I was a bit sceptical going into this book - I’d never Kate Clayborne before and I was not crazy about the basic conceit of it - but I’m so happy I stuck with it!
So this book is about Layla, a divorced woman attending her ex-husband’s younger sister’s wedding in Paris (where she has her honeymoon) because her and her ex are ‘amicable and friendly’. At this wedding she meets Griffin, the best man, who doesn’t seem keen on her at first (but there’s more to that).
So what I loved about this book - firstly Griffin is an MMC with severe scarring and dealing with chronic pain and I appreciate how it is handled in this book. Secondly, to begin with I found Layla and her approach to attending the wedding a bit grating but as the book went on I realised it was part of her character arc in (re)discovering herself. This leads me to my third point, the character development of both MCs is so strong - and I enjoyed their growth over the course of the book.
The writing in general was also really good, Clayborn was excellent at creating an atmosphere and making Paris very uniquely romantic for this pairing. This leads me to say, I really enjoyed this book’s approach to romance where it was driven by self growth and developing confidence by both MCs.
I will say the one place this book left me a bit unsatisfied was with the resolution of the wedding plot. I found her ex’s sister to be quite selfish and a bit manipulating >!she begged the FMC to attend the wedding and evoked a promise the FMC made when they were both much younger about them being sisters forever (even though the FMC’s ex was attending with his new girlfriend) and then placed the success of the wedding majorly on the FMC’s attendance and support of the wedding!< and while there are moments the book seems to recognise this in the internal monologues of the MCs, there is still no concluding resolution.
But regardless of that, I love this book so much that immediately I finished it I went back and read my favourite bits again!