The Proposal
By: Jasmine Guillory
Published Year: 2018
Publisher: Berkley Books
Pages: 327
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): When freelance writer Nikole Paterson goes to a Dodgers game with her actor boyfriend, his man bun, and his bros, the last thing she expects is a scoreboard proposal. Saying no isn't the hard part--they've only been dating for five months, and he can't even spell her name correctly. The hard part is having to face a stadium full of disappointed fans...
At the game with his sister, Carlos Ibarra comes to Nik's rescue and rushes her away from a camera crew. He's even there for her when the video goes viral and Nik's social media blows up--in a bad way. Nik knows that in the wilds of LA, a handsome doctor like Carlos can't be looking for anything serious, so she embarks on an epic rebound with him, filled with food, fun, and fantastic sex. But when their glorified hookups start breaking the rules, one of them has to be smart enough to put on the brakes...
First Impressions
I enjoyed Guillory’s first book, The Wedding Date so I was looking forward to reading this next installment. I love when a series isn’t tied together by the story but by the world it takes place in. The cover are is cute and definitely something I would pick up off the shelf. It also has a lot of details you slowly notice as you read the story.
What I thought
This book was very cute and I think I liked it better than The Wedding Date. Also, I initially read this book in December and it has since become the February book club pick for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club. Now, this doesn’t really impact my review at all, just thought it was a good piece of information for you to know. I have enjoyed every book that I’ve read that has been a Reese recommendation. Some more than others. So, if you are looking for other books to read, I recommend looking at her book club picks. Anywho, back to my review.
Carols and his sister save Nikole from the masses after a disastrous proposal at a Dodgers game. Afterwards, Carols and Nik become friends and eventually a little more. Nik isn’t looking for another relationship and neither is Carols, so they agree to keep things casual.
I really liked Nikole in this story. Yes, she has issues, but she’s still a fully functioning human being. I found most of her reactions to things that happened to be normal and relatively levelheaded. When her boyfriend proposes, she rightly responds with “We’ve never even discussed this!” I also appreciated that she takes action instead of just sitting around and waiting for things to happen.
Carols is, of course, perfect. I liked him in The Wedding Proposal as Drew’s friend. He was a sweet guy who seemed to truly have his friend’s interests at heart. I loved seeing his relationship with his family members, especially with his sister.
While this book isn’t going to shock you with twists and turns, it will take you on a happy and love filled journey. Like all romance novels, there it a conflict that happens in the back half of the novel that appears like it’s going to completely destroy everything. I know I keep saying this but, the way this conflict was handled was reasonable and it didn’t seem thrown in just to cause issues. I also didn’t find myself disliking any of the characters because of how they reacted.