Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - The Proposal

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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hunkydory's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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? Yes

4.0

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jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted sad 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? Yes

4.0

This is the first book I’ve started and finished all the way through. And I enjoyed it so much. It tells the story of Nik who gets proposal at a baseball game after dating for 5 months. He’s a complete dick. The cliche piece of shit boyfriend, who only proposed to enhance his acting career. Nik is a writer who is sarcastic sexy and so badass. She struggles of trauma with a lot of shitty ex’s. And feeling confident in herself and through tout the book is attempting to be more open about relationships, without even knowing it. Her friend Dana is gay, love that for her. She gets with this blonde girl named Natalie, who also had a shitty ex but she was married to him. And he was emotionally abusive. Which struck to me and made me feel so much more for this book than I was already feeling. Then we have Carlos. Carlos Carlos Carlos. The love of my life. He’s a sexy doctor who swoops in and saves her from the jumbo trot cameras attacking her. Which starts into a friends with benefits that hits so god damned well. Bro. It’s agonizingly obvious how hard they were falling for each other. IT WAS TOLD FROM BOTH POINT OF VEIWS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. He made her food. Multiple times. It was beautiful, the banter the romance, the family. All great. No complaints at all. I mean it was something I would have ate up years ago. But now I love it. It’s not different to other romance novels. It wasn’t challenging (which is what I needed) and I needed fluff.

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lasafica_reads's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

3.0

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ldslizzard's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.75

I absolutely love Jasmine Guillory’s writing style! After reading The Wedding Date, I was excited to read this one!

I love how she jumps right in during the first chapter and then the characters seamlessly develop throughout the coming pages. No detailed backstory - it is a natural part of the story!

Perfect contemporary romance for a hopeless romantic like me!

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caitlinjadams's review

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funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

Better than The Wedding Date as far as I’m concerned—I connected with the characters more and appreciated the slightly calmer pace which accompanies having characters with less hectic lives. What I’ll really remember though is

multiple incredibly described and satisfying realizations of “wait, is this what being in love feels like?!” Because I’m the sort of person for whom, “you’ll know it when you feel it,” is the most unsatisfying description of how to know you’re in love. So seeing characters really express their aha moments with concrete details was refreshing. I’d reread those sections any day.

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