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The Wedding Date

(The Wedding Date #1)

Jasmine Guillory (Goodreads Author)

3.55 · Rating details · 54,026 ratings · 7,319 reviews

A groomsman and his last-minute guest are about to discover if a fake date can go the distance in a fun and flirty debut novel.

Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is something Alexa Monroe wouldn't normally do. But there's something about Drew Nichols that's too hard to resist.

On the eve of his ex's wedding festivities, Drew is minus a ...more

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Kindle Edition, 320 pages

Published January 30th 2018 by Berkley

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Average rating 3.55 ·

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· 54,026 ratings · 7,319 reviews

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Sep 21, 2017 Roxane rated it it was amazing

What a charming, warm, sexy gem of a novel. I couldn’t put The Wedding Date down. I love a good romance and this delivered from the first page to the last. Alexa Monroe is a great heroine—smart, funny, and full of the anxieties women know intimately. And when she meets the handsome doctor Drew Nichols in an elevator, it’s the beginning of an adventure in falling in like and then lust and then love. It was also nice to read a fun novel about an interracial relationship. One of the best books I’ve ...more

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Jan 27, 2018 Joce (squibblesreads) rated it really liked it

SO GOOD, definitely one of my new favorite romances!
- Interracial relationship (black female and white male protagonists)
- Fake to real relationship trope (one of my faves!)
- Explicit practice of safe sex
- Alexa works for the mayor of Berkeley and she is trying to obtain funding for an arts program for underprivileged youth. Author has a background in law, as does Alexa, and it shows.
- Drew has to check. his. privilege. many times in the book and I am here for it because it is a real issue if ...more

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Mar 17, 2018 Lola rated it liked it

Shelves: romance, contemporary, adult, fake-relationship

3.5 stars. While it’s true that the best day to read this contemporary romance is on Valentine’s Day, as the cover loves to imply, I wasn’t sure about it back in February.

Then I changed my mind. Sometimes you really do need to trust a book’s cover when it tells you that you’re about to read an adorable and romantic story that will entertain you and warm your heart.

THE WEDDING DATE did that to me. How could it have not? My experience reading it turned out to be exactly like watching a romantic 3.5 stars. While it’s true that the best day to read this contemporary romance is on Valentine’s Day, as the cover loves to imply, I wasn’t sure about it back in February.

Then I changed my mind. Sometimes you really do need to trust a book’s cover when it tells you that you’re about to read an adorable and romantic story that will entertain you and warm your heart.

THE WEDDING DATE did that to me. How could it have not? My experience reading it turned out to be exactly like watching a romantic comedy movie. That’s because this author doesn’t overdo it, meaning that you won’t find entire pages filled with the characters trying to figure out their own emotions, pondering, pondering, pondering.

Thank goodness. I often do not read contemporary romance because of this reason. Although I think descriptive emotions can help create a connection between the reader and the protagonists, if it’s not done well, it can make for a tiring and repetitive read.

I don’t know anyone whose love story started with getting stuck on an elevator with a hot guy, so I can’t tell you that it’s a plausible situation, but I *can* tell you that once you get past the awkward encounter and fake relationship, you’ll enjoy the story more.

For the first hundred pages, the dialog feels very forced. It didn’t make me cringe, fortunately, but I couldn’t picture anyone in real life saying those things without the other person pointing out how corny, cliché, cheesy they’re being.

After the wedding, however, the characters can start to act normally, without pretending to be each other’s boyfriend and girlfriend in front of the bride, groom and the rest of the guests. That’s when we’re able to see Alexa and Drew’s real personalities and attitudes toward one another come out.

I also appreciated the fact that the author didn’t just focus on Alexa and Drew’s relationship, actually diving deep into Alexa’s community project, making me care enough about it to wish I’d been there to encourage her on it myself. And though the times Alexa brought up race with Drew were a little uncomfortable, I’m glad she did. It would have been unrealistic if she hadn’t.

I’m tempted to give this one a four-star-rating, since the more I read, the more I warmed up to this couple, but I can’t forget how disconnected I felt in the beginning. But to end this on a bright note, I know I will be rereading this in the future and will enjoy it even more the second time around.

Blog | Youtube | Twitter | Instagram | Google+ | Bloglovin’ ...more

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May 18, 2018 Catherine rated it did not like it · review of another edition

My rating makes me really sad because I had very high hopes for this novel.

