When Olivia Monroe moves from New York to LA to start her own law firm, dating is the last thing on her mind. But a chance meeting with a man who shares her love of desserts changes everything, and that man just happens to be hotshot junior senator Max Powell. This is a romance about politics, race, careers and food (seriously, there’s SO much food in this book – cakes, pies, fries, the lot!) It is part of The Wedding Date series, which also includes much-hyped books The Wedding Date and The Proposal, but can easily be read as a standalone. I found this to be an okay read – entertaining enough, but unfortunately not as gripping as I’d hoped. I never really fell for their relationship and I wonder if the fame/celebrity romance trope is just not for me (although I do love Notting Hill…!)

Olivia is a qualified account she flew two California from new York two set up her business start a new law firm with her assistant and friend Ellie Olivia couldn’t wait two set meeting up with new clients.
She renting a house near the office and Ellie sorted out allot of things for her before Olivia cane two California at the moment she living in a hotel for a few weeks till the house is ready.Then one night she got two the hotel late is was nine o clock Olivia was hungry so she ordered fries as gin and just about two order dessert but krystal give her the menu they’re was such things has ice cream and herbs and no such thing as chocolate cake with icing on strawberry pie or carrot cake why all the fancy stuff then as she was saying her point this man came up two her max Powell senator but Olivia didn’t know who he was he was staying at the hotel two he agreed with the menu then krystal ordered the cookies for them both with coffee they both enjoyed the cookies they talked for ages and Olivia didn’t know who he was. They both when up two they rooms and said goodnight then Olivia found out on tele who he was and couldn’t wait two tell her sister who he was. Olivia was at her office the next day in work and Ellie said there a parcel here for you from a bakery she wounded who it was from excited she opened the box it was the most delicious chocolate cake her favourite one with Max Powell number on it Olivia couldn’t believe it Olivia told her everything what happened that night about meeting senator and Olivia texted I’m back and said thank you I like a coffee with you that be great.
The Friday came and max took her two her favourite restaurant and the place was nice and the food they had different pies and drink she really enjoyed the night they talked for ages about the good the menu her job at the end of the night he took her hone and rushed off and said goodnight. A week went buy and they went out two the cinema they both haven’t been in ages the night was good a good film they went for burger and fries and took them back two olives they had wine and kissed and olive told max the truth about her arrest as a teenager and he excepted that so that was great. Max didn’t want two rush thing he wanted two get two know her have a proper girlfriend. So the following week they went bowling they both loved bowling she celebrated when he scored and he did and Olivia done a dance when he scored that night he told her he loved her but Olivia never said it back yet didn’t feel it was right. After bowling max went back two Olivia they had wine kissed and had sex the night was great full of passion.
Olivia started working in the soup kitchen at the local community hall and made a new friend Juliana and Juliana helped her buy her new car Olivia could wait two show her car of two max so Olivia arrange two go two hiking up the Getty so the following weekend max met her outside his house in her yoga pants and he loved Olivia new car he drove to the Getty they hiked all day and sat by the tree and talked and Olivia told him she loved him so much that night he drove gone went back two her house had more passion and everything was great. Olivia told him about the firm was doing so great and she was worried about starting all of it with no clients and worried about not making up her. He told her not two worry he asked Olivia if he go on a weekend trip with him while de dine his work and she got two her sister she thought the idea was great she haven’t Sean her sister in ages so the weekend came her sister met her at the airport and took her home they all had a Chinese that night and the next day her sister was going two the fundraiser where max was going so her sister introduced herself two Olivia boyfriend max and she like him two they had allot of fun that weekend he asked Olivia if they go public together and Olivia was shocked she needed time in midweek she said yes so he fought they go public on the 4 July he had a fundraiser two attend olives wore a nice dress that evening he loved her outfit he introduced everyone has his girlfriend and she talked two his clients made conversation with them then after an hour they left and watch the fireworks together in his car what a romantic night it was he asked her then go to two hawi for five days after the issue that everyone found out about the arrest she had when she was young they were both stress and the press got two them they went two the Caribbean and when they got there they went straight two the black like little kids and had two pineapples rums enjoyed the walks and saw the turtles and that day he was going two ask her two marry her but Olivia said not yet it’s two soon max was disappointed but the weekend went lovely. They both attend the community hall at the next events she went on with him but things didn’t go two plan he told everyone about her personal life two the criminal kids and Olivia was just like them she could help them that hurt Olivia she wanted two speak two them on a private issue about that so that night she left him and when he realised Olivia wasn’t there anymore he went looking for her that night they had a huge row and Olivia dumped him Olivia regretted it. Took weeks for them both two get back together again Olivia picked up the courage two go two us office and told him how she felt with a assigned copy of her love two him and what she wanted from him they lived happy for a year after that and when they went back on they summer trip he asked Olivia two marry him and she said yes.
This book was Amazing I love it a page turn over sexy romantic I give it five stars rating.

