Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Proposal

I forgot how sweet and hilarious this one is. Nik and Carlos are fantastic characters and an entertaining couple to follow. I love how JG gives her characters believable backgrounds and storylines outside of their relationship… that’s what makes a good romance novel.

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thenovelmaura's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I had to read several reviews before I could put my finger on what bothered me about this book, but I figured it out! This romance has no plot and no stakes. The main characters refused to date because... they wanted to keep it casual, or something? But yes, the most action in this book takes place during the initial meet cute scene, and the rest is just snippets of Nik's life strung together. There's no real conflict here and nothing keeping the leads apart besides their own stubbornness. Of course we love two POC leads and a diverse friend group, but this one was otherwise disappointing since Guillory is such a popular author.

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onefineelephant's review

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lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

5/10. The majority of the book was decent, if a bit bland. I was a bit confused about where the story was going considering both characters insisted on having a casual relationship. Also, both of the characters were slightly lackluster but I was certain that it would pick up once the characters realized that they were in love. However, I could not have been more wrong. The characters seemed to progress along nicely in their romance. But all of a sudden there's a declaration of love that literally came out of nowhere and the one mc gets mad at the other for not saying it back and then they say all kinds of nasty things that I would never consider forgivable. Then, the other mc realizes that they love the other in such an anticlimactic way and they just forgive the other after the awful things they said. Seriously, page 264 on I was flabbergasted at the absurdity and non-romance in a romance book nonetheless! At this point, I'm only going to read the last book in the series because I am holding out hope that the antagonistic nature is going to save it.

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bzliz's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I previously read The Wedding Date and it was pretty average but enjoyable enough that I wanted to read more from Jasmine Guillory. Unfortunately, I think this book has killed that desire in me. I thought I was in for a very similar experience until I hit about 75% through the book and it took a sharp turn downward.

The premise was intriguing to me- a woman gets proposed to publicly by a man she was barely “dating” and she’s rushed out of the bad situation by our MMC Carlos and his sister- but the characters fell so flat. They all speak with a lack of maturity that does not fit their ages. Our FMC Nik at least has friends she talks to in this book- which is more than some romance characters get- but their only function is to orbit around her and childishly echo events that we as readers just saw transpire. Carlos is a caricature of a hyper masculine guy but he listens to women. Nik is supposed to be super independent and motivated but we don’t get to see her be great at her job and she regularly wastes her time with subpar dudes for no reason.

Guillory seems to favor a “tell, don’t show” approach to writing that doesn’t leave anything to the imagination, except the spicy scenes which fade-to-black and are pretty bland. To borrow a phrase from comedian Lou Wilson-that’s a salsa everyone at the table can enjoy. She also makes a few weird assertions that don’t line up with my life experience, such as insisting women are bombarded with messages about hiding money and purchases from their partners like it’s a normal thing to do. It reads like an out of touch boomer (which she is not) trying to relate to younger generations.

Much like The Wedding Date, Nik and Carlos spend most of their on page time eating or about to get steamy but I didn’t feel any chemistry between them. I was fine with that but once we hit the third act

and Carlos has his realization and makes his declaration that he’s in love with Nik, he expects her to immediately jump into a full relationship with him despite their clearly defined desires to stay casual at the beginning of their tryst. She was right to be mad about it and he starts slinging pretty harsh accusations at her right away, such as suggesting she gets off on making men fall in love with her then leaving them. He ends up being pretty shitty to her and I don’t know how anyone could possibly forgive and move forward in a relationship with that person like Nik does once she realizes she’s also in love with Carlos.

I was prepared to give this another perfectly average rating but the ending really tanked it for me. Maybe I’ll give Guillory another shot in the future but for now I’m going to steer clear.

Content warnings:
Sexual content (on/off page):

Mostly fade to black, mostly contains breast touching. No vulgar language used.

Pregnancy, medical content (on/off page):

A pregnant side character has pre-eclampsia and is put of bed rest. Lots of page space is used discussing how she is doing and Carlos’ worry for her. She goes to the hospital and has an emergency c-section. Both she and the baby are fine but if you are triggered by discussion of difficult pregnancies, do not read.

Alcohol (on page):

These people drink a lot for every occasion. I’m not sure they’ve heard it’s okay to have water.

Death of parent, grief (off page):

Carlos’ dad passes prior to the start of the book and he still experiences grief from that. He does not handle his feelings or express them typically thanks to his alpha male mentality of needing to provide for his family. He needs therapy.

Body shaming, emotional abuse, toxic relationship, biphobia, miscarriage (off page):

Nik interviews Natalie for a potential article and Natalie discusses wanting to start her gym because her ex-husband became emotionally abusive: he made her quit her job as a trainer because he didn’t want her touching anyone else, he isolated her from her friends and family, and when she miscarried he immediately demanded she lose the weight she had gained and monitored her physical activity on a fitness watch.

Racism (on page):

A few minor mentions. Nik and Carlos are in a broken down car and she mentions that people who look like them aren’t necessarily safe while waiting for assistance to arrive. Nik’s ex tells her people “like her” are lucky when they get to be with people like him, aka white.

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hannah_lou's review

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Lighthearted and quick read, but very very predictable and I found the dialogue to be clumsy and the characters unbelievable. I enjoyed Carlos, but despised most of the other characters. Aside from the love story, there was hardly any character development.

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kaitlinlovesbooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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amandalorianxo's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Maybe if I had read the first one this would have helped me enjoy this better? It definitely reads as someone who needs an intro to adult romance novels but to me, I was… not invested enough. The diversity was brilliant and I liked the friend group Nikole embraced herself with but that was it.

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