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4/5 Stars!

After being dumped by her loathsome ex, Liam, Samantha ‘Sam’ Jenkins gets gob smacked again when her lifelong best friend asked her to be maid of honor in her upcoming wedding. Oh, and the loathsome ex and brother to the groom is the best man.

And he’s bringing his girlfriend.

His pregnant girlfriend.

Pregnant is one thing, but when bride-to-be, Jess, discloses that new girlfriend, Stella, is hugely pregnant, Sam realizes Liam was cheating on her long before he dumped her.

Not wanting to be the poor, pitiful, discarded ex-girlfriend at the wedding, Sam is torn about being in the wedding. Can she disappoint Jess? Can she face Liam and his new woman?

With the help of co-worker and good friend, Sarah, Sam considers hiring an escort. However, her hair stylist, Tim, introduces her to a woman whose brother is an actor.

Enter dreamy Jake.

The wedding ceremony turns into a week at a Scottish castle, and Sam isn’t sure she can pull off the farce even with accommodating Jake.

The Wedding Date is a cute RomCom with the snark level set to high. Characters Sarah and Tim are too much fun and I would have loved more of Tim.

Sam’s parents, David and Ruth, are a hoot! Ruth is oblivious to everything except what goes on in her own mind! HA! She believes herself to be a great thespian, but the comments and eyerolls from Sam and David say otherwise.

Jess and parents, John and Juliet, were fun, and I wish I could have seen the hat wars between Ruth and Juliet at the wedding!

Jake… is awesome. Dealing with his own betrayal and broken heart, he’s still Sam’s number one cheerleader. He always said and did the right things, and quickly won over all of the parents and wedding party.

Sam is my stumbling block.

During her relationship with Liam, she muses she ‘changed’, allowing staid, conservative, BORING Liam to dominate the relationship and her life.

Now free of Liam and being with Jake (despite it being a ruse), Sam likes herself again, and wants to reclaim the woman she was, set goals, and live a full life again.

Only problem for me was I never felt she was the independent woman she spoke of so frequently. She speaks of all she gave up being with Liam… to appease him, and it felt empty. It is normal (and natural) for people to evolve when new people enter their lives… especially love interests, but Sam never spoke of love…. Just what was comfortable. How do you go from living life out loud to … comfortable? It didn’t wash with me. Don’t get me wrong, Liam was the ultimate jerk, but Sam allowed it… so how fierce could she have been pre-Liam, who she readily admits was no prize?

Her emotions were all over the place about Liam, about Jake, about her unfulfilling life. Stop whining already!

She had brilliant moments and just when I was beginning to like and root for her, she over-thought something, spazzed out, and ruined it. Even when Jake makes what I felt to be a heart melting romantic gesture, Sam is still nit-picking in her head. I honestly didn’t see what Jake saw in her, and I just needed her to choose a personality and stick with it.

Technically, the writing style was distracting for me. Single quotes instead of quotation marks are used for dialogue. Is this a British writing style? Wasn’t sure, but it is consistent… no wavering back and forth.

Also, dialogue and internal thoughts share paragraphs and sometimes included multiple characters, making it difficult to know who was speaking or thinking.

Still, The Wedding Date is an enjoyable read with memorable characters… and dogs…*nods to Tank and Harry*, and will appeal to lovers of light romance and romantic comedies.

Enjoy!

~~~~~

One ex.
One wedding.
One little white lie.

When Samantha Jenkins is asked to be the maid of honour at her best friend’s wedding, she couldn’t be happier. There are just three problems…

1) Sam’s ex-boyfriend, Liam, will be the best man.
2) His new girlfriend is pregnant.
3) Sam might have told people she has a new man when she doesn’t (see points 1 and 2 above)

So, Sam does the only sensible thing available to her… and hires a professional to do the job.

Actor Jake Porter is perfect for the role: single, gorgeous and cheap! Sam is certain it’s the perfect solution: no strings, no heartbreak and hopefully no chance of being found out.

But spending a week in the Scottish Highlands with Jake is harder than she imagined. He is the perfect boyfriend, charming, sexy and the hottest thing in a kilt since Outlander! And his dog Harry is quite possibly the cutest things Sam has ever seen!

As the wedding draws closer, Jake plays his part to perfection and everyone believes he is madly in love with Sam. The problem is, Sam’s not sure if Jake is acting anymore…

Purchase Links 

Amazon  iBooks  Waterstones

Author Bio –

Born in a small village in Staffordshire, Zara Stoneley wanted to be James Herriot, a spy, or an author when she grew up. Writing novels means she can imagine she is all these things, and more!
Zara’s bestselling novels include ‘The Holiday Swap‘, ‘Summer with the Country Village Vet‘, ‘Blackberry Picking at Jasmine Cottage‘ and the popular Tippermere series – ‘Stable Mates‘, ‘Country Affairs‘ and ‘Country Rivals‘.

She lives in a Cheshire village with her family, a naughty cockapoo, and a very bossy cat, and loves spending time in sunny Spain.

Where you can find her-

Website: http://www.zarastoneley.com
Twitter: @ZaraStoneley
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ZaraStoneley

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zarastoneley/