Sex and the City meets The Wedding Planner in The Wedding Belles!
TO HAVE AND TO HOLD
The Wedding Belles #1
Lauren Layne
Releasing July 26th, 2016
Pocket Books
Sex and
the City meets The
Wedding Planner in The Wedding Belles, her sizzling brand new
contemporary romance series about three ambitious wedding planners who can make
any bride’s dream come true…but their own.
Discovering her fiancé is an
international conman just moments before they exchange vows devastates
celebrity wedding planner Brooke Burke’s business—and breaks her heart. Now a
pariah in Los Angeles, she seeks a fresh start in New York City and thinks
she’s found it with her first bridal client, a sweet, if slightly spoiled,
hotel heiress. Then she meets the uptight businessman who’s holding the purse
springs.
Seth Tyler wishes he could write a
blank check and be done with his sister’s fancy-pants wedding. Unfortunately,
micromanaging the event is his only chance at proving Maya’s fiancé is a liar.
Standing directly in his way is the stunning blonde wedding planner whose
practiced smiles and sassy comebacks both irritate and arouse him. He needs
Brooke’s help. But can he persuade a wedding planner on a comeback mission to unplan
a wedding? And more importantly, how will he convince her that the wedding she
should be planning…is theirs?
Lauren Layne's romantic tales just keep getting better and better and her fans reap the rewards. I still have a crush on Vincent Moretti from CUFF ME! The Wedding Belles series starts off with a bang when wedding planner Brooke squares off with her bridal client Maya's surly and uptight jerk brother Seth. Yes, he is the one who holds the purse strings. The two are constantly butting heads, but man do they spark with chemistry.
Seth loves his sister, but he doesn't know that he believes in love because his ex turned down his marriage proposal. They are wealthy and he wants to protect his sister from possibly being taken advantage of by a fortune hunter. Brooke is starting over in NYC after having been humiliated at the altar by her con man fiance. There is something in her that HAS to believe in love, so when the opportunity comes with the Wedding Belles, she goes for it.
Neither of the two are perfect. Seth's heart is in the right place, but he's become cynical. Brooke is a talented woman who is smart, talented, and savvy. She also has blinders and ignores her gut instincts about Maya and her future marriage and she doesn't like that Seth wants the fiance investigated. With what happened to her, you would think she would liked to have known about her own deceitful fiance, but Layne makes her human. How many of us ignore red flags when dealing with those we love?
There are a lot of secondary characters that I enjoyed like Alexis, Heather, and Logan. (He has a British accent)! Sexy. I also liked Seth's sister, Maya. She is a sweet and fun young woman, but she admitted to herself that she was getting tired of some of the social scene. But when she needs to, she does have a strong back bone. Seth's best friend Grant brings some humor to the story. And he's not afraid to call Seth on his stuff.
The chemistry between Seth and Brooke is hot and fierce. Neither of them want more, but the heart has a mind of it's own. The heat and passion is alive one minutes, and then they are snapping at each other, not wanting to be vulnerable with each other. This is such a great romance with two stubborn people who really need each other. I know that I was rooting for them and their happily ever after. I can't wait for the next story coming out soon. I know this series will be another hit for Lauren Layne!
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Hold
on. Back up. Back all the way up. What do you mean you’re getting
married?”
It
was eleven p.m. on a Wednesday, and Seth Tyler was exactly where he
always was these days: behind his expansive mahogany desk at the
Tyler Hotel Group, suit jacket slung over the back of his ergonomic
chair, tie begging to be undone, impeccably pressed white shirt
cuffed at the wrists.
He
raked a hand through his thick light brown hair in frustration and
fixed his younger sister with his best no-nonsense glare, an
approximation—like everything else he seemed to do lately—of his
deceased father.
When
Seth's father dropped dead of a heart attack eight months ago, Seth
had thought the hardest part about his father’s passing—other
than the mourning, of course—would be taking over the family
company.
Sure,
Seth had been groomed for the role. He’d wanted the president and
CEO title. He’d always wanted it.
Eventually.
But
not yet, for God’s sake.
Seth
had no problem admitting that he was a perfectionist, and he’d been
bound and determined to take over the family company his
way. The right way.
And
the right way, as Seth had determined it, was spending at least a
year shadowing each of the senior-level Tyler Hotel Group executives.
Seth had wanted to learn every possible detail, every in and out of
the business, before even thinking about taking over the reins of the
Fortune 500 company.
But
his father’s heart had had other plans. Mainly, up and quitting
during a routine round of golf. And so, quietly, per his father’s
wishes, Seth had become CEO two years ahead of schedule.
