Review: Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory

Vivian Forest has been out of the country a grand total of one time, so when she gets the chance to tag along on her daughter Maddie’s work trip to England to style a royal family member, she can’t refuse. She’s excited to spend the holidays taking in the magnificent British sights, but what she doesn’t expect is to become instantly attracted to a certain private secretary, his charming accent, and unyielding formality.

Malcolm Hudson has worked for the Queen for years and has never given a personal, private tour—until now. He is intrigued by Vivian the moment he meets her and finds himself making excuses just to spend time with her. When flirtatious banter turns into a kiss under the mistletoe, things snowball into a full-on fling.

Despite a ticking timer on their holiday romance, they are completely fine with ending their short, steamy affair come New Year’s Day. . .or are they?

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Christy's Review: 

 

  

   

It had all started with a call from Maddie a few weeks ago.
“Hey, Mom, I need an answer fast—do you want to spend Christmas with me in England?”

 

I know it’s still summer, but I couldn’t pass up reading this holiday book written by Jasmine Guillory. If you’ve kept up with her ‘Wedding Date’ series, you know the leading lady of this story is Maddie’s mother. I couldn’t wait to read her love story. It was so sweet and super adorable.

Vivian is a busy social worker who doesn’t vacation nearly enough. When her daughter Maddie asks her to go on a work-trip with her around Christmas, she can’t say no. Who could refuse Christmas with their only child and a trip to England? While Maddie is styling a member of the royal family, Vivian plans to read, relax, and site see. She doesn’t plan on Malcolm Hudson. 



Malcolm works directly for the Queen and happens to be in the same place as Vivian. When he first sees her, he’s mesmerized. He gives her a tour of the grounds and after that, they fall into a sweet friendship with some kisses and loads of flirting. Before they know it, Vivian is set to go home. But Malcolm convinces her to stay a few days longer with just him. That time is so special between them.

When Vivian is set to go home for real, these two decide long distance would be too hard and part on good, friendly terms. They still keep in touch, though. I loved their relationship and the pen-pal way they stayed in contact. I especially loved how each of them was going through something big in their life and the other was there to lend an ear and helped them through it.

This book was a sweet romance. By the end I was charmed and had a big smile on my face. If you’re looking for a fun, romantic, holiday read, check this one out!

Review: The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

The author of The Wedding Date serves up a novel about what happens when a public proposal doesn't turn into a happy ending, thanks to a woman who knows exactly how to make one on her own...

When someone asks you to spend your life with him, it shouldn't come as a surprise--or happen in front of 45,000 people.

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... 

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CHRISTY'S REVIEW: 

 

I fell in love with Jasmine Guillory’s fresh and charming debut novel, The Wedding Date, so when I saw she had a new book coming out, I knew I had to read it. This author is not a one-hit wonder. I loved The Proposal just as much as at The Wedding Date. Carlos is an amazing man and I want to be besties with Nik and her girls!



Nik is at a Dodger’s game with her casual boyfriend, Fisher. The very last thing she is expecting at this game is a proposal. I mean, who proposes to someone they’ve been dating for 5 months? And someone they’re not even serious about? Nik is befuddled and of course says no. Fisher storms out and it puts Nik in a position. Thankfully, Carlos and his sister, Angela help Nik out and get her out of there.

Carlos likes Nik right away. There is something about her that draws him to her. Neither one of them are looking for a relationship, but they form this friendship, and that friendship turns into sex. As long as it’s just friends with benefits things will be fine. Nik can’t do a relationship now, and Carlos has too many family things on his plate. But when someone catches the feelings- things get a little tricky.

If you’ve read The Wedding Date, you know Carlos is best friends with Drew. It was nice to get their little cameo in this book. I hope this series of stand-alones continues. I would love to get a book for either one of Jasmine’s friends. I loved both Dana and Courtney! 



Carlos was by far my favorite character in this book. He was such a stand-up guy. He wasn’t independent by a strong and independent woman. I love how devoted he was to his family, how he truly cares for people, and he cooks. Don’t we all want a man to cook for us? I just adored him! Nik was great, too. She has a big heart and is a great friend/woman.

If you are a fan of friends to lovers books, The Proposal is one you need to check out. It’s sweet, heartwarming, steamy, and made me laugh out loud several times. I enjoyed this one lots!

