It was an ok story but I think I could not get pass the idea that Jessica’s mother used the threat of withdrawing a trust fun to get her to be a bridesmaid. Mainly because I could not believe it’s legally possible, as she had already passed the age of inheritance. So, that kind of skewed my enjoyment. Then there was a lot of repetition of her reasons why everything was happening in her life and I felt like she lacked maturity.

Are there really six months of “celebrations” before getting married, if so, how tiring. If you enjoy a roller coaster and merry go round of events, then you will enjoy this but I needed something with more depth, less same same situations.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. From the synopsis, I expected a typical enemies-to-lovers romance, but what I got was so much more.
The story follows Jessica Monroe, who has been forced by her mother to be a bridesmaid in her sister's wedding. Jessica hates weddings and everything associated with them, including her sister's maid of honor, Tanner Caldwell. Jessica and Tanner have a history from high school and she has sworn to never speak to him again. But when her mother holds her inheritance hostage, Jessica has no choice but to attend all the pre-wedding events and spend time with Tanner.
At first, I found Jessica to be a bit abrasive and difficult to relate to. But as the story progressed, I began to understand her better and sympathize with her. Her struggles with her sexuality and her complicated relationship with her family were portrayed realistically and I found myself rooting for her to find happiness.
Tanner, on the other hand, was charming and funny. He had a quick wit and a carefree attitude that balanced out Jessica's seriousness. Their banter and chemistry were undeniable and I enjoyed every scene they were in together.
One of the things I appreciated most about this book was how it tackled important issues such as homophobia and coming out. It was refreshing to see these topics being addressed in a romance novel and I think the author handled them with sensitivity. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a heartwarming enemies-to-lovers romance with a touch of humor and depth.

2.5 rounded up to 3/5

This opposites attract, second chances romance follows Jessica and Tanner who are brought together for the former's little sister's wedding. Jessica does **not** want to be there, but she is and she is dragging her feet every step of the way. She does **not** want to interact with Tanner, her high school crush and her sister's maid of honor, at all, but Jessica doesn't have a choice when her mother withholds her inheritance.

I had a hard time understanding what made Jessica compelling enough to be an object of pursuit. I typically love an imperfect female main character, but she felt like she lacked complexity and a real personality--she felt a bit like an against-the-grain antagonizing edge-lord with no real gumption behind her convictions; she hates the Institutions (good!), but they're never explored outside of her just criticizing others (tedious). Maybe it's the situation I have gripes with--it really doesn't seem like such a big ask to participate in a wedding for an inheritance. Sure an inheritance with no strings attached would be nice, but let's not act like she is morally superior for participating while antagonizing everyone else. I wish there was more to her so that I could feel more invested in her character arc in the story. The melodrama of the third act felt immature and made the ending feel very meh. I wish the characters were developed more.

As an aside, the cover of the book is immaculate, but maybe tonally very different from the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Stroke Books for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book had an interesting plot and solidly developed characters. I would definitely read more about these characters!

I really enjoyed this book. I didn’t love Jessica Monroe in the beginning as she rails against marriage and its heteronormative normative traditions. But I understood her better and I felt her pain at being outed before she was ready in high school. Jessica hasn’t been in touch with her younger sister for a few years. Her mother pushes and blackmails her into being part of her sister’s wedding party. This means for the next several months there will be a bachelorette weekend, dress fittings, wedding shower and the wedding itself. Jessica actually does want to reconnect with her sister. The big drawback is that the MOH is Tanner Caldwell. The two were co-editors of the school newspaper and were friends until Jess was betrayed in a devastating way.

Sometimes I find high school nemesis books silly but this does a great job of explaining the pain and confusion of being outed. And it is understandable that this isn’t something to easily get over or forget. Tanner is good as the love interest. But I wanted to understand her better. The story has a lot of gay representation with queer friends and community. I was a little taken back why the anti gay friend Kayla is still a BFF of the sister. And was perplexed that no one ever shut her down. This hit me in my feelings, for the couple and for sisters reconnecting. I wanted an epilogue to see where the pair were six months or a year down the road. (4.5 Stars)

Lots of queer representation in this book which makes it’s a 5 star from me!!

