Review: THE WEDDING DATE DISASTER by Avery Flynn

Review partner Amber had the good fortune of being in a book club that chose this “rom-com” story from Avery Flynn as their group read. Definitely one to add to your own book club’s TBR list!

Author: Avery Flynn
Series: Harbor City (#4)
Release Date: August 25, 2020
Pages: 330
Review Copy: own/audiobook

Blurb:

I can’t believe I have to go home to Nebraska for my sister’s wedding. I’m gonna need a wingman and a whole lot of vodka for this level of family interaction. At least my bestie agreed he’d man up and help. Too bad he had to catch a different flight than me. Then his plane got delayed. And finally—because bad things always happen in threes—instead of my best friend, his evil twin strolls out of the airport.

If you looked up doesn’t-deserve-to-be-that-confident, way-too-hot-for-his-own-good billionaire in the dictionary, you’d find a picture of Will Holt. He’s awful. Horrible. The worst—even if his butt looks phenomenal in those jeans.

Ten times worse? My buffer was supposed to be there to keep me away from the million and one family events. But Satan’s spawn just grins and signs us up for every. Single. Thing.
Fine. “Cutthroat” Scrabble? I’m in. I can’t wait to take this guy down a notch.

But somewhere between Pictionary and the teasing glint in his eyes, our bickering starts to feel like more than just a game…

Initial Thoughts/Expectations:

I’ve read a few Avery Flynn novels set in her fictional bustling town of Harbor City and they’ve all been lighthearted and funny so I had high hopes that the Wedding Date Disaster would be along those same lines. I’ve been in a funk and was really looking forward to an enemies-to- lover troupe, which happens to be my favorite go-to guilty pleasure reads. The blurb promised me crazy family shenanigans, rich playboy twins, and plenty of awkward situations to put our couple through. Yes, please!

What I Loved:

The Wedding Date Disaster was overflowing with humor and had all the earmarks for rom-com gold! Hadley is a small town girl looking to convince her well-intentioned family that life is perfect and she’s made the right choice in moving away to the big city. Except life isn’t perfect and she’s struggling to find her place. As someone who has also struggled to figure out life, her situation resonated with me and I was more than willing to go along with her hairbrained scheme to bring her male bff as a pretend date to her sister’s weeklong wedding celebration. What could possibly go wrong, right?

Enter Will, who shows up as a replacement boyfriend after his brother gets sick. He’s hot, rich, and has a huge grudge against Hadley because he’s convinced she wants to date his brother just for their money. Both characters were so committed to hating each other even when they were no longer sure why they were upset anymore. Watching them try to fight their attraction to one another, and failing miserably, was too much fun! I was under the misconception that this book would be more cutesy than steamy, but those two proved me wrong within the first chapter. The Wedding Date Disaster struck the right mix of intense passion, sweet sincere emotion and laugh out loud humor.

The Donavan family scenes were some of my favorites, as they really rounded out the story and kept Hadley and Will on their toes. They were a big diverse group and even though the book is romance focused we got a chance to iron out some family drama. It was cathartic not only for Hadley, but for me as the reader too. Life isn’t perfect, but books can be, and I appreciate when things come together nicely. When they weren’t working out communication problems and past issues, the family joined together to lovingly haze Will and Hadley. To the Donavans’, nothing says “welcome to the family” quite like handcuffs at family game night or waking up at the crack of dawn to hunt an animal that may or may not actually exist. They were a hoot and a half and had me laughing from beginning to end!

What I didn’t Love:

The book did a good job of explaining why Will disliked Hadley so much, but if that man called her a gold-digging charlatan to her face one more time I was going to have real issues with him. It was overkill and the fact that Hadley didn’t have a bigger reaction after the tenth time started to feel false to me. How many times can someone accuse you of trying to hoodwink their brother for his money before you slap him? Hadley most certainly wasn’t a pushover, so it bugged me that she didn’t take him to task more for the accusations he was slinging at her. Yes, it was important for the story for them to have that friction, but personally I wouldn’t be able to have romantic feelings if someone really felt I was that shallow and he took every opportunity to tell her just that. It made sense that Will would question her motives after his own past experiences, not to mention some of Hadley’s comments regarding money and business plans did seem off, but he could have dialed it back a notch.

Final Thoughts/Recommendations:

The Wedding Date Disaster allowed me to escape the drudgery of life for a few days and was exactly what I needed to read to change up my mood! It was light and fluffy with just enough real-life drama to keep it grounded in reality. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick and hilarious read. Fans of rom-com movies like the Wedding Date or the Wedding Planner will also love this book.