with none of the credit and it is noticed by Claudia, one of the other event planners. Claudia tells Everly that it is obvious she is doing the work and deserves to be taking the credit for it and needs to tell Adrian she wants to be a planner. With encouragement from her roommate, Vella, she decides to work up her inner super hero and ask to present for a potential new client, before she can, he drops that he is getting engaged and by the way, can she do all the ground work to get the engagement ring and stuff to London where he plans to propose? This gives Everly the push she needs and she asks to take lead and Adrian casually says she can. (All that build up for that?)

Everly presents to a potential new client for her sweet sixteen party a fairy princess party based on her own favorite royal family from Monterra and her favorite Princess Kat. To her surprise she gets the account! Now she has to learn everything about the country to put on the best event ever.

Max and Everly meet when she is having a not so private crying moment and their relationship begins there. Their friendship starts and they come to an agreement that he, who is Monterran, will teach her about the country if she shows him around NYC.

Between planning the party, Everly and showing Max around, she starts to fall for him and realizes that Adrian is a jerk.

I really enjoyed the writing style of the author and her secondary characters. Vella is a hoot and I would love for to get her own story.

The chemistry between Everly and Max is there and I immediately started rooting for them to have their own happily ever after.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I honestly requested for this book because I saw it was romance and well, who doesn't love romance? And I'm glad to say I wasn't exactly disappointed!

I love the author's sense of humour, it is one of my favourite things. It's why I can't watch a movie that's not funny and is all serious, especially action movies. I don't care how much they spent on it, if it doesn't make me laugh, then no. I'm not watching it.

Another of my favourite things about this book is the Taylor Swift references. I don't care if nothing else happens in the book, as long as there's a Taylor Swift reference, you already have 0.5 stars from me.

My favourite character has to be Vella, the FMC best friend. I loved her personality and sarcasm. I'm not even going to lie, I thought she was actually more interesting than FMC.

I couldn't help but notice that the friendship between the FMC and her best friend was a lot like Wednesday Addams and roommate in the movie. I thought that was funny and interesting.

The FMC was everything I didn't like in a FMC; timid and doesn't know how to stand up for herself, and now that I didn't think about it, there wasn't so much of an “immersing herself in everything Monterra”, that party wasn't the main event and most of the time that she hung out with the guy, she was the guide and she was teaching him what she knew, but if you continue reading, you'll see that that was actually kinda intentional.

I mean, you can't pour from an empty cup, that's all I can say without giving out a major spoiler. I didn't like the MMC though, he was also everything I don't like in a MMC; emotionally avoidant and runs away at the slightest inconvenience.

I liked him at first, but after a while, I didn't. I didn't exactly like their relationship at first either. It felt like everything was happening at once, especially given the “big reveal” .

I really loved how the author brought up bits and bits of Italian and Alabama culture. I made sure to highlight the foods mentioned, so I can check them out later on.

If you're looking for a really fast paced novel and you don't mind the miscommunication trope, you'll enjoy this book. If you're also looking for a novel that cracks you up every 5 minutes. You'll definitely enjoy this novel.

Party Favors
by Sariah Wilson

I admit I was torn as I saw this available as “read now”. “Read now” is a commitment, while when the publisher denies you access, its fate. I am not usually a reader of romcoms, but this sounded so intriguing. New Year’s ahead, no obligations for a few days, so why not 🤓

Nevertheless I have to say that I was positively surprised by this book. Yes, it’s sweet as sugar and dripping all the cheese you can imagine, but I hobbled it up. I needed something happy to finish off this great year of reading.

Everly has been obsessed with the Monterran royals for as long as she can remember. While planing her latest party, she takes inspiration from Queen Kat. A handsome stranger who relocated from Monterrat offers her help in exchange for her being his NYC guide.

Will there be a happily ever after for Everly?

Apparently this belongs to a series/ there are reference from another book, but I had no trouble reading this as a standalone.

There are all the quirky and lovable characters from your typical romcom, but as they, quirky and lovely. This being a tad predictable was what I expected. But it made me feel good and cosy. I had a great time reading this!

Publication: 30 Jul 2024 by Montlake
Arc received courtesy of Netgalley and Montlake. I was under no obligation to share a review, all opinions are my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Montlake for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Another sweet, cozy, and romantic story from Sariah Wilson. I enjoyed this as much as "The Hollywood Jinx" and "Almost Like Being in Love". I really liked Everly and Max as well as the supporting cast of characters including Everly's boss who I loved to hate.

There are references to characters from "Royal Date" but this is a stand-alone story.

No profanity and PG kissing.

Listen to me when I tell you this:
1. This book is for the hardcore happily-ever-after romance readers who love reading romance novels for escapism.
2. The guy is gooeey strong and top notch romantic.
3. The heroine is a bit too perfectly imperfect. You will know what I mean when you get to know her. She needs to see she’s the main lead!
4. The chemistry is winter lit cosy warm fire. If you pick up this book when you desperately seek coziness and comfort, you will instantly get it.

There’s the weird but reliable best friend/roommate even us readers can totally rely on.

The book reads so easy and the romance is quite comforting. It feels safe and enjoyable. The plot is simple and familiar. You will enjoy this book more for its familiarity.

Some despicable male characters you will surely meet. But you know our hero is pretty reliable and he also does get in trouble somehow. But you will like this book for all the reasons above. I had a fun time reading this book as soon as I got the ARC.

Thank you, Montlake, for the advance reading copy.