Fall in love with Heart’s Landing,a romantic wedding destination, in the first book of a Hallmark series.Jenny always dreamed of getting married at Heart’s Landing. But when she finally visits the charming small town, she’s there to make wedding arrangements for someone else: her cousin, who also happens to be her boss and a famous movie star. To keep the event secret and avoid a media circus, … movie star. To keep the event secret and avoid a media circus, Jenny pretends she’s the one getting married.
Nick is intrigued by this bride-to-be who starts visiting his bakery every afternoon for sweet treats and conversation. He has to keep reminding himself that she’s already spoken for.
As Jenny deals with her cousin’s ever-changing demands, she tries to hide her attraction to Nick. Planning this wedding couldn’t be more complicated…and what will happen once the truth comes to light?
This funny, heartwarming romance includes a free original recipe for the best-ever Lemon Bars.
more
A Simple Wedding by Leigh Duncan is a sweet, heartfelt, feel-good, romance that is the beginning of a new series. It is everything a “Hallmark Romance” should be.
Heart’s Landing is an adorable community and I really think it could be a great setting for many novels to come.
I really enjoyed the plot. I liked Jenny and I thought that she and Nick had great chemistry. I enjoyed the curveballs thrown their way on their path to finding each other. I am not a fan of “Bridezillas”, so I am glad that everything worked out in the end.
I am excited to hear that there will be follow-ups and I look forward to finding out how things goes.
5/5 stars
Adored this sweet romance full of wedding hijinks! And seriously, HOW ADORABLE IS THIS TOWN???!!! This is a must read for fans of small town romance.
This book should come with a warning. First of all, the descriptions of the wedding cakes hero Nick bakes may make you hungry. Secondly, after a bit of a slow start, the story becomes so engaging that you’re likely to lose sleep because you simply MUST see how it ends. Leigh Duncan’s first Heart’s Landing book is a winner!
Jenny has always dreamed of getting married at America’s most sought-after wedding destination, Heart’s Landing. But when she finally visits the lovely little town, she’s there to make wedding plans for her cousin, who happens to be a famous movie star. To keep the event a secret from the media, Jenny has to pretend to be the bride. Unfortunately for Jenny, planning the wedding turns out to be much more complicated than she thought.
A Simple Wedding by Leigh Duncan is a delightful and heartwarming romance that Hallmark fans are sure to enjoy. Readers will fall in love with Jenny’s character and empathize with her as she goes above and beyond for her bridezilla cousin Kay. Jenny is grateful to her aunt for raising her after the death of her parents and feels like it’s her duty to help her cousin. I didn’t care for Kay’s character, however, the ending made me warm to her a little bit. Nick and Jenny shared a lot of the same qualities, and I thought they had great chemistry. I look forward to the second book and can’t wait to spend more time in Heart’s Landing with all these wonderful characters. If you enjoy sweet, feel-good stories, then you really can’t go wrong with books or movies from Hallmark. As an added treat, a delicious recipe is included at the end of the book.
I received an ARC from Hallmark Publishing through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
This is the story of a woman planning a dream wedding for her cousin. Jennifer Longley is the personal assistant to her cousin Kay, movie star Karolyn Karter. Kay has secretly become engaged to her costar, Chad Grant. To avoid the madness of the press, Kay asks her cousin to plan the ideal wedding.
Jenny is not really thrilled to plan her own dream wedding and give it up to her cousin, but she does what she must for family. Unfortunately, Kay keeps changing her mind and leaving Jenny hanging. Jenny is falling for Nick, the baker, to whom she is lying to protect Kay’s secret. It is a mess!
It ultimately does work out, and Kay realizes she has been abusing Jenny’s good nature. The cousins become friends again at the end. Jenny decides not to go back to her old job, though, because she really wants to be an event planner. Everyone gets their Happily Ever After.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
This is a sweet romance, filled with some twists and turns, but ultimately a feel-good story of true love triumphing, despite the pitfalls thrown their way, Jen and Nick find their way to their HEA. Heartwarming and entertaining.
If you love Hallmark movies, you will love this book. Jenny heads to Hearts Landing to plan her cousin’s perfect landing with nothing omitted. This is the wedding of every little girl’s dreams. But, oh no, the bride wants to change the plans. Then another change. And another. The bride is rather selfish, but Jenny is fun and lovable. While parts of the book are predictable, I was still surprised at the ending—not a Quick simple tie it up with a bow ending. I loved this book.
