I was drawn in by the cover, but the main characters gave me instant ick. I just am not a fan of enemies to lovers where they are really rude to one another. But if you’re an enemies to lovers fan and love banter you’ll probably like this one!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc. A sweet book with a cute plot line that just fell flat for me. I just didn’t feel the chemistry between the characters and although Gemma’s bf knew about the fake dating between her and a ‘random’ man I still felt like there was a few too many intimate moments for someone in a relationship no matter how inattentive the partner. Another big part of the book is Gemma and her people pleasing behaviour. I know it’s something that she can’t help but at some point it got frustrating watching her get repeatedly bullied by her own family. At points I found myself begging her to just walk away. Run even. Jump onto the moon if possible. Overall rating of the book is 1⭐️

I actually laughed out loud a few times and loved the unexpected reference to Day of the Triffids. My first thought about the main character Gemma was that she was a pushover who was eventually going to blow like a volcano. She was forcing herself down a road to make everyone else happy but her inner narrative was so potent with anger, not being heard or seen, and guilt. Plus she was so angry at Ben for being ambitious and going for what he wanted while still being liked by the people around him. It was exactly what she wasn't. Gemma's disgust, anger, and hate that was directed at him was clearly how she felt about herself and how she feels she is unable to be what everyone wants while being happy. I felt bad for this poor suppressed girl whose family treated her horribly because she allowed that dynamic to happen, for a very justifiable reason, but very sad to read. It was also no surprise that she didn't get the promotion. Of course she wouldn't. She did everyone else's work. She didn't delegate or do anything showing how she could lead a team forward.

With all that said. I loved her story. It's one that many people need to read because there is no such thing as perfect, there is usually an underlying personal trait that is holding you back from moving forward, the thing a person hates about another person is very likely a projection of something they hate about themselves, envy is a waste of time, and living your truth is more important than placating people who take advantage of you. As for Ben, all she had to do was talk to him that first day instead of directing all the anger she had about her entire life choices and experiences at him. I was happy for them when they finally had the opportunity to talk. I'm looking forward to recommending this book to my customers. Thanks

This one was definitely a fun, lighthearted read! Though the initial banter was a bit overdone, the literary references, especially the Harry Potter nods, added a fun layer to the story. As someone who loves Italy, I really appreciated the vivid and nostalgic descriptions that transported me back to my own travels. I found myself wishing for more of those picturesque details to truly immerse me in the setting.

The heartwarming conclusion didn't disappoint and wrapped everything up, giving all the fuzzy feelings. Overall, it’s a fun, breezy read that’s easy to enjoy!

Thank you HarperCollins UK and One More Chapter for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for this arc! I really enjoyed this book, and I appreciated that the characters had genuine tension throughout. Ben was so unlikeavle at first because of Gemma’s thoughts about him, but I ended up loving him! The end was tied up very quickly to me, and I wish she’d broken up with Adam in the very beginning, but otherwise, it was a fun read!

This was a quick, fun read, and definitely better-paced than The Spanish Love Deception (which I found way too long). The writing here was enjoyable, and the love story was okay, but a few things held me back from fully loving it.

First, I really wish the FMC had broken up with her boyfriend much earlier—it felt unnecessary to drag that out until nearly the end of the book. Second, the MMC being called “weasel” over and over? Not my favorite. It would have been way more satisfying if she had started calling her family a bunch of weasels —they were definitely deserving of the title!

On the bright side, I adored all the Harry Potter, Jane Austen, and other bookish references scattered throughout the story—those were such a nice touch for book lovers. And the destination wedding setting? Italy! So charming! The main conflict was resolved a bit too quickly for my liking, but hey, we got what we came for: a happy ending.

Overall, this is a lighthearted romance that’s perfect for a weekend escape. Not a favorite, but it had its moments!

I do not read a lot of chic lit, but I love Hallmark movies! I got into this cozy adventure this past Saturday afternoon and truly enjoyed myself. Kate Mathieson took her time developing the characters in her novel The Wedding Date Disaster blending humour with heartfelt moments. It is a true enemy to lovers story.


