#TheLastGuyYouKiss #NetGalley

It's a sweet, slow burn romance. Less of a spicy read.

The reader is immersed in the experiences (where the road traveler is stymied by the sheer amount of traffic elongating a short trip to take hours) customs where multiple sponsors play an essential part of the Filipino wedding ceremony, and dialogue is a mix of English and Tagalog. It may be the post pandemic modern world but the stigma of an unmarried older daughter exists. Would say all of above are pretty accurate (and this is from a reader located outside of the Philippines.).

In my opinion, slow start but the story gained traction when they encountered each other by pure happenstance in another city.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, Harlequin - Romance | Afterglow Books by Harlequin, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fantastic romantic comedy novel, it had that element that I was wanting from the description. I was hooked from the first page and thought it was a strong start to this story, the characters had that charm that I was looking for and enjoyed from the genre. Carla de Guzman wrote this perfectly and thought it used the culture perfectly in the story.

At her younger sister's wedding, Mara Barretto has had just about enough of the familial pressure to get married herself. When she learns of the infamous Jay Montinola, Mara decides to go for it. Rumor has it that any woman who kisses Jay finds their person soon thereafter.

I loved the cultural traditions portrayed in this book. Mara and Jay had great chemistry and were very sweet with one another. If you're looking for a slow burn that's a bit lower on the spice scale, this is a great choice!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book!!

What a good book!! This one had me hooked from page one! I could t put it down. I loved the writing style of this book. I lived the characters and they had great chemistry.