A Simple Wedding by Leigh Duncan is a sweet, heartfelt, feel-good, romance. Its wonderful written. Has a wonderful story. The characters are wonderful and enjoyable to read about.
I read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are of my own. Thank you NetGalley and Hallmark Publishing for letting me read this story.
This was a really sweet read. I don’t believe I’ve read this author before but I will keep an eye out for her books from now on. There were a few minor issues that I had but nothing that kept me from enjoying the story. I loved the location of Heart’s Landing. The characters were great. Jenny is the one that had the toughest time thanks to her cousin, movie star Karolyn Karter. Jenny is her assistant and tasked with planning her wedding across the country in less than 6 weeks. Kay (Karolyn) keeps changing things and Jenny has to make it happen all while pretending it’s her own wedding so papparazzi don’t find out and ruin Kay’s big day. Jenny has always wanted to get married in Heart’s Landing so in one way this mission is great but also a nightmare because she is falling in love with the town, the people and the baker in particular. What will happen when they find out she’s been lying to them all this time. Will she be able to remain friends and perhaps more? A lovely romp and I can’t wait to read more about Heart’s Landing in the future.
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher and voluntarily chose to review it.
This was the first book I’ve read from this author and it definitely will not be the last. Outside of my normal genre, this is a sweet romance that pulls at your heartstrings.
Set in Heart’s Landing, the premiere wedding destination, A Simple Wedding follows Jenny who is planning her famous cousin’s wedding. The only catch is everyone must think it’s Jenny’s wedding and things get sticky from there.
With a sweet sexy baker and lovable business owners, this is a sweet romance that has wonderful characters and beautiful world building.
I can’t wait to see what happens in Heart’s Landing next!
Hearts Landing, RI is the nation’s premier wedding destination and Jenny has always fantasized about being married there someday. Her job as her assistant to Kay, her Hollywood mega-star cousin, has kept her so busy that she hasn’t found her Mr. Right to whisk her off to Heart’s Landing. Kay suddenly announces to Jenny that she is marrying her co-star, mega-star Chad and she wants Jenny to handle all the arrangements for the super secret wedding – in Hearts Landing. The only way for Jenny to carry off the deception is to pretend she’s the bride.
Oh, what a tangled web she wove. The people of Hearts Landing become her friends, particularly the very attractive baker and owner of I Do Cakes. To make matters even more complicated, her cousin keeps changing her demands.
The story was sweet and the inhabitants of Hearts Landing were professional and kind and accommodating. I have to admit I wanted to take Jenny aside and tell her to get a backbone and tell her cousin to back off. I understood, however, her feeling of indebtedness for the way her aunt and cousin took her in when her parents died. Did my irritation with Jenny color my enjoyment of the book? Not in the least. I admired her good humor and her inventive solutions to the problems her cousin created. And the people of Hearts Landing were amazing in the way they responded to Jenny’s requests. I understand why Hearts Landing is the center of marriage beginnings.
I received an ARC from Hallmark Publishing through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own
This was a delightful story. I fell in love with Hearts Landing and I look forward to returning. From the moment Jenny and Nick met (I so saw their “bumping into each other” coming), I was engrossed in seeing how their story would work out amidst the secrets that Jenny hid. The worldbuilding is superb and the twists and turns in the story kept me on pins and needles. I loved it from start to finish and I hope Hallmark adapts it into a movie (dare I hope for a series someday) so my non-reader friends can enjoy it as much as I did.
There is nothing “simple” when it comes to Karolyn “Kay” Karter. So, her ever-faithful assistant (& cousin) Jenny Longley should have known better when Kay the Movie Star tells her plan a “simple” wedding to her Hollywood Heartthrob hottie. Warning bells go off for Jenny when Kay directs her to Heart’s Landing, the #1 wedding destination in the USA and a place where Jenny herself dreamed of walking down the aisle to her HEA. But now she must quietly slip into Heart’s Landing and stealthily organize “her” wedding to cover for her cousin. No – there is nothing simple about this assignment for Jenny!
