For something that is supposedly a romcom, this was seriously lacking both the rom and the com. The romance took wayyyyy too long to kick in, and even when it did, it was bland. The comedy on the other hand was nonexistent. Theoretically, our FMC was a comedian, but her jokes resembled those of a high school math teacher. Not funny. As for the FMC herself, she was irritatingly passive. I didn't care about any of the characters and spent the whole book counting down the pages til the end.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review

A very entertaining and compelling rom-com that I thoroughly enjoyed. Not my first Portia MacIntosh and I knew she write good stories and I rooted for the characters.
There's some slower moment but it always kept my attention.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

The premise of this book was what originally had me interested in reading it...and it was just okay. I thought the female main character was okay; her original fiancé was a complete jerk face, and the new love interest was as expected. Throughout the book, I did find myself not hating Olivia's new SIL, Eden, as much as I originally did, which was a pleasant surprise - one of the few in the book. Otherwise, the book was easy to read, even if it felt rushed to me at times.

One of the main things that really irked me was how oblivious Olivia seemed to be to the red flags that were constantly being thrown her way with Teddy - it would take literally my entire review for me to list them all. She comes to her senses, calls off the wedding, we're gucci. Until we aren't. Now she's falling for Hugo - which is nuts considering you're literally engaged and then not engaged - and she doesn't decide it's too fast until the end of the book...or does she? Spoiler - she doesn't. The book literally ends with her deciding fate wants them to be together, so oh well if it's moving too fast.

I wanted Olivia to think for herself - just once. Even with Hugo, he was suggesting things or doing things that "she would want" and she is just like...yes, that is exactly what I would want. Is it? Or are you just saying that because you like him, and it sounds good? I was looking for a female main character who could stand up for herself, make decisions, stick with them, and be better for it. I didn't get that.

One last thing: Olivia keeps touting herself as a comedian. Her jokes are punny at best, and the only thing she ever talks about is writing a RomCom. Don't get me wrong - I love me a good romcom, and there's nothing wrong with being an author, but that isn't what I think when you tell me you want to be a comedian. I kept waiting for her to want to do a show or do stand up - anything comedy related, but nope. Just her dream to stop being a ghost writer and write for herself.

Thank you, NetGalley and Boldwood Books for letting me read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I read this book in a single night. There seems to be a specific type of romance book that contains characters that make me so mad. This is one of them. That didn’t make it a bad book, in fact it was the opposite. Read this book when you’re a little bit mad at love and it will validate you and then start to stitch your heart back together.

Read if you like:
Being mad at annoying side characters
Reading about weddings
Character growth
Kinda fake dating
Runaway bride energy

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Better Off Wed- Portia MacIntosh 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

She’s done it again! Portia MacIntosh’s writing is like chicken soup for the soul. Light, smooth and full of love and comfort. Reading her books is like coming home and curling up by the fire with your favourite book. She really is such a comfort author for me.

Now to the story, ‘Better Off Wed’ follows Olivia who gets proposed to completely out of the blue by her boyfriend Teddy after 9 months of dating. But the problem is her dream wedding location only has one date available and it’s within one month- but the catch is her brother and his fiancé also want that date. Whilst they all scramble around to make weddings happen, things don’t always make out to be what they seem and why is Teddy pushing for such a fast wedding? And why is a person helping plan your wedding seem rather delightful?

True to Portia’s writing I was laughing, swooning and cringing alongside Olivia. I also love how as a British writer she makes all her work very British which I very much appreciate being British myself.

This RomCom is perfect escapism and made me smile and giggle throughout. So easy to read and left me feeling all cosy and warm.

Highly recommend!

I LOVED this book! To me it was everything I love about a rom com. It’s a slow burn story filled with great characters, some lovable and some you love to hate, all built into what I thought was a unique storyline. I really didn’t want to story to end, I recommend this book for anyone looking for a quick, feel good read!

What a charming and funny rom com! Portia Macintosh has created such funny and likeable characters. Hugo is delicious and Liv is clever and a bit scatty, so it takes her a while to back herself. This lovely story is very British as a closed door romance with a great cast of friends and family rounding out the drama. Even Eden proves to be a surprise! Perfect for fans of Katie Fforde.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I really liked this book. Liv was a fun character. Hugo was great! I liked the plot! Everything was great! Can't wait to read more by this author!

This was fun and had the classic Portia Macintosh zany romance. But, I didn’t love it as much as books by the same author because I wasn’t feeling how she allowed herself to let everyone walk over her.

Really enjoyed this romantic comedy from first to last page.Olivia is a wonderful character who has a whirlwind of decisions to make.Wonderful setting fun storyline.#netgalley #boldwodbooks.

A big thank you to Portia MacIntosh, Boldwood Books, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Better Off Wed comes out April 10, 2023!

I really enjoyed this delightful tale full of humor, heart and fun. This is the tale of Liv who ends up getting engaged to teddy after only dating for nine months. After a sudden engagement that turns into a sudden wedding date a month later, Live must decide if she is going to through with it. Let's just say that from the start I did not like Teddy at all, even though he come off at charming as first the sly comments he would make made me dislike him. I thought Liv was a likeable character, the only thing is that I thought she was kind of a push over and I was rooting for her to stand-up for herself. The friendship she made with Hugo was heartwarming and fun, and instantly I knew that they would be perfect for each other. I thought the ending was appropriate for the time frame we had but I would have loved for a prologue to see a little more of Liv's future. Overall if you are looking for a funny and heartwarming story Better Off Wed is for you.

How do you know that you've found the one? Your soulmate? After months of dating, a year maybe or is there a such thing as love from first sight?

