Book Summary: 

Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is something Alexa Monroe wouldn’t normally do. But there’s something about Drew Nichols that’s too hard to resist.

On the eve of his ex’s wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend….

After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she’s the mayor’s chief of staff. Too bad they can’t stop thinking about the other….

They’re just two high-powered professionals on a collision course toward the long distance dating disaster of the century–or closing the gap between what they think they need and what they truly want….

My Review:

This is my first book by Jasmine Guillory and I was pleasantly surprised with how sweet and entertaining it was. While I am not yet convinced to read the entire six book series, I definitely want to check out book #2 and book #3 (especially since I was suspicious about two certain people and book #3 confirms my suspicion. I peeked ahead – sshh…it will be our little secret). 

Some say opportunity is around every corner. Truer words have never been spoke for Drew who has found himself in a desperate situation. Having recently ended things with Emily, he was now dateless for his ex girlfriend’s wedding. Even worse, he was a groomsman! Still puzzled at how he got himself into this situation, he enters the elevator, daydreaming about this weekend finally being over. That is until a gorgeous woman joins him. He doesn’t think Alexa sees him as she is preoccupied with her phone and it is confirmed when the elevator suddenly stalls and she nearly jumps when he makes a comment. The natural flirt that he is, he passes the time making her laugh and explains his weekend situation. When the elevator starts working again, they go their separate ways until Drew decides to put all his eggs in one basket and asks Alexa to be his date (and later, thanks to his big mouth, pretend girlfriend) for the weekend. Alexa thinks the idea is crazy but when a drop dead gorgeous man with a lethal smile (who is also a doctor, mind you) asks you to be his date to a rehearsal dinner and a wedding, how can you possibly say no. Two evenings, two strangers from two separate cities, no matter what happens – she will never see him again so why not live a little.

This was a super cute story. I enjoyed how two people who are insanely successful and confident in their own day to day can be so confused and insecure with each other. Alexa constantly fought body image issues despite the fact that Drew never did anything to indicate she was less than perfect to him. Drew was jealous of any guy around Alexa even though she only had eyes for him. The escalation of those insecurities was a great reminder of human behavior. The problem is not the other person, it is our own issues that we project and when we don’t communicate, it all falls apart.

I loved the best friends! Maggie and Carlos for the win. Carlos does deserve a reward for dealing with Drew though. I also enjoyed Alexa’s “work spouse” Theo. I can understand why Drew is a little suspicious of Theo but as I read the book, I started to have my own suspicions as well and it had nothing to do with Alexa! As I mentioned above, I intend to keep reading to find out what is really going on in Theo’s head; but I digress. The friendships of this book were the most fun. They were the mechanics of Alex and Drew’s relationships. Without their love and support, I don’t think Alexa and Drew would have made it. They were just too stubborn for their own good.

One thing I didn’t understand was the point of Amy (Molly’s sister) hitting on Drew at the wedding. It seemed rather insignificant to the overall story. When he told Alexa, you were able to see the impact so maybe it was there as an emotional magnifying glass for her but If it was removed, it wouldn’t have been missed. If it was to play up to Alexa’s insecurities, I can understand based on Drew’s dating history, especially when your worst fears are confirmed over and over again! I do; however, feel like Alexa was in her own way because she just didn’t feel like she was enough. She couldn’t blame Drew for that because she always appeared confident and self assure, despite the fact that she was spinning in her head. At that same time, when someone makes a proclamation that they don’t do girlfriends or relationships and you start to develop feelings, do you really feel safe getting clarification on “what you are” to each other? I can understand why Alexa thought inquiring was just going to lead to disaster, which avoiding it just caused it to blow up in both their faces anyway.

As for the spice, while Jasmine’s scenes where heated, they remained more on the R rated side. A lot of what when down was heavily implied but she spared the descriptions and just stuck with the reactions and conclusions of events.

I will admit, I teared up a little when Alexa had a tough conversation with her sister Olivia towards the end. Alexa carried that burden for so long! To know that she was always forgiven and not just that, that her sister was aware and rooting for her the entire time – so touching.

I thought the ending was very sweet and a wonderful conclusion to a heartwarming story. Overall, I did enjoy Jasmine including Alexa’s inner dialogue and outward explanations of racial perspectives. It is appreciated that Drew didn’t think of Alexa based on her race but understood when she explained how it didn’t make potential problems nonexistent.

While the book was 336 pages, it honestly felt like a short read. For most of it, we got to hang out with Alexa and Drew as they got to know each other. We went to work with them, we hung out with friends together, we were simply the third party to their adventure. In some cases, a reader can feel like they are on the outside when this happens but the dual POV made you feel wrapped in the action. 

I can’t wait to dive into the next two books and see what happens next. I am hoping the overlap allows us to check in Drew and Alexa as we get a chance to spend more time with Drew’s best friend Carlos in Book #2.