Book Review: The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
Published January 2018
Berkley
The Wedding Date is a nice addition to the romance genre.
A recent Twitter thread showed users naming romance tropes they hate. As can be expected, the list was looooong and laden with many of the things popular in modern romance novels. Included in the list:
- Billionaire alpha males
- Damaged alpha males who work through their personal issues in the bedroom
- Inexperienced women who suddenly become passionate nymphomaniacs, as if they’ve imbibed a magical sexlixir the moment they meet the handsome dude
- Main characters who are the most conventionally beautiful or handsome people in the tri-state area
Obviously, I’m paraphrasing here. But the overwhelming theme among problematic or disliked romance books appear to be unrelatable people.
The Wedding Date solves a lot of these tired tropes of the romance genre, delivering two characters who have a lot going for them but aren’t perfect. They have imperfections and insecurities with which many readers can relate.
Alexa is an attorney working as the Chief of Staff for the mayor of San Francisco. Drew is a doctor. These characters at the top of their games professionally may be more difficult to relate to, but at the same time, provide a better aspirational middle than we see in some other stories.
One evening, Alexa and Drew are stuck in a broken down elevator just long enough to plan a ruse. Commitment-phobic Drew needs a fake date for his friend’s wedding. Alexa is game, thinking it could be an interesting evening at worst.
From there, Alexa and Drew embark on a steamy, respectful, and donut-filled romance.
The fact that Alexa is African American and Drew is caucasian barely registers as a factor in their relationship. For a few others, though, it’s a point of contention. Alexa encounters a small group of smack-talking women in the restroom and there’s a pesky, handsy friend.
It’s nice to see Alexa, a woman doing exceptionally well professionally but still willing to be vulnerable. And Drew, though afraid to commit, seems to still care about doing the right thing.
The Wedding Date is a refreshing change of pace from the frustrating stereotypes of some romance books.
