The Wedding Date (The Wedding Date, #1) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Dec 04, 2018 CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph rated it liked it

Shelves: black, diversity, erotic, romance, ownvoices, 2019-reading-challenge

This was a pleasant and diverse romantic read that unfortunately didn't blow me away like I thought it would. Perhaps some of it was because I got distracted mid book and took several months to get back and finish more than half the book. Then again, perhaps I got distracted because the mid section of the book just seems to involve a lot of the same: food. alcohol. over the top amounts of perfect sex. Alexa feeling insecure. Drew being in denial. Trips back and forth from the airport. Meeting mo This was a pleasant and diverse romantic read that unfortunately didn't blow me away like I thought it would. Perhaps some of it was because I got distracted mid book and took several months to get back and finish more than half the book. Then again, perhaps I got distracted because the mid section of the book just seems to involve a lot of the same: food. alcohol. over the top amounts of perfect sex. Alexa feeling insecure. Drew being in denial. Trips back and forth from the airport. Meeting more new people. I pushed through half the book in one sitting last night because it was overdue to the library, and I'll say that the book does pick up towards the end, and that I was happy with the ending, even though I wasn't extremely invested. But it was a little too late for me.
I think my favorite part of the story was what a pain Carlos was to Drew. he was the friend Drew deserved, although I'm not sure Drew was the friend Carlos deserved, especially after some of his accusations. I saw that the second book is about Carlos, which is what tempts me to pick it up, despite being underwhelmed by the first book. I might just wait awhile before trying it, to give me time to reset and make sure it's not just me being a crank.
Drew in general was hit or miss for me. I loved that Alexa (and Carlos?) had him check his privilege so often. I loved that he wasn't threatened by Alexa's high powered and demanding job. and (view spoiler)but I found his annoyance at Alexa's friendship with Theo to be petty and insecure. Just ask her, you dummy. Same as when he flipped out at Carlos and Alexa and threw around stupid accusations. or how he freaked out and cursed out Alexa over a tough conversation. What a child. Frankly, communication between Drew and Alexa is probably the weakest part of their relationship. Good sex and similar taste in food is not enough of a thing in common to build a strong relationship, IMO.
Overall, the story is sweet, and not bad. some of the sex scenes are pretty smoking, and their relationship is cute. I really appreciated the depiction of Alexa's strong relationships, with both males and females, independent of her relationship, and the depiction of Alexa as a strong, emotionally and financially independent woman who just so happened to find a relationship that suited her. also, there's food talked about all the time, if you're into that. burgers, tacos, donuts, pizza, dumplings, cheese and crackers. (I can think of what food was mentioned more easily than most of what the plot involved.). I know a lot of people loved this book, which makes me think it's my fault somehow. Hopefully you'll love it more than I did. ...more

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Feb 02, 2020 Melanie rated it really liked it

Shelves: chick-lit, romance

I love a good meet-cute - I mean, who doesn’t? - and this one was really sweet and fun and had a lot of awwww, how adorable moments. Alexa definitely has some insecurities, but I get that (it’s hard to be bigger than the other girls sometimes) and I think that and the interracial relationship were both handled well and gave the book a little more depth.

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Mar 10, 2018 Amanda rated it really liked it

A delightful read

This book was so fun and sweet. It was such a treat to get swept up in the story of two such likable characters

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Mar 19, 2019 Kelly rated it it was amazing

I loved this book. I especially appreciated the inclusion of POC and the social problems they deal with consistently. It was eye opening for me and helped me with my woke-ness (I'm a cis white lady so I have lots to work on in that regard). Plus the plot was super fun and frothy and sexy and a great escape from my stressful life! ...more

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