I was debating whether or not to make it a bit higher, but if I'm being honest, I did not like this as a whole.

Basically, this book is about 30-something year old Alexa and Drew who meet on a stuck hotel elevator, get to talking, and agree that Alexa will attend Drew’s ex’s wedding as his plus one that weekend. That sounded to me like a recipe for the perfect guilty pleasure romantic comedy—I would 101% get sucked into ...more

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Nov 28, 2017 Thamy rated it it was ok

2.5, it's not that terrible a 2-star.

Alexa and Drew meet while stuck inside an elevator and they start talking. Drew is really handsome but his ex-girlfriend not only is to marry his best friend but also he was called to be the best man. To make things worse, he's dateless. As an impulse, Drew ends up inviting Alexa to play his girlfriend for the weekend.

This book all happened in the first quarter. I wasn't that excited but it could have been a good book if it had kept the essence. Instead, it 2.5, it's not that terrible a 2-star.

Alexa and Drew meet while stuck inside an elevator and they start talking. Drew is really handsome but his ex-girlfriend not only is to marry his best friend but also he was called to be the best man. To make things worse, he's dateless. As an impulse, Drew ends up inviting Alexa to play his girlfriend for the weekend.

This book all happened in the first quarter. I wasn't that excited but it could have been a good book if it had kept the essence. Instead, it turned into a book on a long-distance and immature relationship because the two of them were just too stupid to commit or at least state their feelings. I'm not saying these things don't happen, I'm just saying it's boring.

With that title and that cover and that summary, the book could at least have been funny. Wrong. It was an endless succession of picking up at the airport, eating, having sex, thinking about things and never ever suspecting the other thought the same, going to the bathroom, going back home. We have two scenes with a party and the author felt the need to introduce characters in both of them that wouldn't appear again. What I mean is Alexa goes around making friends the whole book and never sees them again. It does happen but why waste our time talking about them, then?

This sounds like a book out of some NaNoWriMo-type of event. That's completely fine. But editing was much too lenient, and the summary just tells us what the author thought she was going to write about.

I'm sorry for just pointing out flaws, I'm a real complainer. They're still flaws.

I do have one very good point, a black main character who is a badass at her job, deals with prejudice in a believable manner but doesn't let it be the main plot. I give it to the author for how she has used the theme. We do see she's a good writer. I do blame editing more than anything else. Perhaps, had this been advertised less like an upbeat rom-com and more like another romance I wouldn't have been so disappointed. I'm sure there's are readers for this, who won't mind the flaws, but that wasn't me.

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss and by BookishFirst. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity. ...more

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Oct 09, 2017 Christy rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017-four-stars

4 stars!!!
description

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory is charming, sweet, and downright adorable! I had trouble believing this was a debut novel- it was so well written and a pleasure to read!

Alexa and Drew meet in an unconventional way. They’re stuck together in an elevator. Being stuck together leads to them going to a wedding together. After that, this couple just can’t seem to get enough of each other. Drew is a pediatric surgeon from LA and Alexa lives close to San Fransisco as the mayor’s chief ...more

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Feb 05, 2018 Melanie rated it really liked it

Recommended to Melanie by: Paloma *The Romance Queen*

Shelves: arc, contemporary, romance, buddy-reads, own-voices, adult, read-in-2018

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

“Alexa Monroe walked into the Fairmont hotel in San Francisco that Thursday night wearing her favorite red heels...”

I loved so much about The Wedding Date! Like, oh my word, what a damn treat! Seriously friends, I know this cover screams Valentine’s Day, but this is the perfect summer read! Jasmine Guillory’s beautiful debut novel stars two people who take an elevator ride that will change their lives.

Drew ...more

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Nov 13, 2018 Larry H rated it really liked it

4.5 stars.

I'm definitely a big romantic sap, so I guess I'm surprised it's taken me this long to get hooked on the romance genre. I certainly believe in true love, in destiny, but I also look for bright spots in a world that is so angry, so upsetting, so perplexing, so it's no wonder these books have been appealing to me. Beyond that, however, the books I have read over the last year have been well-written, enjoyable, fun, sexy, and utterly compelling, so who could ask for anything more?

