Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding

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D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins

9 reviews

bookishkellyn's review

lighthearted

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Kris (an Afro-Latina stud) is looking for real love and D’Vaughn (a plus-sized closeted femme) is looking to finally live her life freely. Sparks fly when they meet and navigate the reality show process in this LGBTQ+ rom-com. D’Vaughn aggravated my very last nerve with her constant doubts, but their love story was endearing and realistic.

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victoriousbookworm's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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wilybooklover's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

3.5

This was really cute! I loved the emphasis on communication and how there wasn’t any unnecessary drama. I also enjoyed the humour and all of the secondary characters, especially Kris’s family.

Unfortunately though, I just wasn’t sold on the whole reality TV premise. It seemed really cruel and out of character for our two heroines to lie to their families and make them plan a fake wedding (and honestly, their families are way nicer than me because I would’ve been mad to find out it was all lies after genuinely welcoming someone into the family and putting all that work into the planning). I was also completely baffled by

the choice at the end to get married over taking the money — weddings aren’t cheap but you can certainly pay for one with plenty left over with two hundred thousand between you.

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booksjessreads's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I really enjoyed this book!! It was such a wholesome romance between D'Vaughn and Kris and they are both such great characters. I loved listening to both of their perspectives, getting to know their families and their friends. I also loved the premise for the show and how there was a really diverse range of contestants. It was super joyful and lighthearted and just the kind of queer joy I needed to hear.

I am in partial agreement with the other reviews in that this could have benefitted from some more drama. But also f*** the drama, let the characters have their queer joy!! Romance is not my genre generally, but I know that there is often a point of contention that comes up as a plot point throughout the book. Whilst I think in ways, it definitely could have benefited from that, it was also great on its own and our MC's were just having a great time.

One thing that I also did find could have made it better is if the 'miscommunication' trope wasn't used consistently throughout the whole book. When any of the characters had an issue with something, they just didn't speak to one another until a lot later. I found this incredibly annoying and perhaps they could have had some more juicy conversations had they spoken to one another. The game show premise also could have been explored slightly more with relation to the other contestants, they were left out a lot. Furthermore, the game show felt a bit rushed at the end. We get to Week 4 by like 70-80% of the way through the book. I did feel as though this could have been more balanced.

Overall, I really enjoyed this!! I felt it was super wholesome and I loved all of the characters, the idea of the gameshow and the direction in which the storyline went. I would recommend and definitely listen to the audio, because it had me fully laughing on the train in a way I don't think the print would have!

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ramreadsagain's review

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lighthearted medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

boobs should not be called ‘round globes’ and eyes should not be called ‘orbs’. anyway.

I did love the representation in this and I’m guessing this is a large contributing factor to why this has such a high rating.

I was super intrigued by the reality TV aspect but it ended up hardly even mattering or contributing to the plot.

Even at the end when it’s revealed at the wedding we never get to see people’s reactions, and I feel there would be at least some negative reactions to that!

I would also have loved to see some of the other couples and had some actual proper reality TV style drama.

D’Vaughn and Kris’s narrative voices were too similar for me, leading to me hardly even bothering to read whose POV each chapter was. Their insta love was cute but more tension, drama or conflict would have really been a benefit here. The book somehow ends up feeling incredibly plot light. It was overall enjoyable and cute to read but I’ve ended up feeling disappointed by this.

A lot of the Spanish wasn’t even correct lol – how hard is it to find a Spanish-speaking proof reader??

One last thing is that I found everyone’s family members to be very weird.

At one point one of their sisters comes across them snogging in the hallway and says “you look like you’re going to whip out your strap and fuck her in the hallway”!!??! Who talks like that to their SISTER???

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just_one_more_paige's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

If this cover doesn’t catch your eye, I really don’t know what to tell you. Haha. But in all seriousness, I was feeling in the mood for a romance and this one was both on my TBR and available on the “new books” shelf at the library.