This author is new to me, and her book was a welcomed surprise! I did find that Ms. Duncan could get a bit caught up in descriptions and “setting the scene,” to the point where I felt the plot dragged a bit. But the charm of the characters made up for that; these are characters I hope to see again. As for Jenny, she did frustrate me at times – she seemed so wimpy in her interactions with Kay, who never really redeemed herself with me. But my frustration was nothing compared to Jenny’s as she had to pretend to be the ever-demanding, somewhat schizophrenic bride with the absentee fiancé! And how sweet was it that our hero is a baker – pun totally intended. Nick Bell was a perfect match for Jenny, although I wasn’t sure if the “true Heart’s Landing Bride” schtick was magical or marketing on his part. As the story takes place in a land where brides achieve their dream weddings, I will go with it being magical! This was an enjoyable read, and I hope Ms. Duncan takes us back to Heart’s Landing!
Another cute and sighing story from Hallmark.
Jenny is an assistant to her famous cousin and goes to the town of Heart’s Land to organize the wedding of the cousin who doesn’t want the paparazzi to find out about this event. Pretending to be the indecisive and willful bride, Jenny arrives in the city to finish all the details.
Nick gradually becomes fond of the sweet girl who looks nothing like the willful bride they expected. Jenny ends up winning the hearts of everyone in the small town and is increasingly distressed by her secret.
She and Nick create strong bonds and I loved to accompany the two and this beautiful friendship.
I confess that I found the beginning a little monotonous with many descriptions and explanations about Nick and the city but from the middle to the end I found myself involved with the couple and I loved the chosen ending so much.
4/5 STARS
A lighthearted read that will have you thinking of wedding cake and HEAs instead of being stuck at home. Nick and Jenny are a perfect Hallmark couple and will have you cheering their HEA on as you turn pages.
It warmed my heart and made me believe in love again.
A Simple Wedding is the first book by this author that I have read, and will definitely going back for more. I loved reading and following Jenny and Nick’s small town story. I look forward to reading more from Heart’s Landing and Leigh Duncan.
A city totally dedicated to making the brides dream come true.
Heart’s Landing has shops and streets with names suggestive wedding, as Tux or Tails; Honeymoon Avenue; I Do Cakes, etc.
Jennifer “Jenny” Longley was a personal assistant to her cousin, a great Hollywood actress, Karolyn Karter.
When Kay falls in love with another Hollywood star and decides to get married in a hurry, Jenny takes care of planning the ceremony at Heart’s Landing.
In fact, this has always been Jenny’s own dream, but when her cousin “stole” her idea, for being grateful to be raised by Kay’s mother, after her parents’ death, she embraces the idea.
However, in order for the information not to appear in the newspapers, Jenny should act as if it were her own wedding
The city was a dream, the people were kind, but one of the merchants in particular was very interested in Jenny.
Nick Bell was the owner of I Do Cakes, which he had inherited from his father.
Despite being always involved in making others’ dreams come true, Nick has not yet been lucky to find his great love.
But then Jenny appears in the city wanting to organize her wedding with Tom (or Bob), which makes Nick feel torn between maintaining his professional side and being completely attracted to another man’s bride.
However, as the day of the ceremony arrives, some surprises (not so pleasant) cause the secret to surface and what could be great news, hurts the best people who had ever appeared in Jenny’s life.
A totally Hallmark-style film/book, a lot of romance, a hint of comedy and a happy ending to make you sigh..
5 stars
Definitely a Hallmark book worthy of the Hallmark Publishing brand. If you’re not a fan of Hallmark books or movies, this will not be the book for you, but for those of us that are lovers of them, it’s a must-read!
Jennifer Longley is a personal assistant to her actress cousin Karolyn Karter and with her cousin’s sudden engagement she has been tasked with flying to Hearts Landing, Rhode Island to secretly organize the wedding in record time. Hearts Landing has been Jenny’s dream wedding location so planning her cousin’s wedding there is difficult. Telling all the vendors that it’s her own wedding isn’t helping, especially when they are all so warm and friendly. The hardest part is lying to baker Nick Bell.
Nick Bell loves making a bride’s dreams come true with his creative wedding cakes but something just doesn’t seem right when Jenny Langley comes to town to plan her wedding.
I loved this book and believe it would make a fantastic movie. However, the book seemed long and drawn out at times.
I received an ARC and voluntarily offer this review.