Romance Annotation: "The Wedding Party" by Jasmine Guillory

The Wedding Party

by Jasmine Guillory

Synopsis

Maddie Forest has never been a fan of her best friend Alexa’s other best friend and co-worker, Theo Stephens.  He’s uptight, arrogant, and worst of all, he clearly has a disdain for her and her choice of career as a personal stylist. When the two find themselves at Theo’s apartment after a night of drinking, they end up spending a passionate night together.  Not quite ready to go back to being enemies, the two make an agreement to continue with a secret affair, but with conditions: Alexa cannot know they’re sleeping together and their physical relationship ends after Alexa’s upcoming wedding.  Things turn complicated quickly when Alexa asks both Maddie and Theo to be in her bridal party, and the two find themselves spending more and more time together.  As real feelings start to develop between the two, can they get past their first impressions of each other and can something that starts as purely physical evolve into something more?

Elements of Romance

-          Tone: Romance novels create a feeling of togetherness, support, and deep bonding.  Maddie and Theo both have strong positive relationships with their best friend Alexa and with their families (Maddie with her mother and Theo with his brother, Ben).  As they spend time together throughout the book, the two bond over similar upbringings and their struggles as minorities trying to forge successful careers. The book has an emotionally satisfying conclusion.   

-          Characterization: Maddie fits the description of the modern “everyday woman” typically found in the protagonists of most contemporary romance novels.  She is definitely independent and strong, starting her own business and often described as “stubborn” in the story.  Theo is depicted as an intellectual workaholic, and fits into the modern hero role of accepting his heroine as she comes.  Secondary characters are well-developed and tie into Guillory’s previous titles The Wedding Date and The Proposal and subsequent title Royal Holiday.

-          Story Line: The story, like all romances, primary focuses on the relationship between Maddie and Theo, starting with their first romantic moments and working through several obstacles before reaching its happy ending.  Current social issues are brought into the story through Theo’s role as a staffer in the mayor’s office and the lead characters discuss some of the challenges they face as minorities in the professional world.  Protagonists from other Guillory novels (Alexa and Drew from The Wedding Date and Carlos and Nik from The Proposal) are featured as secondary characters so readers can continue to follow their stories.

-          Language/Style: Guillory uses lots of witty banter between all the characters when creating her dialogue.  Her language invokes much of the millennial hesitation towards commitment as the two begin to develop feelings. Texts between characters are included when they are hiding their conversation from those in the same room as them.  Physical encounters are described with a mix of sensual and anatomic terms, and while things can get steamy, the focus quickly shifts back to the emotional aspect of their relationship.

-          Frame/Setting: Set in the Bay area of San Francisco in the current day, Guillory adds geographic and cultural details to the story, but most of the setting simply provides a background to the central romantic storyline.  The professional lives of both Theo and Maddie (and even some secondary characters) provide depth to the story and the characters as well as presenting obstacles to the happy ending.

-          Pacing: Like most romances, this is a fast-read story.  The banter between characters pulls the reader along, and the story builds towards the predicted outcome.  I read this book in two nights and stayed up late the second night because I couldn’t put it down.

Read-a-likes

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

The Bridesmaids Behaving Badly series by Jenny Holiday

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne