Reviews

4.5 STARS
“Wedding season” has arrived and there are a lot of events for the characters to attend both pre-wedding and the actual wedding’s.
During this time Zara’s Aunties are trying to be the matchmaker with the most matches. It’s a competition amongst the woman.
Zara considers herself good at setting friends up subtly and with thoughtfulness into who would actually be a great couple. She has her own secret side competition with her Aunties.
The Aunties are hilarious, warm and a really incredibly fun part of the story.
Zara’s dad, her best friend /roommate, Jay’s mom and her boyfriend are also substantial secondary characters that I loved.
Zara and Jay meet at a paintball pre-wedding party. It’s hate at first encounter for both. Friction and clashes ensue….with physical attraction and sparks of course.
Zara is an amazing heroine, I absolutely adore her!
She is super quirky! She is sparkles and bright colors.
She is bubbly, the life of the party, unpretentious and kind. She’s prone to embarrassing falls, spills and over sharing.
She’s also incredibly intelligent, quick witted and clever. She is underestimated by some because they see the flash, her beauty, the fun and the trips and spills.
They miss the intelligence and heart underneath.
She’s unapologetically herself and it makes for a lovable character who provides lots of laughs and entertaining situations.
She’s a lawyer with employers that rival her quirkiness. It’s another fun aspect of the story.
Jay is a former military officer, he has started a private security company with a friend. He’s very straight laced, no nonsense and serious.
He doesn’t want a serious relationship, he doesn’t think it fits in his life. He’s also suffering in many ways from PTSD and he’s not gotten help for it. It’s a big part of why he doesn’t want a relationship.
He has no family other than his mom, who he is very close to. There is emotional baggage in his family’s past that adds to him being a bit aloof.
He’s smart, loyal and a bit of an alpha male. Very masculine and attractive.
Despite the initial impression of him being uptight and brash, he is actually generous, kind, and witty.
He is actually warmer than his initial impression. He grew on me quickly and I fell for him.
The two are at “the singles table” together at the weddings of their friends/family. Zara decides she’s going to get him a perfect match. It will help him professionally and she hopes personally as well.
They start spending time together, they begin to get to know each other. Which is made easier by Zara’s openness and exuberance.
Their journey towards feeling more for each other was so fun, so original and really inviting. They “click” so well and their chemistry is really hot.
Zara believed she’s “too much” because of her over zealous nature.
It’s what makes her so appealing to Jay, the man that is holding everything in, taking care of everything.
She is the inspiration for him to loosen up. She’s the brightness to his shadows.
Jay thinks Zara is perfect as she is, he encourages her to stay true to herself. This is the part of him that made me swoon hard! He seems a bit uptight and for him to see her, accept and appreciate her eccentricities is really so awesome and beautiful.
This is a new to me author, I really love the writing style.
The banter was great, the comedy and quirky characters were amazing!
Secondary characters added so much without overwhelming the main characters journey and romance.
There are serious emotions and things the characters are dealing with, it is balanced perfectly by the humor and the wit.
This is a really fun romance that has tons of heart and important emotional aspects that are relevant and relatable.
I felt the connection that Jay and Zara share had depth and it was also so very fun.
For some reason I wasn’t expecting much sex or fire. I was pleasantly surprised with the hot factor of the characters together.
These two are gloriously open and super spicy. The combustible factor is in their banter AND in the bedroom