Breakups and Bouquets by @baileyblackbooks

Received this book as an ARC through @netgalley
This book will officially release on September 19, 2025.

Emma is a wedding planner who is a week away from her dream wedding when her fiancé calls everything off. Now she’s broke, essentially homeless, and missing out on not only the wedding of her dreams, but also the publicity for her wedding planning company that comes along with it.
So, on a drunken whim, she decides to gift her dream wedding to a lucky couple with the caveat that they will have to keep the wedding date, which as we already know is only a week away.
As luck would have it, the couple she picks to have her wedding is very close to the landlord of her office building, Matt.
He makes a deal with Emma to fake date him in order to sell the reason for the free wedding and the rest is history…😉

This book absolutely hit every mark for me. I loooove a slow burn, fake dating trope and this one was done so well.
Matt is confident and sexy and Emma is figuring out everything in her life. He is the calm to her storm. And it helps that he’s a hottie with lotsa money!!

The spice is perfect and the tension is elite. I kind of wanted to start the book over as soon as I’d finished it.

The only gripe I have is that I would have loved to see more of a conclusion to Katie’s story.

Anyway, I immediately bought the physical copy of this book and I’m stoked to own it!

5stars
2.5 spice level

4.5⭐️

This book was a little out of the norm for me. I won't normally intentionally pick up a slow burn romance, but because it had a couple of tropes I do like and the blurb intrigued me, I thought I'd give it a go. I can happily say that I'm glad I gave it a chance... I loved it. So much so I devoured it in one sitting.

So, Emma's life feels like it's imploding when her fiance tells her he doesn't want to marry her anymore. 9 days before they are supposed to say "I do." Oh, and to top it off, he wants her out of his condo too (what a douche canoe!). After a little too much wine at her office, she decides to give her wedding away on social media, save it going to waste. Enter stage right our MMC, Matt, the grumpy landlord who ends up oh so soft just for her. I absolutely adored this man. I found myself wanting to sit there squealing and kicking my feet in excitement at the sweet things he says (and the no so sweet things too!) Total top teir, book boyfriend material. He sweeps in to help save the day, in more ways that one.

I also really liked that Emma didn't just sit around wallowing. No, she shook it off and went full steam ahead. It was so nice to follow along and see the relationship develop. Which brings me to my next point of the 'slow burn', like really sloooooow...but I can't be mad. The sexual tension between these two, from pretty much the get-go, was just wow! In a way, it made it a lot more enjoyable to read because Emma didn't just jump from one man to another. She actually wanted to sort herself out at the end of their whole "fake dating" arrangement. And it really helped that Matt was the supportive cupcake that he is.

If a small town, rom-com with all the feels and some drama from the douchey ex, is your vibe, then you will love this. To be honest... even if it isn't, it is well worth picking up.

“I know that this kind of desire can only end in one of two ways. Heartbreak or forever and I’m not sure I can handle either one right now.”

This was a very cute fake dating, close proximity, slow burn romance. 



Emma (FMC), is dumped by her fiancé just over a week before her wedding. She tries to turn her heartbreak into joy by gifting her wedding to a deserving couple in hopes that the PR stunt will also help her failing wedding planning business. Matthew (MMC), the affluent landlord to her office building, just so happens to be the winning brides brother- and has a longstanding crush on Emma. Their two lives conveniently, and strategically, collide in this well paced romance novel.



I appreciated how protective and possessive the MMC was, but in a non controlling and non domineering way. Matthew’s character was great- attentive, assertive, confident- he gives all the feels. I could feel his flirty smirk all the way to my toes. I would definitely recommend this cozy read!



ARC copy received through Net Galley

Emma is a wedding planner on the verge of being bankrupt when her fiance breaks up with her. Forced to sleep in her office, Emma decides to make someone else' s dreams come true by giving away her wedding.

I was honestly surprised by this book and thought the chemistry between the MCs, Emma and Matt was fantastic. Originally, I was skeptical as the book made it seem like Matt knew everything about Emma and it made him come off as a stalker and it isn't until the later half of the book that we discover why.

Even better was how the writer didn't instantly throw them into a relationship when they discovered it was no longer fake. This is absolutely refreshing, especially since Emma was able to find herself but still have Matt in her life/presence.

This is what a book boyfriend should be and Matt is the perfect MMC. My only issue is that I wish the story had been longer and drawn out a bit more, maybe some drama with Matt.

The spice was handled and well written without dragging out for pages at a time.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this book to others.

Expected Pub Date: Sept 19th, 2025

Emma is a wedding planner who turns her heartbreak into someone else’s dreams come true. And who better to help her than her grumpy landlord!

This was such a cute story. I loved Emma’s character. She has so much determination and strength. I am a sucker for a fake dating trope and this one delivered.

“You know, perfection isn’t about getting everything exactly right. It’s about those little moments that take your breath away.” Swoon!

The only con for me was Matt’s character in the beginning of the story. I was getting stalker vibes, but I do like how his character develops throughout the story.
3.75 stars!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5 stars)

This book isn’t reinventing the wheel—and honestly, it doesn’t need to. I knew exactly what I was getting going in: a romance packed with my favourite tropes, and it delivered perfectly. Fake dating, forced proximity, ex drama, office sleepovers, and that grumpy/sunshine spark, it’s all here, and it just works.

Emma’s heartbreak-turned-giveaway setup was such a fun twist to kick things off, and her chemistry with Matthew had me hooked right away. Their banter was sharp, their tension deliciously slow-burn, and I loved watching the lines between “pretend” and “maybe this is real” blur.

It’s the kind of story you can fall into and not want to put down. In fact, I didn’t; I read it all in one sitting and absolutely stayed up too late, but it was worth it.This is the kind of book that’s perfect after a long day, when you don’t want the commitment of starting a new series, you just want something familiar, comforting, and tropey.

If you’re looking for an easy, fun, and satisfying romance read with tried-and-true tropes done right, this one deserves a spot on your TBR.

This was a surprisingly good read. When I read the description, I felt like I had read this kind of plot plenty of times. Emma's life turned upside down but she didn't let it knock her down. She turns her failure into succes and Matt is there every step of the way, encouraging her and quietly cheering her on. Her ex is a real piece of work and kept trying to keep her in his life. The only thing I was a little miffed about, was the fact that Emma did not inform his new girlfriend of the fact that he was cheating on her. Since it was clear the new girlfriend did not know they were still together, she deserved a heads up about her boyfriend.