I was given an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and independent review.

To be honest I was a bit disappointed with this book. Whilst superficially it was meant to be a sweet romance, it lacked depth and a bit of credibility for me. I wanted more passion and more intensity. The relationship between Max and Olivia seemed rushed and not very strong.
The story had a lot of potential and touched on some sensitive issues but I felt they were tackled weakly, which was a letdown.

Overall only 3 stars.

This was my fourth Jasmine Guillory book and it did not disappoint. ‘Party of Two’ is a fun, gentle, charming, opposites-attract romance between Olivia, a lawyer who has just opened her own firm and Max, a USA Senator. Olivia is a 30-something type A cautious planner and Max is a rich, handsome, super romantic, spontaneous 39-year-old charmer.

The characters were likeable and realistic and although the plot was quite light and not very much happened at times when we reached the crisis point between the couple it was very believable because Guillory had done such a great job of foreshadowing their potential issues.

If you love food in books then Guillory is the writer for you, she is almost as passionate in her food writing as she is in her bedroom scenes. There are also some really nice supporting characters around the main protagonists. I’d love to read Wes or Jamila’s books.

While some people might not be used to the occasional discussion around race and class in the book I think Guillory handled this perfectly: it was honest and realistic without ever being morose or depressing - this is a romance after all.

This is book five in a series but you absolutely DO NOT need to read the previous books to enjoy this one. It works perfectly as a standalone. Overall I would say this was a solid four-star book and the perfect summer beach read for 2020!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Headline Eternal for the ARC #partyoftwo #netgalley

My first Jasmine Guillory book and I was not disappointed 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

✨ I was REALLY in need of a fun read, which is exactly what Party for Two was. It was FULL of fun, steamy romance 🔥 and fantastic characters! (Main character Olivia is a kickass lawyer who’s just started her own firm 🙌🏻)

🖤 Huge thank you to @headline eternal for my advance copy of this. If you love rom-com this is a must for your TBR ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’ve just purchased Guillory’s backlist and cant wait to start The Wedding Date 💍

I’ve read a few books in this series and this one was fairly middle of the road. I didn’t think there was a ton of chemistry between Olivia and Max but I did enjoy their storyline. I started to lose interest near the end - the drama felt a bit forced and both leads for on my nerves.

Party of Two is a romantic whirlwind of novel that will sweep you off your feet and get you so invested in this opposite attracts story. It's the perfect read to wile away a few hours.

This is a great read if you love romance and food! It brings these two subjects together so well. The characters of Olivia and Max are interesting and make for a great story together. I have never read any other books by Jasmine Guillory, but I think I'm going to have to delve deep into her archive and read some more!

I'm a big fan of Jasmine Guillory, but this wasn't up to her normal standard. The conversations were boring and repetitive, the intimacy was poorly written and the food descriptions were more passionate that the sex. I'll read her next book, but this was too simple and looping for me to engage with.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a lovely easy read, although I thought part way through it may be part of a series and it turns out it was. As a result I feel like there was a lot about Olivia that wasn't explained and that meant I lacked an understanding of her character.

That said Olivia and Max were really likable. The book is light hearted (save for a few mixed-race relationship/political points that I felt were dealt with well), enjoyable and fun.

My only complaint is that it felt like nothing really happened. Normally books of this genre are the will they/won't they, and while we know they will, I always enjoy the getting to that bit. This happens fairly fast in this book and I suppose what we see is the more realistic will it last question and the two characters trying to make their relationship work. I'm not sure if that was a good or a bad thing for me, sometimes I like predictable!

Overall though, a lovely book.

Thank you to netgalley for this advance review copy. (For reference I read this during Covid lockdown)

Jasmine Guillory has done it again. With a great realistic rom-com.

Party of Two, The brilliant opposites-attract rom-com from the author of The Proposal!, Jasmine Guillory

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Romance,

I didn't realise this was book 5 in a connected series til I'd finished it, so you can read and enjoy without having read earlier ones. Like most character connected books though I suspect it will read even better if you've knowledge of some of the side characters from earlier reads.