Thank you #netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Fun romcom, predictable tropes. You have enemies to lovers. You have fake boyfriends. It was missing Cloak's proximity Which I was kind of surprised wasn't involved. But Gemma is a people pleaser with a very safe boyfriend, so safe that when she needs to go to her sister's wedding, he Ops to staying, get ready for a new job. So her friend hooks her up with a stand in who ends up being the guy at work who just got the job she had coveted. So off they go from australia, where the book is set to italy, where the wedding is the wedding is for gemma's half sister and the family dynamics are very relatable it's a very good story. I enjoyed Gemma's self realizations and finding her power while still being light, hearted and fun. This was a good book I.Enjoyed it

Thank you, nat galley for the arc.In exchange for an honest review

I can forgive a lot in a book, but referring to a character almost solely by the nickname “Weasel” is a step too far even for me.

How am I supposed to form a positive association with the male lead in a contemporary romance novel when I’m bombarded with his derogatory nickname? Oh, let me just daydream about WEASEL. Oh, WEASEL is such boyfriend material. Oh, if only I was dating WEASEL. Yeah, no, thanks. The name “Weasel” appears more than 250 times in the book; the character’s real name appears less than 150 times. “Weasel surveys the room,” “Weasel says,” “Weasel’s room,” “winks at Weasel.” I forgot the character’s actual name and had to look at the book’s blurb when writing this review to remember it (it’s Ben).

Because I received this book as an ARC and I didn’t think I could weasel my way out of reading it, I persisted… and the book ended up being better than I thought it was going to be. The story gets off to a slow start, is occasionally overwritten, and takes too long to make the MMC likable, but this is a cute-enough romance book. The story eventually found its way — even if that was 200 pages later than it should have been.

The book kicks off with the FMC, Gemma, thinking she’s going to get a promotion… only for it to go to Ben/Weasel. She hates him and doesn’t understand why no one else can see his true colors. Then, Gemma gets a wedding invitation to her (awful) half-sister’s wedding in Italy — which is perfect because she can bring her boyfriend, Adam, along. Alas... he needs to have his ceiling cleaned and can’t come. (I wish I were joking.) Not wanting to go alone, Gemma agrees to be platonically set up with a plus one for the wedding who will pretend to be Adam. And guess who shows up?

Author Kate R. Mathieson has us spend the entire time in Gemma’s head, which isn’t a pretty place to be. She’s full of negative self-talk, doesn’t seem to want anything better for herself, accepts being treated like a doormat, and thinks Ben/Weasel has something nefarious planned for her. I didn’t particularly like Gemma or Ben/Weasel, which made this book hard to get into, although they got better as the story progressed. Ben/Weasel comes across as a class-A jerk (although that’s due, in part, to a miscommunication) who isn’t given much of a personality beyond that until late in the story. And the rest of the characters aren’t much better. Gemma’s boyfriend is a robot who doesn’t care a lick about her and is more interested in his future-planning spreadsheets (and doesn’t seem to care whether Gemma wants that same future). Gemma’s family is full of horrible people who treat her like a servant. And on and on and on.

As much as Gemma’s boyfriend sucks and as much as he encouraged her to find someone to go to the wedding who would pretend to be him, she still wasn’t single as she was falling for her plus one, which… yeah, let’s not do that. (I also could have done without all the Harry Potter references. Let’s grow up, yeah?)

Gemma and Ben/Weasel’s chemistry only showed up in the last third of the book, when their banter finally turned from sounding like snotty kindergartners to a closer approximation of actual human speech. There were a few other times the writing style came across as weird to me — such as Mathieson’s insistence on describing every single article of clothing a character is wearing (even though Gemma says she knows nothing about clothes or fashion). The rest of the book holds together OK, however. The setting — a bridezilla’s Tuscan wedding — is nice and allows for hijinks. The characters eventually grow, the romance has cute moments, and some much-needed family communication happens. The book is easy to read (I finished it in one sitting) — but I’m not sure I’ll remember much about it in a week.

I won’t ever forget Weasel, though, as much as I wish I could.

Thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I did not like this book. From the first chapter, Gemma just constantly complains and says that the world is against her. But in reality she is just a really accommodating human and let's people walk all over her. I just wasn't able to get past that. It was also unrealistic how the MMC Ben who is her coworker decides to help her out and go on the trip for her. I thought the concept of the book was cute but it was too much complaining and not enough substance. Also it took too long for the characters to get together and when they did it was in a way that seemed rushed.

Fun and entertaining. Had me laughing, crying, and loving the story throughout.

Absolutely loved and enjoyed it more than I expected and fell in love with the MFC, Gemma.

Worthy of a recommendation- a fun read to get you out of a slump!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest review!

Thanks NetGalley for the early ecopy!

This is a cute quick read. Fake dating with enemies to lovers vibes. Gemma is a bit of a pushover and by the end finds her backbone. Her family members were insufferable!