D’Vaughn and Kris are both contestants on a reality tv show, Instant I Do, in which people are paired with a complete stranger and must convince their families that they are in love/engaged and plan a wedding together over a six-week period. This season, the show is focusing on queer couples, so D’Vaughn is using it as a chance/push to finally come out to her family. While Kris is there to, despite how cheesy it sounds, find true love. And building her social media brand up at the same time would be convenient. As the two spend time together, they realize that actually, their feelings for each other might mean even more than the money they could win be “making it” though the full six weeks of the show.

I know I have said this before, but the reality tv setting is getting really popular in recent romance releases. And despite the fact that I don’t watch them myself, IRL, I have enjoyed reading about them (Rosalie Palmer Takes the Cake and The Charm Offensive being two notable favs). So I didn’t really read too much into the details of the “show” in this one, I just clocked it was a reality tv situation. If I’m being really honest, that might have been a mistake for me here. The concept of this show actually made me really uncomfortable, in the squirmy way. Like, maybe if your “partner” was not a good match for you and you don’t make it very far into the six weeks, it would be different. But the idea of lying to my entire family about something as serious/emotionally invested as being in love with someone, like legitimately going out of my way to include them in something that was most likely fake, feels wrong to me (especially for people as close to their families as D’Vaughn, and especially Kris, were). So even as the rest of the story unfolded, that sense of discomfort remained a constant background “noise” for me, and really affected my overall reading experience.

As far as the romance itself, it was fast (obviously), but I did feel the chemistry between D’Vaughn and Kris. The physical chemistry in particular was spectacularly written. I also loved the unquestioning emotional, from the very beginning, between the two, especially in the way they dealt with each other’s families. Their dialogue together was sweet (pet names were used to adorable effect) and snarky, a great combo. And the ebb and flow, but steady rise, of D’Vaughn and Kris’ relationship was exactly what I wanted – there was conflict, of course, but no “last minute breakup” or manufactured miscommunications/drama (well, other than the completely manufactured show situation), but I felt even that was never really as big a hurdle as it could have been. In addition to their romance build, I did think the focus on coming out, the ways people can be supportive and not be at all supportive (even when they think they’re being an ally) was well done. It was complex and nuanced and emotional in ways that felt very genuine.

The development of the show, the way the “challenges” worked, etc. did leave something to be desired. Like how is the point to try to get people to legit say “I do,” but also not give them that much time to get to know each other outside of time spent with families? The involvement of the EPs, the filming, and other details felt uneven too. Also, the challenges themselves just weren’t that inspired. But all in all, I guess it did provide the scaffold for the rest of the story and that was the point of it, as a plot device and vehicle for relationships development.

While there was some deeper emotional exploration and reactions to the coming out/diversity/acceptance aspects, this was overall just a cheese-basket of tropes. It was fast and entertaining and not a new favorite because of the show set-up, but I was here for the rest of it, for D’Vaughn and Kris’ happy ending.

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decklededgess's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

trigger warnings: religious trauma, homophobia, emotional manipulation, pregnancy, fatphobia, racist microaggressions

I am STUNNED by thing book. How do you have me wrapped around these characters' fingers so quicklyyyyy? Kris's incessant and shameless flirting, D'Vaughn's charming shyness and smartass quips, the entire extended family dynamic, all of it was just so precious. I am delighted by how authentically these characters fell in love over a six week period. And the fact that all their struggles were on how to support each other and improve themselves to be better partners rather than wallowing in their own hurt....perfection. Sad there wasn't more smut but that's my constant complaint so don't worry about it.

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amberinpieces's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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caseythereader's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Thanks to Harlequin for the free advance copy of this book.

- Queer screaming time! I adored this F/F romance between a butch Afrolatina and a curvy Black woman as they fall in love while fake engaged for a reality show. It's deeply queer and deeply lovable. It's laugh out loud funny while also handling some hard emotions.
- This book strikes the perfect balance between electric chemistry and gentle, caring support.
- POSSIBLE SPOILERS: I admit I was a bit nervous about the part of the plot where D'Vaughn is using the show to come out to her family (especially as Colton Underwood's show is under fire for doing just that). But Higgins uses the situation to talk about a coming out experience that is under-discussed: how even when your family is supportive after you come out, the fact that they kept quiet before can be hurtful and damaging in a different way.

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