#BerkleyBookmas special except of THE WEDDING DATE by Jasmine Guillory!

Book Babes Unite is so excited to participate in Berkley Bookmas and we’re hosting Jasmine Guillory's excerpt of THE WEDDING DATE today! Berkley Bookmas is chock full of exclusive content from authors like exclusive excerpts, deleted scenes, author recipes and more! Check out the calendar of events below:

THE WEDDING DATE by Jasmine Guillory

Berkley Bookmas Excerpt

(At the rehearsal dinner)

Boy, was it nice when this guy touched her. The hand-holding was particularly great. She felt like she was back in high school, except instead of the nerdy girl that everyone liked in that generic way, she was the girl holding hands with the hot guy at the party. She’d always wondered how that had felt.

News flash: it felt awesome.

She fought back her smile before she remembered that she was supposed to be besotted with Drew, so she let it beam as they walked through the party and up to the bar.

“Full bar, thank God. What’s your drink of choice?” He gestured to the bottles of alcohol along the bar with a flourish.

“Tonight? Let’s start with a gin martini, please.”

Drew handed over her drink and clinked it with his bourbon. They each took long sips of their drinks without breaking eye contact. Alexa glanced at an empty table in the corner and rose her eyebrows to Drew; he nodded and took her arm to steer her over there. As Drew set his glass down, a tall blond guy came over and slapped him on the back before he turned to Alexa.

“So this is Alexa? So glad you’re here with Drew for the wedding,” he said, holding out his hand for her to shake.

Drew put his hand on the small of her back.

“Alexa, I’d like to introduce you to Josh Rogers, the groom. Josh, my girlfriend, Alexa Monroe,” Drew said, his hand stroking the small of her back in a way that made her whole body tingle. Or maybe that was the gin hitting her bloodstream. She ignored whatever it was and smiled at Josh as she shook his hand.

“A pleasure to meet you, Josh. Congratulations on the wedding! I’m honored to be here.”

A strawberry blonde with soft curls and a knee-length white eyelet dress walked up to them. Alexa had pegged her as the bride as soon as she’d walked into the room—who else would wear white to a rehearsal dinner? At her approach, Alexa moved closer to Drew. He picked up his drink and sipped it, but she knew he noticed, too, because he slid his arm around her waist. Damn, there was that tingle again.

“Drew, is this Alexa? Alexa, I’m Molly. It’s so nice to meet you.”

Molly gave her a huge smile that felt genuine, and not for the first time, Alexa wondered what the whole story was between the Molly and Drew breakup. Did Josh and Molly feel guilty for what they’d done to Drew? Did they ask him to be in the wedding to assuage their guilt?

She wasn’t going to get an answer to that question right now (if ever), so her job was just to stand here next to Drew and turn on the charm. Luckily, she worked in politics; charm was her middle name.

Alexa increased the wattage of her smile by at least fifty percent.

“Molly, thank you so much for having me. Everything is lovely. What a wonderful choice for a rehearsal dinner. I can only imagine that the wedding will be just as beautiful.”

Drew’s thumb traced circles around her hip as she and Molly exchanged bright pleasantries about the wedding, the perfect weather in the Bay Area this time of year, and Josh and Molly’s upcoming honeymoon in Hawaii. Between the sensuous feel of his touch and her now-finished martini, she was almost distracted enough not to wonder if he could detect the Spanx underneath her dress. Almost.

After a few minutes, Molly glanced to the corner of the room and sighed.

“My mom is signaling me; I think I have to go talk to one of my aunts. I hope to get to talk to you more later, Alexa. And you, too, Drew. Oh, and don’t forget! The hashtag is #jollymosh.” Molly smiled and glided away.

The giveaway: one $100 Visa gift card, and a book/galley/bound manuscript by each of the authors participating. http://bit.ly/2zlFxAq

For tomorrow’s fun, head to one of the following blogs:

·         Babs Book Bistro

·         Dirty Girl Romance

·         A Southern Girl’s Bookshelf

·         Harlequin Junkie

·         Book Binge

·         Undeniably Book Nerdy

·         The Blogger Girls

·         Adria’s Musings and Reviews