Not
a day passed that Seth didn’t wish his father was still with him,
but in truth, taking his place at the head of the boardroom table had
been easier than Seth had anticipated. The investors hadn’t freaked
out. The executive team hadn’t left in mass exodus. Even Hank’s
longtime assistant, Etta, had stuck around, seemingly content to call
Seth boss even as she busted his balls about not eating enough
vegetables, getting enough sleep, or getting his hair cut.
But
if taking over the family company was easier than Seth had expected,
there was one ramification of Hank Tyler’s death that Seth hadn’t
been in the least prepared for:
A
wedding.
Maya
Tyler inhaled a long, patient breath, as though preparing to deal
with a difficult child. “Well see, marriage, Seth, is when two
people fall in love and decide to spend the rest of their lives—”
“Yes,
I’m aware of how marriage works,” Seth interrupted. Although, not
as aware as well as he’d like, as it turned out. He wouldn’t be
getting any firsthand knowledge of how marriage worked any time soon.
Maya
bit her lip. “I’m sorry. I didn't mean to remind you of Nadia.”
Seth
glanced down at his desk to avoid his sister’s too-perceptive gaze.
She wasn’t wrong. He’d gotten to the point where he could go most
days without thinking of his ex, but he hadn’t yet figured out how
to think about marriage without hearing the incredulous laugh she’d
let out when he’d gone on one knee and showed her the ring he’d
spent months picking out.
“Can
we not?” he said curtly.
“Don’t
get pissed. It’s a wedding. You’re supposed to be happy.”
“I’m
not pissed; I’m just surprised.”
That
was an understatement. Seth had not
seen this coming, and for a man who exercised precision in all
things, he couldn’t say he was enjoying the shock value of Maya’s
announcement. Especially not on the heels of his father’s death. A
death that everyone but Seth had seen coming, because Seth had been
the lone outsider on the knowledge that was his father’s longtime
heart condition.
Apparently,
Hank had considered his only son a control freak—had known that
Seth would have stopped at nothing to try to halt death in its
tracks.
His
father had been, well, right.
It was hard to admit, but if Seth had known about his father’s
condition, he’d have devoted every waking hour to researching
experimental treatment and the best doctors.
Hank
Tyler hadn’t wanted that for his final months. Not for himself or
for Seth.
Still,
Seth resented not having the choice. Resented his father nearly
as much as he missed him.
But
he’d put that behind him. Mostly.
Hank
was gone, and Maya was still here. Maya was all he had.
He
had known she was dating a new guy—Neil something or other. But
Seth hadn’t thought a thing about it. Maya had whipped through a
constant string of casual boyfriends since high school, and other
than a two-year relationship in college, they had never been serious.
And
it certainly hadn’t gotten close to marriage.
What’s
worse, Seth hadn’t even met this man that was apparently to be his
brother-in-law.
But
none of this would have mattered, not really, if Seth’s instincts
hadn’t been buzzing that something was amiss with the way this was
all going down. Something was off. He knew it down to his gut.
“How
long have you been seeing this guy?” he asked.
Maya
slumped back in the plush chair facing Seth’s desk with a groan.
“Don’t do this. I knew
you were going to do this.”
He
frowned. “Do what?”
“The
big brother thing,” she said.
“Hard
not to, what with me being six years older and all,” Seth said.
He
didn’t add that he was doubly obligated to be protective given
Hank’s death just months earlier. Maya had definitely been Daddy’s
Little Princess. She still got tears in her eyes every time their
father’s name was mentioned.
Maya
leaned forward, her pale blue eyes much like his own, although her
blond hair was lighter than his, thanks to her frequent trips to the
salon.
“I
love
him, Seth. I know you’re jaded these days, but Neil is exactly the
type of guy we women spend our entire lives dreaming about.”
Seth
bit his tongue to stop from saying that he bet Maya was exactly the
type of girl that guys like Neil dreamed about, too. Young, pretty .
. . and filthy rich.
Or
so Neil likely thought.
Lauren lives in New York City with her husband (who was her high school sweetheart--cute, right?!) and plus-sized Pomeranian.
Five years ago, she ditched her corporate career in Seattle to pursue a full-time writing career in Manhattan.
She writes smart romantic comedies with just enough sexy-times to make your mother blush, and in her ideal world, every stiletto-wearing, Kate Spade wielding woman would carry a Kindle stocked with Lauren Layne books.
When not bringing The Sexy, she likes to blog about her Instagram addiction, and why mean girls are the worst.
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Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good story. Nice review!
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