I first ...more

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Mar 25, 2018 Erin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, written-by-women, bookriot-challenge-2018, 2018-around-the-year-in-52-books, african-american-author, march-2018, best-of-2018, may-2019, chicklit-a-thon, bingo-a-thon

Bingo A Thon: Cover Buy
Chick Lit A Thon: Read a book set in Los Angeles

2019 Reread

So last year I'm in Target minding my own business. Looking at books even though I swore I wouldn't buy any more books(Haha! LIES!). When a very pretty red book catches my eye. I don't normally buy romance books but something about this book intrigued me. And then I saw the Roxane Gay blurb and I immediately put it in my basket with the 3 other books I shouldn't have been buying.

The Wedding Date is a Hallmark ...more

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Jun 26, 2018 Thomas rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: realistic-fiction, romance, adult-fiction, read-for-dmv-bookclub

Hate to say it, but this book disappointed me so, so much. It follows Alexa Monroe, a black woman who works as the mayor's chief of staff, who meets Drew Nichols, a white surgeon. They get stuck in an elevator together and after some flirtatious banter, Drew asks Alexa to accompany him as his date to a wedding for the upcoming weekend. Romance ensues.

Starting off with the good: the book features a flawed yet headstrong black female protagonist, as well as an interracial relationship. Jasmine Hate to say it, but this book disappointed me so, so much. It follows Alexa Monroe, a black woman who works as the mayor's chief of staff, who meets Drew Nichols, a white surgeon. They get stuck in an elevator together and after some flirtatious banter, Drew asks Alexa to accompany him as his date to a wedding for the upcoming weekend. Romance ensues.

Starting off with the good: the book features a flawed yet headstrong black female protagonist, as well as an interracial relationship. Jasmine Guillory wrote well enough to keep the book moving at a fast, entertaining pace. You might like this book if you enjoy rom-coms with little substance.

My main gripe with this book, amidst many, centers on how the romance between Alexa and Drew serves as the main character of the book, instead of either Alexa or Drew themselves. Everything revolves around their romance. Both of their characters get so subsumed by the romance early on that I had little to no comprehension of who either of them were aside from their interest in one another. Even the sections that involved their careers all felt so shallow and so transparently in service for their romance. For example, when they both have a difficult day at their respective jobs, they turn to one another for comfort and sex, and the actual issues within their jobs receive no development. Or, toward the end, when Alexa hits a high note in her work, the scene turns right into a moment to celebrate her romance with Drew.

Some may argue that this is a romance novel, so why should I expect more than romance? Well, I have several complaints about their romance and its unhealthy dynamics. First, they both display possessive behavior and toxic communication patterns that devolve into awful fights. These emotionally corrosive and borderline abusive behaviors receive no redemption - the characters never actually talk about their dynamics or how they can get healthier. Rather, Alexa and Drew resolve their issues with simple declarations of love, as well as with sex.

None of the friends in this book receive meaningful development or affection, which is unsurprising considering how friendship is devalued in society, but Drew takes this disregard of friendship to an extreme. He treats his friend Carlos in such an unkind and obnoxious way, and at one point he gets physically violent with him because of his own immaturity, which felt so painful to read. Again, Guillory does not unpack these dynamics in the friendship at all, she just lets the romance's success supersede a fulfilling and reciprocal friendship.

Finally, the racial dynamics in Alexa and Drew's relationship felt very surface level. It felt like the reader should reward Drew for doing the bare minimum of not microaggressing his girlfriend; I wanted him to do more than just receive Alexa's emotional labor of educating him. I wish the racial dynamics had been unpacked further or had been written with more complexity and care.

I would not recommend this book. If you want romance, I would rather you read Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, or Gives Light by Rose Christo, all of which contain much more developed characters and interwoven nuanced themes. ...more

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Feb 18, 2018 Chelsea (chelseadolling reads) rated it liked it

Contemporary-A-Thon challenge #6: read a diverse contemporary -COMPLETE!

This was mega cute. A little corny at times, but honestly what new adult romance isn’t a little corny at times? Would definitely recommend for someone looking for a fast and fun read set in the Bay Area!

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Feb 14, 2019 Holly rated it it was ok

Shelves: audiobook, romance, book-club, 2019-read

This was sweet, and yet so boring. Much like most Valentine's Days. Just me?

There's a semi-meet-cute scene at the beginning involving a stuck elevator, but after that it's pretty much downhill. Alexa spends way too much time being worried about everything - what to say, what to do, about her looks, about her job, etc. Drew is kind of an idiot when it comes to romance. Even as someone who was in a long-distance relationship for a year and a half (with my now-husband), I didn't even find that part ...more

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May 16, 2019 megs_bookrack rated it really liked it · review of another edition

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Meet Cute turns Forever Cute...or does it!?

