Jena Barrett loves her perfect life. She has the best job in the world, a great place to live, and a best friend that she adores. The only hiccup is this wedding planner’s love life! However, when her sister Ellie suggests a remedy for Jena’s lack of significant other, the notion is so insane, it flips Jena’s universe off-kilter.Brandon has always been the steady fixture in Jena’s life, her best … life, her best friend. Even when he joined the Army out of high school, they never lost touch, picking up as though he never left the moment he returned. Now a local veterinarian, Brandon is the perfect man candy with his successful career, amazing personality, and a face and body no woman would kick out of bed—only he never dates. Not that she’s ever questioned why, at least not until now.
Could Ellie be right? Could he possibly be in love with her? If so, could Jena ever love him in the same way? The risk is huge. If everything blows up in her face, she could lose her best friend. But what if the train wreck doesn’t happen? What if Brandon is her missing piece, her happy ever after?
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“What exactly does that expression mean, ‘friends with benefits’? Does he provide her with health insurance?” –Chuck Lorre
Time Frame: Modern: Rating: VMA: very-mature-audience, this was excessively graphic, language [contains modern cuss words]. *** This review may contain spoilers ***
There was a nod to Jane Austen’s work with names and situations from her various stories. A reader would not have to be knowledgeable of any of Austen’s work to enjoy this. It would just be pleasing to those die-hard Austen fans to run into situations, names, and similarities to her stories. This book could be read as a standalone; however, it would be a more enjoyable read if you had read book 1 first. That book sets up the foundation for those that follow. The background information would be established and the logistics of the house where they live, their wedding planning business, their families and their friendships would be better understood.
Place: Marysville, South Carolina. Characters: Jena Barrett, younger sister Ellie and her fiancé William [see book 1] and their almost-two-year-old daughter Freya. Ellie was pregnant with their second child and they were planning their upcoming wedding. William’s father, Grant Davies and his girlfriend play a minor part in this story. Charlie was the third partner in the wedding planning business and her elder brother was Brandon Taylor.
I first started reading teaser installments of this WIP back on 6-25-19 at the Austen Variations website. Over a period of several weeks, I became hooked with this second book in ‘The Wedding Planners’ series. I looked forward to following the story from the first book that featured Ellie, William, and their Freya.
“Men most often know what they want, yet they are not always sure how they feel. Women most often know how they feel, yet they may not always know what they want.” –Ken Poirot, Mentor Me: GA=T+E-A Formula to Fulfill Your Greatest Achievement
We opened with a Fourth of July picnic where I and others noticed the sparks popping between Jena and her best friend’s brother Brandon. Looks like she was finally over her ex, Conner. Good riddance. Jena had no idea her boyfriend Conner Willoughby was a cheating rat, instead of the Prince Charming he portrayed. When he dumped her by informing her that he had found someone else [Lacey]. He would be the thorn in her side in this story.
“She: We broke up.
Male Friend: You okay? You need to talk? Shoulder to cry on? You want to come over? Go to dinner? Sleep with me finally?” –Nitya Prakash
What I liked: I loved all the characters [especially Brandon] and their relationships with each other. I loved the descriptions of the locations and I enjoyed reading about places I had been or may not have been but would like to see.
What I didn’t like: too much sex. Seriously, this was excessively graphic. I had to skip over parts of it. It was just too much. It was like a story created to wrap around the sex scenes. Something like that. Actually, I didn’t enjoy this second book as much as I did the first. I think it was all in my mind, a cognitive dissonance, so to speak. I had Jane Bennet in my head and Jena was no Jane Bennet. Her character kept clashing with what I thought Jena vs Jane would do. However, I didn’t enjoy being in Jena’s head as she took forever to clear up her mind and heart of what she wanted in her dealings with Brandon.
Her injury was another niggling problem. I felt she was doing way too much for someone with an injury of that kind. When she went shopping, she should have pulled one of those little wire shopping carriers on two wheels at least. To walk that distance and expect to carry groceries back was not realistic. People in coastal towns would be accustomed to those carriers especially if people did a lot of walking to the market or to the shops. Things like that kept pulling me from the story. I liked Jena in the first book and I started out liking her in this one but as the story progressed… I began to dislike her for some reason. I don’t know what happened. Maybe it was the way she tugged at Brandon. I can’t put my finger on it. It just felt off. This was like I was given a ham sandwich without the lettuce, tomato, or the meat and was left only with the mayo. That is the way it felt. I love this author and her work… maybe it was just me. Maybe I’m off today.
I am REALLY looking forward to reading book 3 which is Charlie’s HEA. I LOVED her in both books and can’t wait to read her HEA adventure. Maybe that is what I was wanting, Charlie’s story. I still recommend this book 2 as a lovely story. There is a lot going on with the other characters for this to be an enjoyable read.