I wasn't certain at the beginning that I would enjoy this book, as Ben seemed to be such a horrible person, however I was glad I pushed through until he began to redeem his character and I actually started to like him as he became her advocate in helping her see that she deserved to be treated better by her family and work. Gemma and Ben's chemistry was great and I loved the sarcastic banter. An entertaining read overall.

I wasn't certain at the beginning that I would enjoy this book, as Ben seemed to be such a horrible person, however I was glad I pushed through until he began to redeem his character and I actually started to like him as he became her advocate in helping her see that she deserved to be treated better by her family and work. Gemma and Ben's chemistry was great and I loved the sarcastic banter. An entertaining read overall.

A cute quick read! Enjoyed it overall but found the ending to be a quick finish. Ben and Gemma were very endearing and enjoyed them a lot.

This book? Pure chemistry. It's like a dance between wit and heart, and boy, does it know the steps. It's a laugh-out-loud, cry-in-your-coffee kind of tale that just sweeps you off your feet. Every chapter is a new dance move, a fresh step in the story that keeps you twirling 'til the end. If you're hunting for a read that feels like falling in love on a summer

A surprisingly nuanced romantic comedy! Gemma is a people-pleaser that finds herself in need of a wedding date and she's surprised when her blind date ends up being her work rival Ben McDonald. Enemies-to-Lovers is always a challenging trope, and Ben was definitely a true rival for the first quarter of the book. I've seen readers complain recently about how E2L romances lack that enemy-sharpness, but these two were really snappy and antagonizing! Luckily, this romance develops and you fall for both Gemma and Ben.

For fans of The Hating Game, this has a similar flavor, while set in Tuscany.

Special thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for the ARC!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The premise of the story brought me in, and it was easy to read.

The FMC, Gemma, is a big people pleaser but then gets walked all over my her family and coworkers. She is a little socially awkward, doesn’t seem to wear the right fashionable clothes, and wants to run away in embarrassing in awkward situations she finds herself in. She also finds it hard to believe that a very handsome man would ever be truly interested in her or even flirting with her. Overall, I found her very easy to relate to!

The MMC, Ben, seemed a bit flat at first, and constantly optimistic for no reason, probably since the book is written from Gemma’s point of view, and she resists getting to really know him for most of the book.

There were sweet romantic aspects and buildups of feelings, but not a lot of spice, which I thought worked ok for this story. However, the ending kind of fell together quickly, and it would have been nice to expand on their relationship once they were officially a couple - like hear about their future plans back in Sydney and how they planned to work together after getting back.

Overall, I would recommend this book and any others by this author! Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter for the ARC and the chance to read and review this book.

The Wedding Date Disaster is a feel good novel. Full of banter and quirkiness, it’s a fast paced book which has you rooting for the characters. The main female character possesses qualities we can all relate to- wanting to be the nice girl, not wanting to disappoint anyone and always putting oneself last. You can’t help but want to be her friend. The male main character- he’s one of those you can’t help but love. He’s smarmy but charming, infuriatingly slick and funny to boot. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

*Destination Wedding
*Secret Crush
*Enemies to lovers
*family drama

Gemma is the sweet but often overlooked member of her family and feels like she’s constantly running behind at work as an editor at Peacock Press. Ben, on the other hand, is cocky, super hot, and new to the office, quickly snagging the promotion Gemma had been eyeing. When Gemma’s boyfriend backs out of attending her sister's wedding, Ben unexpectedly steps in as her last-minute date.

Along the way Gemma learns to use her voice and their relationship evolves FINALLY at the end, leading to a big revelation for Gemma.

This book is sweet, charming, and an easy read. If you loved The Spanish Love Deception, this one is definitely for you! Thank you so much for the opportunity to be an ARC reader!

The Wedding Date Disaster by Kate Mathieson is a charming, enemies to lovers, fake dating rom-com with a few delightful twists. The story follows Gemma, who ends up attending her self-centred sister's destination wedding with her work place nemesis, Ben, AKA Weasel.  This book is undeniably fun. It is light hearted with fun banter. The perfect read for anyone looking for a feel-good escape!
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for giving me the opportunity to review this enjoyable read.

