Book Review: Party of Two (The Wedding Date #5)

Release Date: 13 July 2021

Genre: Romance, Adult, Fiction

Format: Kindle/Audible (whispersync)

Author: Jasmine Guillory

Narrated By: Janina Edwards

Pages/Length: ~349 Pages/~9 Hrs 26 Mins

Dating is the last thing on Olivia Monroe’s mind when she moves to LA to start her own law firm. But when she meets a gorgeous man at a hotel bar and they spend the entire night flirting, she discovers too late that he is none other than hotshot junior senator Max Powell. Olivia has zero interest in dating a politician, but when a cake arrives at her office with the cutest message, she can’t resist—it is chocolate cake, after all.

Olivia is surprised to find that Max is sweet, funny, and noble—not just some privileged white politician, as she assumed him to be. Because of Max’s high-profile job, they start seeing each other secretly, which leads to clandestine dates and silly disguises. But when they finally go public, the intense media scrutiny means people are now digging up her rocky past and criticizing her job, even her suitability as a trophy girlfriend. Olivia knows what she has with Max is something special, but is it strong enough to survive the heat of the spotlight?

So, I thought Party of Two was pretty decent book. Definitely a lot better than Royal Holiday. This book follows Olivia Monroe. If you read The Wedding Date (Book #1), then you may know that Olivia is Alexa Monroe’s older sister. In previous books, I actually liked Olivia as a character, so I was excited read a romance novel involving her.

Olivia decides to move from New York to Los Angeles to start her new law firm and to be closer to her family. During this time, she is staying at Hotel because she waiting for her new home to be move in ready. While staying in the hotel, she decides to go to the hotel bar for a drink and ends up meeting Max Powell. Which she later learns that he is a Senator. They end up having a good connection, but they decide to leave it at that at the end of the night. Of course after this one night they can’t stop thinking about each other and suddenly run into each other unexpectedly. From there, the romance begins.

I couldn’t really find my self falling in love with or connecting to the characters in this book. While I do think it is still a good read, I wasn’t in love with it. In romance series like this, you find them to become repetitive sometimes and even predictable. All while reading this (especially closer to the end), I was just waiting for the fight and break up to happen because I knew it would happen. What’s a romance novel without an argument that leads to a dramatic break up and them eventually making up?

The book does hit some deep topics like race and privilege. Which seems to be a trend in Guillory’s previous books as well.

My overall rating: