I was drawn to this book by the unique premise and enjoyed how the leads dealt with one of them being the divorce lawyer for the other's ex. The leads were both very well developed, very likeable and the chemistry between them was palpable. I loved their interactions together and enjoyed seeing them tiptoe around one another. The romance was well written and well-paced. The only thing that bothered me was the attitude one of the leads had about people who don't want to be married - marriage isn't for everyone, it's perfectly normal to not want to get married ever for a variety of reasons, there's nothing wrong with that and it doesn't indicate a lack of commitment or love. I found Leah's views very judgmental and her reaction to the marriage 'conflict' very over the top in that regard.

For me, this ranks up with some of the best work Georgia Beers has put out. There tends to be a predictable pattern in FF romance novels when two women find each other and are immediately attracted to each other. There is typically an angsty moment where the couple argues and breaks up for a period of time. As I was reading this, I kept waiting for that moment and I really didn't want it to happen. Teddi and Leah immediately hit it off and they took things so slowly before finally coming together (pun somewhat intended). I saw the signs of where the possible breakup would happen and it made my heart hurt to think of them apart. When the moment came, it did hurt, but in a different way from most books. There was sadness with this, hurt, anguish. There were more tears than yelling. And when they were together again it was a magical moment to read.

Hopefully you can tell that Beers did a fantastic job of making me care about the characters, which is always a number 1 thing for me. If I don't care about the characters, the story is going to fall flat for me. That was not the case in this book. From the very beginning I was sucked into their world and could picture what was happening based on old romcoms. Leah wants that kind of story for her, despite being a divorce attorney. She wants that love everlasting, that fairy tale romance. Teddi has been burned from a first marriage and hasn't given love a chance again since, at least for herself. As a wedding planner, she makes other women's big day a reality. But she never expects it for herself.

This is such a good love story that pulled me in and would not let go. This book is a must read for anyone that believes in a happily ever after and cheering for a couple to build that relationship. Hopeless Romantic was amazing and I highly recommend it.

I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Another fantastic novel by Georgia Beers. A heartwarming f/f romance which doesn't disappoint.

I was gripped from the word go with Hopeless Romantic.

Teddi Baker, a high flying wedding planner, meets Leah, a divorce lawyer under the strangest of circumstances. There is an instant attraction which neither of them wish to admit at first as there are also barriers between them.

I loved this slow burning romance which takes place over a year in which Teddi is planning the wedding of Leah's sister, Kelly.

Georgia Beers has a brilliant style of writing. The romance is intense, there's angst between the character a brilliant plot and Teddi and Leah are such likeable characters.

5*

I received a copy of Hopeless Romantic as an ARC in return for an honest review.

Georgia Beers is an excellent writer and in this offering, a hopeless romantic (Leah) falls for Teddi who runs Hopeless Romantic (a wedding planning business). Leah meets Teddi when Leah's sister, Kelly, hires Teddi as her wedding planner. While the attraction between the two women is instantaneous, there is an immediate issue because of the fact that Leah is a divorce attorney - and not just any divorce attorney - but the attorney that represented Teddi's ex-wife during her divorce. This fact initially causes an issue but after working through her concerns and feelings, Teddi is able to get past Leah's profession and she finds that Leah is just the person she needs in her life. Since Teddi no longer believes in marriage, will this create an issue with Leah?
This was a good read because of the fact that Georgia knows how to write a good story. Without giving away the entire plot, the only part of the story where I raised my eyebrows was when Leah decided to end a perfectly good relationship just because of Teddi's stance on marriage.
Nice one!

Theodora "Teddi" Baker, passionate wedding planner extraordinaire, but a woman with no personal passion in her life.

Leah Scott, a rom-com loving divorce attorney.

Leah and Teddi meet under the strangest of circumstances. Leah is her sister's maid of honor and goes with her to "Hopeless Romantic", the wedding planning company Teddi owns.

Teddi thinks Leah looks familiar, but can't figure out why. She discovers that Leah represented her ex-wife in their divorce, nearly ruining Teddi, financially and emotionally. Resentment has been building for two years, yet Leah is so attractive!

Georgia Beers always writes a good story and there is always angst between the main characters. This story went along gently, with great characters getting to know each other and all, and I wondered when the problems would start. And then, BAM! About 3/4 of the way through, there they were!

I like how Beers knows her characters, (and, as presumptuous as it sounds about someone who's written so many books), as a writer she keeps getting better as she adds layers to how they interact, how they think. Their thoughts are ones that people have, but Beers identifies them within the situations in which she puts her characters. You can tell she cares about them and wants us to care about them, too.

Highly enjoyable and highly recommended.

I’ve lost count of the books written by Ms Beers that I’ve reviewed. Now with some authors every once in a while I find a book that just doesn’t seem to fit with their previous books. Ms Beers consistently gives us a book that is fun to read with a fair share of witty dialogue and some pretty steamy action. I’m grateful that this book follows her previous offerings.
Leah Scott, divorce attorney worked this genre mainly because she had seen first hand just how unfair the system can be. When her own father left her mom with two daughters to raise Leah was only in her early teens with a younger sister, Kelly, that she spent her life trying to be there for anytime she was needed. Now her sister has decided she wants Leah to not only be her matron of honor but help her plan her wedding day. No Problem, right. And it shouldn’t have been a problem but for the fact that Kelly's choice of wedding planner was a woman that had been married to Leah's client. And seeing she was good at her job she took her clients ex wife Teddi to the cleaners.
Teddi Baker loves her career. She gets to help brides make the big day as stress free as possible. Her own marriage didn’t turn out the way she wanted it, ending in divorce and her ex just about destroying the business Teddi built up over time and hard work. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t help others, right. And everything was going well until her next client turned out to be Kelly and she brought along with her the very woman Teddi held responsible. The bigger problem was the fact that both Teddi and Leah were very attracted to each other.
Teddi, because her track record didn’t go as planned, she did not want to ever get married again. On the other hand we have Leah whose career was helping people who wanted a divorce but she herself was a hopeless romantic. Both women have great friends who are determined at getting Teddi and Leah together no matter how hard Teddi makes it.
Again, great dialogue, steaming action and just an all around enjoyable read.
ARC via NetGalley/ Bold Stroke Books

Rom-coms are my guilty pleasure so I was sure I'd like this book, but I am a bit on the fence about it.

Leah is a divorce lawyer and she is really good at what she does. Despite being witness to the often worst part of a romance, the ending, she loves rom-coms. As in it is all she watches, they are her escape ever since she was a teen. Kelly, Leah's sister, is getting married the next year and with Leah's help, she hires a wedding planner. Teddi has been a wedding planner for years and she loves it, even after the failure of her own marriage. She has become jaded and a bit sour, but her business is thriving. Even after having to give up some of her business in the divorce. When Kelly and Leah come into Hopeless Romantic Teddi and Leah have an instant attraction. The chemistry is undeniable until Teddi realises Leah was a huge part of her horrible divorce. Denying their attraction and chemistry seems futile, especially when their friends talk some sense into them. With a couple of chance meetings and a good date their romance starts, but there is no denying Teddi's past and what Leah wants in the future.

Some of the story is rather lovely, the contradiction between being a divorce attorney and loving rom-coms, a jaded wedding planner, seems like the making of a good sappy romance. Like any rom-com really, but the story falls a little flat for me. I like the supporting characters better than the main characters, some of the story just seems stolen from any random rom-com, which would have been fine if it would have invoked the same feelings. Because let's be honest, most of the rom-coms use the same success formula, but for this book, it seems like not all ingredients were there or mixed properly to get it to work. I do always appreciate the writing style of Georgia Beers so that's a huge redeeming factor and the ending is so rom-com cliched that it almost makes up for the rest of it.

After Beer's last release, I was a bit concerned that I wouldn't enjoy this latest book. However, the plot drew me in and within the first chapter, I was hooked. I thought the idea of a divorcee wedding planner falling in love with the divorce attorney while planning the latter's younger sister's wedding was an interesting and fairly original idea.

The main characters were likable and the chemistry between the two was fun to read. The supporting characters were also each uniquely different and gave more depth to the story. I tend to like the slow burn stories filled with angst, but this one had more of a light-hearted rom-com vibe.

Overall, a solid 5 star read.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I received this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review from Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley.

This is a v very different type of Georgia Beers book. It is very similar to what she has been writing lately which I categorize as lesbian versions of half ark movies, but in book form. I thought the two characters were interesting, but the circumstances that brought them together as well as Teddie's ability to throw all the bitterness she had been holding in for over two years away within a matter of days seemed unrealistic and like a but of a stretch.

The story line is typical and predictable Girl meets sisters wedding planner, turns out she destroyed her life and livelihood in her divorce, The girl Teddi and the other girl Leah soon realize that they love each other immesly and cannot live without each other. There are the other story lines having to deal with Teddi planning Leah's younger sisters wedding, as well as one of Leah's friends falling in love with a social worker. It was a sweet book, but it was boring and as I said predictable.

I only recently picked up my first Georgia Beers book, so I had fresh expectations in mind for this book. (Most of what I have to say is going to be a spoiler.)
Teddi and Leah were combustible. From the moment that they first met, there were sparks. Each one sounded like they wanted to jump the other on the spot. It was nice that there were some fluffy moments before they got into bed.
Okay, the last part of the book. I can't say I liked it. I understand that most people would rather get married, and our hopeless romantic Leah is one of those people. That's not a surprise, and I have no issue with it: I'm also one of them. It does bother me that Leah keeps using the phrase "working toward." Her stance seems to be that relationships need to progress in order to be worthwhile, and marriage is the future of all "productive" relationships. What they had was good, but it could only be better with marriage. On that note, I sided with Teddi. Is it such a dealbreaker? A long-term committed relationship should be the same whether you call the person girlfriend or wife. (I wouldn't know, so don't chew me out.) You can have all the same things: the promise to be exclusive, living together, a picket fence, two and a half cats. For the same reason, Teddi was being irrational as well, considering that she isn't averse to long-term commitment. She just won't call it marriage.
I get that they're both set in their ways. But then all the work is done on Teddi's side. Leah shows her the door after ignoring her for a day. She does seemingly no reflection in the time that they're apart, no signs that she'd be willing to compromise. She makes no efforts to reach out to Teddi. I was fed up when it came to comparing reactions from their groups of friends. Leah is comforted by her friend and told that she needs to do what feels right. Teddi gets snapped at by Preston for being dense enough to let her relationship slip away because she can't "meet in the middle." What? First, there isn't a middle ground for this. It's either marriage or not. Second, that would really upset me if I were Teddi. I don't care who this friend is, they aren't in the relationship, so they should not be aggressively passing their judgement like this. I thought there would be a little good cop to offset the acerbity, but none came.
It's clear why Preston is allowed to go off like this. Teddi is shown as broken. Not just jaded, as the blurb would have us believe, but damaged from her experience with marriage, burned badly enough to swear it off forever. But obviously this isn't a valid choice for her to make, not if it's because she's broken. No, she needs to do a lot of thinking and come back to Leah with the right answer so that everyone can move on. Marriage is good and right and necessary. I knew from the start of their conflict that Teddi would be the one changing her mind. It was disappointing to see it carried out.
The ending scene was dull. Okay, she takes a bunch of scenes from Leah's rom-coms. Nothing wrong with paying homage, but it seems unoriginal. Teddi asks for a second chance on one knee and with jewellery in her hand, but not a ring. Hooray for compromise.
I want to think that my personal bias isn't all of the negative tone here. As I mentioned, I would 100% be the proponent of marriage that Leah is. Yet when I read Teddi's perspective, it was reasonable. She isn't commitment-phobic, and she sees a future with Leah. She isn't letting her experience with marriage taint her new relationship, other than the marriage part. She is surprisingly well-adjusted, more than you'd think from the way that her friends see her. Maybe for Teddi personally, there was in fact a need to recover a positive attitude towards marriage. It doesn't sit right with me that Leah immediately called dealbreaker and threw her out, and that her friends piled on the blame. She started having panic attacks, for goodness' sake. Nobody worked with her through it, and Leah felt nothing but self-pity.
I wanted to like this book. I really enjoyed the first 70% of it. The writing itself is excellent. Unfortunately, none of the ending sat well with me. Three and a half stars.