This had all the right ingredients for me - a blend of humour, drama, emotion and romance - but somehow the result didn’t quite work. I liked Gemma’s voice, understood her motivations and exasperation in the face of her frankly awful family and career pressures, but I’d have added an extra star if hers wasn’t the only point of view. Ben is too much of an ass for too much of the book, and hearing his voice would have helped make him a more nuanced and even sympathetic character.

Gemma is heartbroken when she’s passed over for a promotion, watching her rival, Ben McDonald, land the role of Chief Editor. Things take an awkward turn when she heads to a family wedding in Italy solo—her boyfriend bails last minute—and arranges a blind date, only to find herself face-to-face with Ben.

Sure, we all know how this kind of story is going to end, but that’s part of the charm with this genre, and I didn’t mind it one bit.

The book doesn’t just focus on the romance; it also delves into Gemma’s and Ben’s family dynamics. Gemma’s side, in particular, gets a spotlight after a dramatic moment at the wedding that shifts her relationship with Ben in a sweet and unexpected way.

That said, I didn’t fully connect with them as a couple. Gemma’s habit of calling Ben “Weasel” grated on me after a while—I actually started mentally changing it as I read.
I also wish the Italian setting had been explored a bit more. Gemma’s love for Italy was mentioned, but I would’ve loved to feel more immersed in the beautiful scenery. Still, it was a nice little escape from cold England.

Overall, I did enjoy the book—it’s an easy, light read with a touch of romance and some heartwarming moments.

Thank you to NetGalley for the download.

Thank you so much to Kate Mathieson and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter | One More Chapter for the eARC of this title. This is an alright book for me. Not one of my favorites and not sure if I would recommend it. Sadly it was an almost DNF for me.

I know we are supposed to route for this MMC but I hate him! I hate him so much! Like I don't even care if there is a redemption arc for this man he is awful and sexist and I wanted to punch him not love him.

Gemma’s career dreams are crushed, her nemesis is her new boss, and her Italian wedding date? A total disaster. This laugh-out-loud romantic comedy is full of fiery banter, awkward mishaps, and swoon-worthy surprises.

This was my first Kate Mathewson read and I fully plan on sampling more of her work. The writing drew me into the story, the characters were nuanced, and the banter was a delight. I stayed up late to finish The Wedding Date Disaster in a single sitting because I just had to know what happened next.
With that being said, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book to others. Not because it wasn’t well written, it just happened to utilize one of my big no no’s (spoilers ahead): cheating. This is obviously a personal line for me but I also found it ironic that the FMC made a point of explaining how cheating ruined her childhood and that she could never be with someone who would cheat…and then she essentially cheated, either emotionally or physically, for a good portion of the book. The FMC had a boyfriend (not the MMC) more than 90% of the way through, and when she did eventually end it with her bf she then started her new relationship that same night. Even if I set aside my personal dislike of building a relationship while actively within another relationship, it was made worse by the rushed way in which the new relationship officially started. And although not romantic in nature, other relationships received the same treatment of getting drastically and miraculously “fixed” within a page or two at the end.
Once again, The Wedding Date Disaster was well written and an enjoyable read, even if I don’t plan on revisiting it in the future.

The tropes and the synopsis on this one definitely caught my eye as it has many of my favorite ones listed.

• Enemies-to-lovers

• Fake dating

• Destination romance

• Workplace

• Family dramas

• Self-awareness

I went into it with high expectations and while I enjoyed it for the most part, it did fall a little flat in some areas.

The opening dragged a little too long for me personally. I get needing to set the stage, but it didn’t hook me right away because of the initial pacing. I also could’ve done without the excess use of Gemma’s nickname for Ben. Weasel this and Weasel that became a bit grating after a while. Gemma’s sister, Lulu, was the worst and put a whole new meaning to both bridezilla and a mean girl. And it pained me that Gemma just took it all.