The Wedding Date Disaster is the perfect combo of enemies to lovers, forced proximity, & fake dating. The main female character Gemma is really going through it in the beginning. How many crappy things could happen at once? Turns out a lot. Her work arch nemesis agrees (without her knowledge ) to be Gemma's stand in boyfriend at her half sisters wedding. This book was a cute, easy romance and I look forward to more by Kate Mathieson.

Really found this one hard to rate! In fact it's quite hard to sum up too..

At the start, this book was hard going. Gemma is overlooked at work, overlooked in her family and overlooked in her relationship. It felt like too many details and back stories were being shoe horned in and I nearly abandoned to be honest.

But I persisted and I'm glad I did because actually the chemistry and banter that emerges at her sister's wedding was entertaining and witty. The story found it's natural flow, Gemma got her backbone and the read became enjoyable!

There's dreamy scenery, a little bit of spicy and a very satisfying ending - it's a slow burner to start, but burn it does!

Enemies-to-lovers (workplace, no less), destination wedding (hello, Tuscany?!), and fake dating (the tension!). What's not to like? It's one of those surefire combinations that make for a breezy read.

It took me a while to find my groove with this book and the characters but this was overall an entertaining read, though I couldn't quite get rid of the thought that the writing was not just quite there for me (which was an entirely subjective and personal issue!). I felt, at several points, that it was trying a little too hard to be one of those previously well-liked workplace enemies-to-lovers/fake dating books but having said that, this is also precisely why I can see people who enjoy this particular combination to gravitate towards and have a good time with this one.

Thank you Kate R. Mathieson, One More Chapter, and Net Galley for an ARC copy of this book.

This was a CUTE book! If you enjoyed the Spanish Love Deception, The Hating Game book and the Wedding Date movie, you will love this book!! I couldn't put it down and finished it in one day! The two main characters also go through some moment of self discovery and this was nice too see the changes they made in the book from start to finish.

This was a super quick read for me, loved the length and pace the author had set! However, I did find it hard to get into the book at the beginning, but I know i always struggle with the first couple of chapters sometimes when the author tries to set everything up. I just found myself skimming over some of the details.

But once the story got going it flowed so well and I couldnt stop! The banter between Ben and Gemma was hilarious, and i love it when the mcs have a bit of dark humour. Some think its mean, but thats my sense of humour too, so I really enjoyed it!

I also had this soft spot for Gemma, because I can understand how she just wants…. Peace…. But you’ll have to read it to find out what I mean!!! Great read!

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸…
🍷Enemies to Lovers
📚Work Place Romance
🍷Fake Dating
📚Family Drama
🍷Stand Up for yourself - FMC
📚Not really cheating? But sort of, kisses another man
🍷Super Slow Burn
📚Single POV
🍷Open door- mild

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

the wedding date disaster - Kate Mathieson
4 ⭐️
ONE ITALIAN WEDDING, TWO SWORN ENEMIES

this book was so close to a five star read for me it was just lacking in a bit more spice that i thought this book would have. yet the tension between the two main characters is high and let me just say BANTER! the banter in this book was so good and just made it way better than most books i have read so far.

some of the tropes this books has is fake dating, enemies to lovers, family drama and throughout the book there is definitely some character development from all characters.

thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author of this book for the ARC! (advanced readers copy)💗

This is an absolutely fun read!

As the book description states, this is an enemy to lover's romance. Meet Gemma, a Brit who has moved to Sydney, Australia and working as a senior editor in the publishing world. She is ambitious with a need to please everyone personality. Ben is her competition at work for a big promotion and they have clashed since the day he arrived at the company but is everything as it seems.....

Somewhat estranged from her family, Gemma is late to find out she has been invited to her half-sister's wedding at the most romantic location that she has dreamed of going, and she actually has a plus one to take, she will not be a singleton this time around being set up with other single guests.

Finally, meet Adam, the boyfriend, a very straightlaced, emotionless, practical chap who declines to attend the wedding as he has to prep for his new job after his promotion leaving Gemma without her plus-one for the wedding.

You can imagine where this is going. The writing is fun and witty and will keep you smiling. It is a classic romance story line, where first impressions and preconceived ideas of the other person are proven wrong. Where enemies, become lovers and bring out the very best in each other and you get your HEA.

Thank you NetGalley for this digital ARC

1⭐️ DNF

This was essentially a cheating trope, but not really marketed in that way. The two main characters were pretty unlikable as well.