Stuck in an elevator with a stranger was not how Alexa Monroe saw her evening going.

Arriving at a local hotel to visit her sister, who is just in town for a night, with a bottle of champagne and some snacks, she's ready for a night of girl chat.

What she gets instead is an interesting proposal from an extra interesting guy.

Dr. Drew Nichols is at the same hotel for a wedding weekend extravaganza. It just so happens that the ...more

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Jul 01, 2018 Theresa Alan rated it liked it

This is a super cute romance. When Alexa is stuck in an elevator with handsome stranger Drew, the spark is instant. He’s going to the wedding of an ex-girlfriend and former best friend, and he doesn’t have a date. After knowing each other for only a short time, he asks if she’d want to be his pretend girlfriend. She agrees because it’s only a couple days, and then he’ll fly back to LA while she stays in Bay Area.

There is a lot of sex, which I don’t normally like reading, but this isn’t raunchy, ...more

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Jan 30, 2018 Nissa | Of Pens and Pages Book Blog rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, contemporary-romance, fake-relationship, third-pov, 2018-reads

I’m so glad I got stuck in that elevator with you.” she said.“Me, too.”

The Wedding Date is an adorable romance about two people who aren't quite sure how to navigate a "relationship" that was never part of their plans. With a cuter than cute meet-cute, you'd expect things to go smoothly. But when you put together two people who aren't in their element, things are bound to get complicated.

It's serendipitous when Drew Nichols and Alexa Monroe first meet. Drew needs a plus-one last-minute, and ...more

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Jan 22, 2018 Rachel Reads Ravenously rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, romance, paperback

4.5 stars!

You know how they always say never judge a book by its cover? Sometimes THEY’RE WRONG. Because this cover is cute AF and so was this book!!!! Such a refreshing read, I enjoyed it so much!

The Wedding Date is about Alexa, who when visiting her sister in a hotel gets stuck in the elevator with a hot guy, Drew, when the power goes out. Right off the bat they hit it off and Drew asks Alexa to be hit date at a wedding the next day and she agrees.

One fake night of dating and the two begin ...more

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Feb 02, 2018 Riley rated it really liked it

This was an adorable romance with my favorite Fake Dating trope!
Couple meets stuck in a elevator
Guy needs a date to his ex's wedding
Cue adorable and awkward situations
Interracial couple, Alexa is black and Drew is white
Both characters have established careers that they are passionate about. Drew is a doctor and Alexa works for the Mayor
Discussion around body image and beauty standards

A few complaints would be that the sex scenes were mostly fade to black, which I guess this is more of a ...more

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Feb 08, 2018 Heather rated it liked it

Shelves: adult-romance-chick-lit

Another great book to read near Valentine's Day! Steamy, romantic and def. swoonworthy!

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Mar 15, 2018 Trina (Between Chapters) rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary, best-of-swoon, romance, adult, standalones, ownvoices, 2018

Very adorable and sexy romance! I loved that this got right into things and began with the wedding and then let us watch how things unfolded after the fake date. For the most part, this was compulsively readable but I felt this maybe dragged on a little too long in the middle.

The main character is African American (ownvoices) and there is fat rep. It does toe the line of having some body image issues go away due to the love interest, but with the narrative being so in her head, I felt Alexa's ...more

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Oct 09, 2017 Pavlina Read more sleep less blog❤❤ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: best-cover, arc

LIVE AMAZON https://www.amazon.com/Wedding-Date-f...

4.5 stars

The Wedding Date was exactly what I needed and even more.The writing was beautiful and the story refreshing.The Wedding Date was fast paced and lighthearted!

description

I adored Alexa and Drew.Alexa is smart and funny.Drew is charming,sweet,cute and kind.I really like how they met and I enjoyed that they start first as friends.They have some flirty,funny and sweet moments. Their romance felt realistic and I enjoyed it a lot!They make smile all ...more

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Mar 15, 2019 Alexandra Elend Wolf rated it did not like it

Shelves: hated, contemporary, 2019

"Mmmmmm. Hot, funny guy who occasionally flashed his abs. Was it her birthday?"

I. HATED. EVERY. SECOND. OF. THIS.

When I entered into this book I was expecting something cutesy and fun, lighthearted and sexy, which is exactly what I didn't get.

Sure, the book was somewhat funny at times but everything else was just missing.