Their fake dating, enemies to lovers transition was very much complicated by the fact that Gemma has a long term, semi serious boyfriend (although to be fair he is kinda dry and not all that great). I could’ve done without the cheating bit. It’s one thing to kiss for the sake of the charade, but another for it to happen from pure desire and growing feelings. Always better to end something with the current relationship before taking that leap.

I could, however, relate to Gemma in some ways, with her constantly agreeing to help everyone out to her own detriment. I was glad to see her grow a backbone with Ben’s help, and ultimately begin to put herself first, deciding that she was done being a doormat.

Ben was very endearing once Gemma let her guard down and was able to see all his layers. One of the challenges with single POV is it can make for an unreliable narrator as their views are biased and that was certainly the case here. But I enjoyed seeing those views change.

This was marketed as spicy but for me it was pretty tame. 1/2 a 🌶️ most likely.

Thank you to Netgalley, HarperCollins, and One More Chapter for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A quick read with a fun premise, but the things I liked essentially stopped there.

Gemma needs a fake date for her sister's wedding, since her boyfriend opts not to attend (that's right, she ain't single!). One of her friends decides to assist in finding her a stand in. Enter Ben. Her work nemesis. Who she discovers is going to play her beard for the weekend in Italy when they meet at the airport for the flight.

Italy, what should be a dreamy setting for this story is barely mentioned. Gemma and Ben ending up in compromising position when, again, she still has a boyfriend. And, as things start to heat up (which is all theoretical, there isn't actually chemistry between the two and we don't really understand why the two don't get along) i kept reading honestly to see when she would break up with the BF so we could finally see actual romance between the two MCs. I won't spoil that page number but the whole cheating trope is one I can't get on board with and ultimately this was a no from me.


Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the ARC in exchange for my review!

Thank you to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for the ARC of The Wedding Date Disaster in exchange for an honest review.

Plain and simple, this book was absolutely adorable on every level, which was completely shocking because right from the get go, I could not stand the MMC in the least! The author did an incredible job of making Ben out to be the biggest jerk with a serious 'ick' factor that I've ever encountered in a romance novel. I was actively praying he would not end up being the male lead. In many ways, I also couldn't stand Gemma, our FMC, for the simple fact that she was such a doormat. I wanted to just shake her and yell at her to just stand up for herself for once in her life. Once Gemma started to come into her own, and you stared to see what kind of a person Ben really was, I fell in love with these two characters. I don't think I've ever experienced such a 180 on my opinion of a character, let alone two, in all of the books I've ever read.

For a romance novel, this book has such a solid background and foundation to it's story that I couldn't help but dive in head first. I also loved that the majority of the story is set in Italy, a dream destination of mine. The author did a wonderful job of conveying landscape and scenery to the point where I could easily feel as if I was there seeing it with my own eyes.

One of the biggest positives to this book was the hilarious banter between Ben and Gemma that flowed so freely. Their dialogue helped the book read like a movie and I found myself laughing out loud at many of Gemma's quips regarding her opinion of Ben. It's rare that a book can make me actually laugh out loud, but this one hit the mark several times. While this is my first Kate Mathieson read, this certainly will not be my last as I thoroughly enjoyed the banter that this book brought mixed with the most unique love story. 5/5-would most definitely recommend!

Gemma Evans is up for a promotion has a great boyfriend and her family half a world away. Ben McDonald, become the new Chief Editor at Peacock Press instead of her and she is really upset. When she finds out she has to go to Italy for her half-sisters wedding without her boyfriend she plans to hire someone to go in his place. When she gets to the airport, she finds that Ben is the stand in!
As Gemma and Ben navigate the wedding together, they find there is an attraction to each other.

DNF. I had a hard time getting into this book, the FMC was very negative and had a whoa is me attitude. I just couldn't keep going. I read to escape to love land. I don't deal with negativity in my real life let alone in fictional book land.