I really enjoyed this, it wasn't a five star for me, but a solid four. I loved Max and Olivia, I understood why she was a planner, not a spontaneous jump right in with both feet character. She puts it down to her life experiences as a black lady, but some of us are just that way without any real reasons. I did feel her reactions were very deeply entrenched, and I understood the fear that she felt about being in the spotlight with Max. That's his life though, not just his job but his passion, so how are they to get round things?
Max was just adorable, loved his impulsiveness, even though, like Olivia, that would scare me. I can't understand how people can just make decisions on the fly like that. He was so in love with Olivia, that came over really well, but were the differences between them insurmountable or could there be a way through.

When things come to a crux I felt for both of them, I understood Olivia's horror but at the same time could see exactly why Max did what he did. He just wanted to help someone, and it seemed to him putting two folk together could do that. And maybe if there weren't a few hundred eyes on them at the time it would have been fine.....

I can see the author is in a position to understand racial issues more than me, though being naturally dark skinned I was bullied as a kid because folk assumed I was coloured, and then when I married a Zelos.....that assumption became more prevalent. However for me I felt I didn't need the constant reminder Olivia was black, I'm interested in her as a person, and of course being black affects that but its not all she is. She's an intelligent, talented businesswoman, a good sister, a great friend. She's more than *just* black, and I felt that the reminders all the way through that being black had affected her was a bit OTT for me. That's just a personal feeling though. I guess its a book where the race issue counted but when I'm reading I don't really think of people as being black or white, blonde or dark, fat or thin, they're just people to me.

When things went wrong – perfect, I loved that drama, and they seem to be in a position where I couldn't see how they could meet. Sometimes Love just isn't enough, but thankfully Jasmine found a way through, saw what could change where I couldn't see how they could get there.

The food – oh wow, loved all that, though being UK not US I have never had yellow cake with chocolate frosting? Unless yellow cake is just some kind of Victoria sponge? Sometimes English as a language used by different countries can be very confusing. And pie. Strawberry rhubarb sounds horrible to me, give me apple, apricot, blackberry, raspberry but not strawberry/rhubarb. (Rhubarb, my late husband loved it. I once made a crumble for him and a friend of mine who was also a rhubarb addict, but forgot the sugar..... My poor friend said it was really eye watering)

Stars: Four a fun read, good story with real issues between the couple that I wondered how the author could resolve. Good job I'm a reader not a writer as I couldn't see a way through.

Arc via netgalley and publishers

Meh. The writing style is stilted and difficult to enjoy. Would not recommend even it the premise is intriguing.

This was a delightful romantic comedy that I literally couldn’t put down. The characters made me laugh and cry, and the storyline was well developed. Highly recommended!

I didn't realise that this was actually the fifth book in a series until I was about halfway through. That instantly had be worried because I hate jumping into series in the middle and was worried that there would be parts that I didn't understand because I had not read the other books. I was pleasantly surprised that the book stood on its own and there was not a point were I felt like I needed to read the others for a complete picture. After doing some research it seems that the others in the series are following the love stories of other characters in the novel..

This book is such a sweet romance story. But be warned, it will make you hungry! There is constant mention of food throughout this book, the cakes and pies particularly got me. The characters instantly get on and bounce off each other and it creates a great dynamic and base for the novel. Olivia is a powerful, female lead character and is really independent which I loved about her. Max is sweet and respectful and I loved reading their journey.

I wouldn't necessarily describe the relationship between the characters as having sizzling sexual chemistry. Their love is cute and although not a slow burner I didn't find that there was loads intense sexual moments like I assumed there would be. The story was well balanced and I never felt like I was getting bored with the story line, I just would have personally preferred more passion. I did, however, like the dual narrative aspect even in the third person point of views, it really helped to understand the characters.

There was a great blend between the drama and the dialogue in the book and there was a fair bit of humour too. I also liked the mention of some of the struggled a black, female lawyer may face in her workplace and I felt this added depth to the novel, it made it more real.

It has to be said that it is not my favourite romance that I have ever read but it is a lovely summer read. It is lighthearted, predicable and made for easy reading. I would recommend it to those who are just looking for something to read for relaxation, there are no major twists in the story and it is easy to follow.

This was enjoyable but not mind-blowing.

Her slowly falling for him was well done and his jumping in headfirst was a good opposite tempo for that.

I didn't particularly like the way it wrapped up - surely all of the things they promise are much easier said than done?

This could have been slightly better if they dug into some of the issues slightly more but I get that that isn't what most people want from a romance.

Also, please may I go to Hawaii now?

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.