The Wedding Date

By: Jasmine Guillory

Narrated by: Janina Edwards

Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

A groomsman and his last-minute guest are about to discover if a fake date can go the distance in this fun and flirty multicultural romance debut by New York Times best-selling author Jasmine Guillory — author of the Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick The Proposal. 

The USA Today best seller

#5 LibraryReads Pick

“A swoony rom-com brimming with humor and charm.” [Entertainment Weekly (The Must List)]

“What a charming, warm, sexy gem of a novel.... One of the best books I've read in a while.” (Roxane Gay, New York Times best-selling author of Hunger) 

Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is something Alexa Monroe wouldn't normally do. But there's something about Drew Nichols that's too hard to resist. 

On the eve of his ex's wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend....

After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she's the mayor's chief of staff. Too bad they can't stop thinking about the other....

They're just two high-powered professionals on a collision course toward the long distance dating disaster of the century — or closing the gap between what they think they need and what they truly want.... 

One of....

• Entertainment Weekly’s “12 Romances for V-Day”
• Cosmopolitan’s “2018 Anticipated Reads”
• Elle’s “2018 Must Reads”
• Harpers Bazaar’s “New January Must Reads”
• The Fug Girls’ “Best Books of the Year”
• Elle UK’s “Books to Get You Through 2018”
• Nylon’s “January Must Reads”
• Hello Giggles’ “New Release Recs”
• Electric Lit’s “Books by WoC to Read in 2018”
• Bitch Media’s “2018 Must Reads”
• BookBub’s “2018 Romance Must Reads”
• Bookriot’s “Must Read 2018 January Releases”
• RetailMeNot’s “2018 Must Reads”

©2018 Jasmine Guillory (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Listeners will enjoy hearing this cute yet cheeky performance by Janina Edwards.... Edwards fully expresses all the sassiness, boldness, and romance of this story. Her interpretations of the characters' antics are paired with heartfelt moments and saucy scenes that are not overly explicit. This performance is sure to reach a wide audience of romance and chick lit fans." (AudioFile)  

“Guillory’s debut is as enchanting as her characters - bright, bold, warm, and wonderful. Even better, there’s a proposal to rival any commercial that Madison Avenue can deliver.” (WashingtonPost.com)

"Guillory declared herself as a major force on the romance scene with this thoughtful interracial romance that both plumbs real-world issues like race and gender politics, while still offering up plenty of swoon-worthy moments." (Entertainment Weekly)

“This much-needed dose of escapism charts an unexpected bond between two strangers brought together by a fateful elevator encounter.” (Harper's Bazaar)

Cute, but was hoping for more

I felt like it this was more like a 3-3.5 star for me, but I rounded it to the four, solely based on the conversation about white privilege.

The wedding date was a cute book. It had more of a chick lit feel, which I liked, but it was being helmed as the romance book black women have been waiting for, and I just don't know about all that...

Alexa and Drew(which he was absolutely forgettable) had a really awesome meet cute, but their lack of communication made the book topsy-turvy. I think because they were in their 30s, it felt immature at times. A lot could've been solved if they'd just HAD a conversation. They lived long distance, so they texted each other, but I would've loved if they talked more, or even skyped so they could get used to each other's voices and relish the moments seeing each other or hearing each other.

They had sex quite a bit, but it was so vague, a lot of it could've been used as devices for having a conversation. I typically like my romances steamy, so it annoyed me I couldn't see what they did to each other, lol.

Alexa was also a safe look for a Black girl to be. She described herself as Beyonce's color several times, and even though she was on the curvier side, she felt safe for me. I look when an author explores darker skin in romance, especially with romances with Black heroines being so fair skinned already, but I may have to wait a little longer considering the state of things.

Drew was kinda corny. I really didn't see that she saw in him. I can't think of a single line, or exchange where I routed for him to get Alexa. The only time I enjoyed his screentime was when they had the white privilege convo, and I only liked it because he LISTENED. White folk tend to talk over or get defensive with these conversations so it was the only real time I liked where the author went with him.

I think I overall enjoyed the book, and it was a good debut for this author but I hope to see something I enjoy more from her in the future.

A Perfect Rom Com with Sexy Consent!

Any additional comments?

This book is a perfect example of the genre. The pacing is great, the sweet love story and romcom hijinx hit all the right spots. Best of all, the author does a fabulous job writing POC characters and providing a model for consent-driven sex that's as romantic, spontaneous, and frenzied as one could hope for.

It's a quick read because it's great fun from start to finish. Highly, highly recommend for anyone who enjoys romantic romps without the usual sexist tropes and racist undertones.

The narrator did a great job of matching the playful tone of the book. Janina Edwards' voice is warm and personable, so the immensely likable and bubbly protagonist, Alexa, really comes to life in the audio format.

Boring Insipid book

This book is a long boring trite story with lots and lots of boring sex. I was able to stop listening (become distracted) and pick up after several minutes and not miss a thing because it was so predictable. The story could have been written by any teenage girl with little imagination in 5 short pages. The rest was all very boring sex.