Our heroin Liv is an unemployed comedian and a ghostwriter that dreams of writing her own rom-com one day. However,that doesn't mean she isn't happy cuz she has an amazing boyfriend who just proposed and wants to get married ASAP!

The problem is Liv and her brother have always dreamt to be married in the same place their parents and grandparents got married in but the venue is about to be closed plus her brother has been engaged for quite some time and he wants the same venue!
The solution is a joint wedding how bad can it be? Well it is bad especially when your fiance keeps postponing and leaves you to plan your own Wedding by yourself without even asking about it!!!

Liv is puzzled, confused, and sad but when things started to get really bad fate had other plans for her and those involved a charming Man named Hugo 🙈🥰😍.

Will Liv get married? Is Teddy the one? Or will she realize that her heart and dreams lie elsewhere?

Loved every min of this book
Hilarious &sweet
Romantic &cosy
Highly recommended
Make sure to pick it up 😉😉 once it's out.

Thank you to the @netgalley
And the publisher @bookandtonic for accepting my request for an ARC of #BetterOffWed in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book from start to finish. Portia MacIntosh has this amazing ability to create leading ladies that you would actually want to be friends with in real life. Liv is funny, kind, and smart. The only thing I would have loved for her character was for her to have had the chance to stand up for herself against Eden when Eden was being her patronizing self. I never actually took to Eden - she just comes across as spoiled and shallow, I couldn't figure out why Dougie fell in love with her. We get a few snippets of her not being superficial towards the end, maybe one conversation between her and Liv where we got to learn a little more about her would have helped me like her. Obviously, we know Teddy is all wrong for Liv from the first moment we meet him (and it's not a huge surprise that his proposal had something to do with the big promotion he wanted). Just as obvious is that Hugo is the guy for her. I really liked all of their scenes together. I could have done with the little drama between them at the end when she finds out about his exact connection to the hotel and the demolition of the barn. Luckily that gets sorted pretty quickly and doesn't cause any lasting damage. Perhaps my favorite thing about this novel is that , although it's clear that Liv and Hugo's romance is moving in the right direction, it doesn't end with Liv moving in with him or him proposing or anything like that - it was just more realistic. I would happily read a second novel with these two!

It took me a lot to get into this story. I think it's because it was simply so unrealistic and unbelievable, on many levels, starting with Liv agreeing for this show, letting people walk over her, not being able to say anything, then with Teddy being... Teddy, I mean, it's like Liv said, it's 2023, right? You must really be an extreme person to behave and think like Teddy and I simply didn't buy him.
The characters in this story didn't develop and were not the kind that I fall for.
And I've just finished this book and I was like "ha? Is this the end?", and not because I was soooo deep into the story, but because it felt so sudden. Open. Too much left open, for my liking. In my opinion, epilogue would be a good idea here.

It was a nice, quick read, unfortunately nothing more. It's a shame, because I think Portia McIntosh can do much better.

Thank you to Portia McIntosh, Boldwood Books and NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Let me start by saying that I enjoyed this book much more than the last one by Portia McIntosh that I had the opportunity to read, Your Place or Mine?

This time we follow Liv and Teddy. A very charming man, who was able to gaslight me as well, by making me believe that Eden, Liv's future sister-in-law, was a she-devil. Even if she is, slightly, very slightly, a bridezilla, in the end I almost found her lovable. I liked the characters much more than in Your Place or Mine? Even the secondary characters. They were less flat, they had more personality.

The only real problem I have with this book is Liv's personality. She lets herself be pushed around too much. And even though it's a key point to move the plot forward, how annoying it is! She never opens her mouth, even when asked, and says yes to everything while thinking about how much she hates this or that.
And maybe my real problem with Liv is that she's a people pleaser, like me, and I don't like reading about people like that. But I like to think that if I had been in that situation, first of all Teddy wouldn't have lasted so long, so many red flags, and I would have ended up replying and/or running away.

Otherwise, other than that, Hugo is nice but the romance is clearly not the focus of this story, even if they are pretty cute. The book mostly centers around Liv and her journey to find herself, what she wants to do with her life and most importantly who she wants to do her life with. This message is equally important and I think it will resonate with a lot of people.

A fun and feelgood read guaranteed to bring a smile to your face!
It has double wedding drama, a sudden engagement, a fair few secrets, and an attractive distraction, everything you would want in a romcom

Thank you Boldwood publishers ans Netgalley for this arc. I can not be more grateful. This book brought me emotions I forgot I have. It is perfect for broken hearts. A second chance we all get after something not pleasent happens to us. Yes it was a slow beggining but it was such a nice second part to warm you and hug you so deep. And offcourse a special humor of Portia Macintosh bring you to be so glad to read an other of her wonderful books. The life has go down to bring you up

Having just finished reading this book, I was slightly disappointed. The storyline was ok but I feel it wasn’t as much fun as her usual books. The main character Liv was ok but her fiancé and his family and friends were awful, I found it ridiculous that she would ever be with someone liked that! The parts with Hugo and her family were fun however and saved the book for me.

"Better off Wed" by Portia MacIntosh was a breath of fresh air in a month of stale reading for me. I enjoyed this novel from start to finish. Liv and Hugo were perfect for one another and I loved the slow evolution of their romance. Hugo was everything you want in a leading man. Liv was strong and funny and I am glad she called off the wedding before she got to the alter. The classic romance novel tropes were well executed and the setting of the novel added to its appeal. I think this would be an excellent beach read and I will be reccomending this novel to everyone. It was a friend's to lovers, holiday/vacation love, closed door romance novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for allowing me to read an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I always enjoy Portia MacIntosh novels but this was probably one of my favourites! A very cute, easy read romcom. Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley.