To Love and To Cherish // Lauren Layne Proves She Is Contemporary Romance Queen And I Explain Why I Waited To Read This

To Love And To Cherish – Lauren Layne

Published: 18th October 2016
Source: Publisher
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Friends To Lovers
My Rating:

Sex and the City meets The Wedding Planner in To Love And To Cherish, the third witty contemporary romance in Lauren Layne's The Wedding Belles series, about three high-powered New York City women who can plan any wedding - but their own. For fans of Jill Shalvis, Julie James and Rachel Gibson.

Alexis Morgan has spent the past six years devoted to turning her tiny start-up into Manhattan's premiere wedding planning company, The Wedding Belles. Now that her business is thriving, it's time to turn towards her much neglected personal life, and Alexis approaches her relationships like she does everything else: with a plan. Not a part of that plan is Logan Harris, the silent partner in the Belles, and the one person who's been there for her since the very beginning. But Alexis needs someone fun, and Logan's all business, all the time-except when a late night at the office ends with an unexpected kiss that leaves the usually cool and together Alexis reeling.

Logan has lusted after Alexis since the day he walked into the tiny Harlem apartment that used to double as her office. But the ambitious wedding planner has always been untouchable...until now. Alexis has made it clear that she's on the dating market-and equally clear that he's not in the running. But when Alexis finds herself in need of a date for her sister's last minute wedding in Florida, Logan knows it's the perfect time to show Alexis that there's more to him than numbers and spreadsheets-and beneath the pinstripes and glasses lies a hot-blooded heartthrob. As Florida's sultry days turn into even hotter nights, Logan's out to convince Alexis that the fling of a lifetime could just maybe turn into forever...

Want some fun, fresh, flirty and very sexy rom-com? Check out the titles in the Oxford series: Irresistibly Yours, Playing For Keeps and Someone Like You.

Can a guy and a girl really be 'just friends'? You won't want to miss Lauren Layne's sexy take on this timeless question in Blurred Lines.

A Note Before We Start

I’m a bad blogger. I was sent this book what feels months ago by Headline Eternal and I’ve just been staring at it hesitant to read for one reason and one reason only: the romantic lead is British. Why should that bother me? Well, it’s mostly because us Brits are frequently misrepresented in media as either being ultra posh or as Cockney’s. There seems to be no middle ground. And the men are always bumbling Hugh Grant types, which is very inaccurate. So, I always get a bit wary of British characters in books when, you know, they aren’t set in the UK. I wish I hadn’t been so nervous now because the book was fantastic and I didn’t even care that Logan was British.

On With The Review

So, Lauren Layne has slowly become a favourite author of mine (I think I blame Nick and Nereyda for starting it). She writes these great romances which you finish quickly and just get lost in. I have to say, despite my reservations about British Logan being in it, I had actually been looking forward to Alexis and Logan’s book throughout the Wedding Belles trilogy because it’s so obvious they were ‘meant to be’. We’ve seen them circling around one another and I was thrilled to finally see them together!

As I said before, I’d been hesitant about the a Brit being in the book because I know how that can go horribly wrong. Thankfully, Logan and his Britishisms were very mild, the worst he came out with was the word ‘swain’ which no one would say unless you were Stephen Fry, or in a period drama. To be honest, Alexis had more Britishisms than Logan does and I liked that. It demonstrated they’d spent so much time together that Alexis had picked up some of his mannerisms. I liked how a small detail like that was added to show their closeness because I do that all the time. me and my friends have small sayings which we all share because we’ve spent time together.

Anyway, the story of Alexis was spot on. I knew there had to be a reason for her being so reserved and restrained and the kind of hurt she went through makes sense. She's been burned and as such needs tangible things to hold on to and feelings and emotions are not that. I wasn’t her greatest fan in the other books because she was reserved and so put together and I do not get people like that, but in this one you get to see she's not all poise and grace and appearances are deceiving and I liked that. You see she’s fun and she’s been burned and so she is out to protect herself.

I think my biggest complain with the book would have been Alexis’s very weak reasoning for why she didn’t want to be with Logan. It seemed irrational to me that she wouldn’t want to. I suppose I understood not wanting to be hurt, but even so it seemed a bit farfetched she would push him so far. Even saying that, though, just makes me feel like I’m picking faults for faults sake. It was a niggling annoyance but as it’s a romance I knew it would get resolved.

Basically, I loved this book and I am determined to work my way through Lauren Layne’s back catalogue even if it kills me. Or bankrupts me. If you’re on the look out for a great romance with a friends to lovers theme this may be the book for you. To be honest, if you’re looking for a good contemporary romance then Lauren Layne is the author for you, so check her out.

Have you read any of Lauren Layne? Do you have a favourite you want to push me to read? And is anyone else hesitant to read books which feature someone of your own nationality in case it’s not done well or is it just me with the British stereotype?