Disappointed

Doughnuts, coffee, cheese,crackers,and wine seem to be the main characters in this book. I had to force myself to continue listening. The main characters were not well developed, and a storyline where they always had the crutch of doughnuts and coffee or cheese and crackers was not interesting.

Love Rom Com but not this one.

- There needs to be more to this plot. I found it dull. I made it through 2 hours. Too repetitive. I need more than just sexual themes.
- Narrator had a pleasant voice but she sounds too much like she was reading the book to me instead of making the characters come alive. I think it is due to the emphasis she was placing on certain words that sounded less than part of the story.

I totally wanted to like this book! I needed an airy break from serious.

Couldn’t make it half way through, much less finish it.

Not a cute love story at all, no story line besides sex. Absolutely terribly read as well. She sounds like a broken robot. Was in a hurry to get a new book before getting on a plane -first and last time I don’t sample the reader voice and look up reviews first (although audible told me it was a best seller and recommended for me -boy did they get that wrong. Won’t be trusting that again either!)

pleasant interracial romance

This was a refreshing romance story. Pleasantly pleasing how the relationship blossomed. I did not like the narration of this book. I felt like my second grade teacher was reading a romance novel to me.. I would prefer to hear some masculinity like Sebastian York narrates Meghan March Novels or Michael Pauley narrates Delaney Diamond novels.

The Bachelorette in a novel

Listening to this book was like listening to an 8 hour narrative of the Bachelorette. A Danielle Steele novel offers more romance. I hated that Alex spent the entire book doubting herself and every move. For a woman to have such a powerful position, you'd think she would be more confident.

Tedious and predictable.

I do not recommend this book. It was our “light and fun” summer book club pick but I thought it was awful. Almost no plot. Really lame.

Terrible

This book was unimaginative and boring. The story could have been told in 30 minutes but instead it took 8 hours. The narrator was awful. A waste of a good Audible credit.

It's cheesy but I LOVE it

I keep listening to it, it's a sweet story, with a sweet ending. I look forward to the film adaptation.

I never review books but feel I must warn people

This book was cliched and lacked any interesting interesting characters or plot twists. I gave up around half way. I couldn't torture myself any more.

I love this book

I read this book a couple of months ago and then got it on audible. love the story. I was willing them to stay together as they were so perfect together. For me the story works, it was a joy to read. I also liked the narration she brought the story to life. Her voice was cool and relaxing.
A great book to chill out, and have some me time.

I wanted to like it

It’s so hard to find ‘fluff’ novels which are feminist, and this one tried really hard. I really appreciated that the main character was a high powered black woman in Berkeley and this story included real moments of racism and relationship issues without being too heavy, but it was just so boring. I finished the book, but the second half just felt like homework.

Good elements, boring execution

I'm going to say something absolutely ridiculous, and I am fully aware of how ridiculous this is. You're all going to roll your eyes and lose respect for me or something...

But I was a little bored listening to this. Emily thinks I would have liked it more if I'd read it, but I don't know. It's just... as AMAZING as some of the things in this book were (see below), I felt no compulsion to finish this other than because it was an easy thing to finish. I wasn't caught up in the romance, in the feelings.

And here's the thing that's going to make you groan...

Everything was so grown up and mature and realistic. Which I know other people will like, but it just meant that there was no pounding hearts and swooning going on for me. Just...meh... It was all such a lovely idea, with great characters, but meh. And I feel like this has exposed a great failure in me, or shown that I'm not quite grown up enough myself.

But anyway, let's go over all the great things about this book that deserve to be celebrated, yeah?

1. The heroine is a black woman, written by a black woman! Given what's happening in the romance space right now, it's good to see #ownvoices books featuring people of colour.

2. Tying into the race thing, a lot of the things that people of colour have to face is brought up in this, e.g. black women being seen as an 'exotic adventure' outside the norm, asking people of colour where they're actually from, etc. I can imagine it being extremely validating to see this in a book for people who've experienced it, while also being a subtle education for people that might have done these things in the past. (What's funny is that even I could relate because people are always asking where I'm from. I have a script that I whip out whenever I meet new people.)

3. The heroine has a successful career in the public sector, working for the mayor, and is championing a project that could help young offenders. This job is very important to her, and it's not something she wants to give up, especially for a man.

4. There's a lot of body positivity in this. Talks of curves and food (donuts!!!) without any mention of dieting or losing weight. I mean, yes, at times Alexa compares herself to the tall, skinny white women she seems to encounter at gatherings with Nick, but it's less about feeling ashamed and more about feeling out of place amongst all the white women that Nick has previously dated. She's not his usual "type", and she's very conscious of it.

5. As in so many romance novels, things do escalate because the couple doesn't communicate enough, but instead of being an extreme case of the no-can-talk, their lapses in communication were within the realms of normality. If anything, this made it difficult for me because it felt too much like a real relationship, and I already have one of those!

6. Did I already say donuts? Because donuts.

So yeah, many good things in their own right, but I was kinda relieved when it was over.