A nice, easy way to spend five hours during this tough time in the world. I'm not crazy about the cover (sorry Ann McMan) but this has to represent Leah since Teddi is blonde, and it's not how I pictured Leah at all. I wasn't completely sold on the chemistry between the two, and there were some parts that were hokey, but I'd still recommend this book for fans of Georgia Beers.

Soooo close to 5 stars for me. It's hard for me to give a book 5 stars, so I'd probably concur with others who do give this story 5 stars. Just an overall solid book from Beers.

The main points - loved the main characters. Both of them were likable right from the get-go. And the banter from them made me laugh out loud at time. They were just cute, and had this instant connection that was a joy to read.

Most importantly, I thought it was clever that the divorce attorney was the romantic, while the wedding planner was the cynic/skeptic. It was a very interesting "opposites attract" scenario. Very unique, I should say.

Last thing, kudos that the relationship spanned over a year. I love that it wasn't 2 weeks! It leant to the credibility of their feelings and the true nature of the discussion of marriage, and how important that was at the time of their relationship.

Overall, a definite buy from me.

Can a wedding planner believe that true love doesn't exist? No? Then meet Teddi. Due to an awful divorce, she has given up any hopes of a true love in the future. She does not want to have to deal with that terrible experience again. All bets are off on this, until she meets her new client's sister, Leah. The only problem is Leah is the divorce attorney that her ex-wife employed.
Despite Teddi having to see Leah with her sister every appointment, she realizes that it was not Leah, but her ex-wife that destroyed her life. Once that realization sets in, her eyes are open to the chemistry between them. It is the chemistry that scares Teddi and she tries to avoid it all costs.
I would highly recommend this book.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Evan Blood
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Hopeless Romantic by Georgia Beers
Hopeless Romantic
by Georgia Beers (Goodreads Author)
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When a wedding planner still recovering from her own divorce meets a divorce attorney looking for that hallmark level happily ever after, will love be enough to conquer all?

Georgia Beers is back with her latest novel. Our two protagonists are women who have attitudes opposite to what you may expect. Teddi Baker had her heart crushed in her divorce and has only started to get to a point with more good days than bad - divorce shattered her and another marriage is off the table. Leah Scott is a divorce attorney who spends the time out of of the office cosily enjoying Hallmark channel and dreaming of her own wedding. These women have their careers, dreams and baggage. Apart from that they have irresistible chemistry and a story that drives you to keep reading.

I enjoyed watching this story play out. Beers creates characters with depth, writes fiery passion, and shows the growth that is a necessary part of mature relationships. As always, this has left me for ready for her next new novel. (Loved the gentle nod to a previous novel though!)

*I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

Another great read from Georgia Beers. I have to admit that some of her previous books didn't work out for me mostly cause I didn't like one of the two MCs. In this case I was able to connect with both Leah and Teddi plus their chemistry was believable and strong since their first meeting.
Teddi is a disillusioned wedding planner that was burned in the past by her ex wife who literally left her with less than half of her successful business. Leah is a divorce lawyer who loves Rom-Coms and who meets Teddi when the last one organizes her favorite sister's wedding. I loved that fact that Teddi realized pretty early that Leah was the lawyer who represented her ex wife during the divorce. I wanted this coincidence out of the way pretty soon in order to focus on the built up of the relationship.
Even though I found this book a little boring at times , I really loved the last quarter of it, even if it had the predictable "let's fight and then I'll make it up to you with a big gesture"
Overall a great read and it's totally recommended by me!