Thank you for the opportunity.

Highlights:
-masc lesbian woman confronts heteronormative wedding traditions
-celebrating the importance of queer community
-competence is sexy! kindness is sexy!

Summary: Jessica, a queer woman critical of the institution of marriage, plans to skip her straight sister’s bachelorette party and all other pre-wedding events. But her mom interferes, preventing Jessica from receiving her inheritance unless she acts as her sister’s bridesmaid and attends all the pre-wedding events.

At the pre-wedding events, Jessica reconnects with her high school classmate Tanner, even though Jessica holds Tanner (a feminine, popular lesbian) responsible for how she was treated after being outed in high school.

Thoughts: My favorite part of this book was how both main characters are embedded in queer communities, with queer friends, Pride parades, and queer bars frequently being referenced. In contrast, some other queer romance books I’ve read were written like the queer characters “just happen to be” queer and their queerness doesn’t affect their politics or community.

I also found the Jessica’s discomfort at being confronted with heteronormative wedding traditions relatable.

I liked that it was more slow burn and that Jessica gradually found aspects of Tanner’s personality attractive, instead of insta-love and forgiveness.

This book contained a 3rd act break up, which is one of my least favorite tropes. The “plot twist” after the 3rd act break up felt predictable to me, but I still enjoyed the book overall.

The novel contains one open-door sex scene.

Content Advisory:
Death of a parent (referenced)
Homophobia from peers (verbal; no physical violence)
Homophobia at the workplace (verbal; no physical violence)
Memories of being outed during high school
Prior suicidal ideation (referenced)

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Jessica hates weddings doesn’t get why do all this just for one day she gets wanting celebrate your love and share with the ones you love but this is too much especially when her mother blackmail her into being in her sister Bernie wedding she has a reason she wants Jessica and Bernie to fix their relationship. Jessica having no choice decides she going to make the most of it but won’t be happy about it when she has to spend time with the one woman who she haven’t forgiven what she did in high school. Tanner is there for her best friend and trying to make the best wedding for her despite the cold shoulder she getting from Jessica. Jessica tries keeping a wall up where Tanner is concerned but starts to see that Tanner isn’t that person who betray her or so she thinks.

Greene does a fantastic job in this romance story. Characters were easy to connect to and feel for. The writing was lovely and did well in emotionally connecting us to what was happening on page.
Greene writes about the acceptance of oneself and the journey of moving forward after heartbreak. This is done remarkably well and the ending was closed beautifully.

Jessica Monroe's aversion to weddings and disdain for her sister's maid of honor, Tanner Caldwell, sets the stage for a tumultuous journey in this engaging romance. Jessica's plans are upended when her inheritance is dangled as leverage by her mother, forcing her to participate in her sister's wedding festivities and spend considerable time with Tanner. As the wedding date approaches, Jessica's feelings towards Tanner shift making her think that maybe Tanner is not exactly who she thought she is. I would have liked to see some sort of ‘divine’ punishment for Kayla and an epilogue.
Free ARC from NetGalley.

Jessica Monroe does NOT want to be a bridesmaid at her sisters wedding. However, after her mother blackmails her with withholding her inheritance from her father, she feels she has to go.

Worse, the maid of honor is Tanner Caldwell, whom she has a history with. Tanner, apparently, outed her in high school.

Mostly liking it, though I will admit the Mom blackmail rubbed me the wrong way. I hope it gets addressed later, because it seems a extremely shitty thing to do. She does apologize later at least.

Good romance, interesting characters. There's at least one dropped plot thread, and the villainess never really get her retribution. But overall, pretty good.

pretty nice romance :D i liked the characters and i found the plot cool. thanks for the arc. this one was quite fun