From their first interaction, I felt like I was watching a pair of wild animals just waiting to pounce each other. Really, whenever they saw each other they couldn't ...more

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Mar 15, 2019 Elyse Walters rated it liked it

Audiobook...read by Janine Edwards....
Janine’s ‘over-flourished’ voice didn’t always feel like the right match to the writing to me.

“The Wedding Date” wins my award as being the ‘most’....
eye-rolling, book of the year.

Drew and Alexia meet in the elevator of the Fairmount Hotel in San Francisco.
Alexia’s melting with sensations just looking at Drew.
She’s swooning -fantasizing jumping this stranger.
Their bonding over crackers & cheese - was semi-cheesy...
But.... I kept listening...

I mean... ...more

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Apr 06, 2018 Mandy rated it really liked it

Sweet little romantic novel. Drew and Alexa both meet accidentally on an elevator and Drew asks Alexa to accompany him to a wedding. He wants her to pretend to be his girlfriend and the weekend turns out to be more than either expected.

Throughout the story each of them fly to each other’s home to visit and find they can’t get enough of one another. But Drew doesn’t do the whole relationship thing and he told Alexa that up front... but something is happening underneath it all.

Predictable story ...more

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Feb 06, 2018 Tatiana marked it as dnf · review of another edition

Shelves: romancelandia, 2018

This novel doesn't break ANY new romance ground, does it? I had expected something MUCH better from a Roxanne Gay recommendation.

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Jan 28, 2018 Sh3lly rated it liked it

Shelves: netgalley, romance, read-2018, 3-stars

NOW AVAILABLE!

This is not the type of book I generally seek out. I like romances, but I usually prefer either historical romances or paranormal ones - something not set in our world, present time. However, after reading Roxane Gay's review, I decided to request it from Netgalley.

This is a contemporary romance and I've heard words used to describe it like "charming" and "cute" and I think that works. Alexa goes to see her visiting sister in her hotel room and gets stuck in an elevator with a cute ...more

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Apr 30, 2018 Warda rated it liked it · review of another edition

[3.5]
Not many books out there with interracial couples. Whilst this story was light, fuckin adorable and so much fun to read, I love that the author included aspects of race and white privilege in this book. It was done do well.

I'd say pick this book up if you are in the mood for a cute and light-hearted read. And when aren't we in of those moods, amirite?!

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Aug 02, 2018 Jennifer rated it liked it

Shelves: overrated-imo, adult-content, stand-alone-novel, adult-contemporary-romance, read-2018

The Wedding Date is Jasmine Guillory's debut novel. It features one of my favorite romance tropes: pretend relationships. As the title suggests, the hero needs a date to a wedding, so a stranger he meets in a stalled elevator agrees to show up. Other factors lead to them faking a relationship to save face, and so the trope begins.

Overall, I liked The Wedding Date. Guillory uses diverse characters to showcase issues related to privilege in various dynamics. I read an ARC of The Proposal prior to ...more

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Mar 29, 2018 Khadidja marked it as on-hold

Shelves: dnf

This was cute until they had sex at like 20 percent of the book and i hate that :")

And i actually found myself not giving a fork about any of the characters and i didn't get into the story. Sorry i thought i would like you because i like everything that is chessy and unrealistic but here we are.

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Jul 03, 2018 Kelly (and the Book Boar) rated it liked it

Shelves: liburrrrrry-book, it-s-all-in-the-name, read-in-2018, tropey-yum-yum

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

Apparently all of my friends read this because Roxanne Gay told them to, but since I am not a big Roxanne Gay fan I wasn’t even aware she was recommending it. What I was aware of was that the title gave the appearance it might be one of my fave tropes – THE FAKE DATE TO A WEDDING!!!! And it totally was. I didn’t read the synopsis and I am such a moron I didn’t take the cover literally either (because seriously that cover looks like a ...more

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Sep 03, 2018 Rincey rated it liked it

Shelves: poc-author

3.5 stars

Between this and To All The Boys I Loved Before, I am apparently all in for the 'fake relationship turns into real love' romance trope

See me discuss it more in my September wrap up: https://youtu.be/_SbRecYQ9fU

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About Jasmine Guillory

Jasmine Guillory

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Jasmine Guillory is a graduate of Wellesley College and Stanford Law School. She is a Bay Area native who has towering stacks of books in her living room, a cake recipe for every occasion, and upwards of 50 lipsticks.