I wanted to like this more than I did. It was good! I just wasn't completely captivated. I thought there would be more angst, more enemies to lovers. And it's fine that it wasn't there, but I thought it would be. The characters had chemistry and I liked that they were able to overcome their history.

I had some personal issues/baggage with the conflict at the end. Firstly, it felt a little rushed both how it showed up and how it was resolved. Secondly, the personal baggage and my own feelings around marriage made it hard for me to feel HEA for them.

Beers always writes a good book and this book doesn't change my thoughts on that. But this particular story wasn't my favorite.

Teddi plans weddings even though her own marriage dissolved terribly. One of her clients brings her irresistible sister, Leah, along with her. There is definitely a spark there between Teddi and Leah. However, Leah's job as a divorce lawyer brings all to many painful memories for Teddi.

This book reminded me of a romantic comedy. Even the super extravagant and cheesy ending. But we all love these movies, right? I really enjoyed all of the cute scenes where Teddi and Leah interacted. I particularly liked a New Years Eve party that Leah is forced to go to where she discovers that Teddi is also there and they are drawn to one another.

A good dose of angst was served as the two struggle over differing outlooks on life. It felt realistic and true to the characters experiences. I appreciate that type of integrity to character and development.

Overall, you can't go wrong with this Georgia Beers romance. A love story that makes you work for it.

I recommend this to people who love to read about romance, jaded characters, weddings, lawyers, divorce, and hopeless romantics.

---
I am including a disclaimer that I am 20+ book reviews behind. Unfortunately, that means quite some time has passed since reading. So this review is likely not as in depth as normally would be as it is not fresh on the brain.

An enemy to lover story. Teddi is a 40 something wedding planner. She is also jaded by her divorce in which her ex-wife got half of her money forcing her to reduce her wedding planning business. She takes on a new client whos sister is no other than Leah, her ex-wife divorce attorney.

A fun romance with mature career woman. A little bit of angst and lots of wedding planning.

If you are a fan of Georgia Beers you know what to expect with this story. It isn't one of her worst books nor is it one of her best. Its essentially a safe bet for a nice sweet and romantic story that may be a little too predictable at times. The premise of a divorce attorney who is actually romantice and a wedding planner that's jaded about love is funny but interesting and is what drew me to this book. However this is not an enemies to lovers book where things are one sided for a good portion of the book. No the 'wronged' character forgives fairly early in the book and I consider that blessing as I hate that drawn out angst. Still the pacing of the story was a little slow and felt like a bit of a slog at times but about 50% of the way things pick up.

Mostly Wonderful
Teddi is a wedding planner. After her divorce and losing half her assets she is no longer a fan of the institution for herself. Her latest client Kelly is a gem with a supportive, beautiful sister who captures Teddi’s attention. Leah is a divorce attorney who believes in happily ever after and wants that for her sister. When she meets Teddi, she is taken by the lovely woman. What happens when Teddi realizes Leah is responsible for her having to close two of her shops to pay off her ex-wife?

I really liked the story, for the most part. It was funny and witty, well written and engaging, no pun intended. I loved all the sexy, sensualness that this couple had. It was fun to watch them fall in love and I loved their love. However, there was a part of the book that I had a problem with. Spoiler Alert! Teddi does not want to get married again and suddenly Leah wants that for herself and she has been dreaming of this since she was little. That was never brought up before so it seems weird that it only comes into the story after Teddi tells Leah she doesn’t want to get married again. Leah says that marriage is the next step and without something to work toward there is no point in a relationship. I think this is utter Bull S***! There is ALWAYS something to work toward in any relationship, whether it’s with a piece of paper of not. Why is marriage the make or break of their relationship? This was never going to be an either or situation and that really sucked about the book, and in life too I guess but it just doesn’t seem fair that Teddi has to do all the bending. End Spoiler Alert! Overall, it was a good book but not Ms Beer’s best, in my opinion. Maybe you will feel differently.