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The Wedding Pact #1

Le marié de substitution

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Megan Vandemeer comptait vraiment parler à ses parents de sa rupture avec son fiancé, mais voilà qu'un mois et demi plus tard, elle se retrouve dans l'avion pour assister à son propre mariage. Après avoir repoussé le moment le plus longtemps possible, il est l'heure pour elle d'avouer la vérité : une perspective terrifiante, puisqu'elle sait déjà que c'est à elle que sa mère en voudra, au lieu de blâmer son ex insensible et infidèle. Après quelques verres et deux cachets contre le mal des transports, Megan se retrouve en train de déballer toute son histoire au bel étranger assis à côté d'elle dans l'avion.

Josh McMillan décide de s'en remettre au destin et monte dans un avion à destination de Kansas City pour une dernière tentative désespérée de sauver son entreprise. Une solution inattendue lui apparaît sous la forme d'une belle femme brune assise à côté de lui. Elle a beau sembler un peu timbrée, son honnêteté, sa franchise et son humour ne manquent pas de le charmer. Ainsi, lorsqu'elle s'évanouit juste avant l'atterrissage, Josh l'aide à descendre : une action qui mène à un malentendu d'ampleur colossale, puisque les parents de Megan le prennent pour son fiancé. Mais lorsque Josh réalise que cette histoire pourrait lui permettre de sauver son affaire, il décide de jouer le jeu et d'aider Megan en même temps. Tout ce qu'il a besoin de faire, c'est de mettre en scène une rupture assez crédible pour apaiser la mère de celle-ci.

Josh n'est donc qu'un fiancé de substitution, mais plus Megan et lui

passent de temps ensemble, plus leur relation semble réelle... et moins

ils ont envie d'y mettre fin. Une belle histoire d'amour peut-elle

naître d'une imposture ?

427 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 21, 2014

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Denise Grover Swank

117 books5,619 followers

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,857 reviews
Profile Image for Carol [Goodreads Addict].
2,573 reviews25.1k followers
February 17, 2015
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The Substitute is book one in the series, The Wedding Pact, by Denise Grover Swank. Why was I shocked at the perfection of this book?! I have loved every single book by this author. But this is a brand new series. And I told myself that maybe I wouldn’t love it as much as the others. Well, I was wrong. I loved it more!

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Megan Vandemeer broke up with her fiance Jay six weeks ago when she caught him cheating on her with his secretary, on his desk, in his office. The problem is, she never told her mother the wedding was canceled. Her mother kept telling her how much money she has spent on the wedding and that none of it is refundable. So it is now four days before the wedding and Megan is getting on a plane to Kansas City to her wedding, a wedding that has no groom. She is planning to tell her family when she gets there. First, though, she has to survive the plane ride. So she pops a couple of Dramamine and has a couple of drinks. Definitely not a great combination. So when the handsome Josh McMillan sits down next to her, she tells him the whole sordid story, then passes out.

When Josh’s father passed away, Josh and his older brother Noah took over the family business. But due to a very poor decision on Noah’s part, the business is on the brink of being lost. In a final effort to save it, Josh is going to Kansas City. Josh is normally a man who leaves nothing to chance, everything is planned out. But if he doesn’t save his business, all his employees will lose their jobs, their livelihoods. So he is throwing caution to the wind, has no plan what so ever. He is leaving it all up to fate. After Megan passes out, the stewardess threatens to call security to get her off the plane when they land so Josh steps in and claims he is her fiance. The problem is, her family overhears this and mistakes Josh for Jay. So Josh decides this is fate, he will help Megan and be her fake fiance until she can tell her family the truth. And this will give him time to find a way to save his business.

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This entire book takes place over four days. As Megan and Josh get to know each other, fate steps in, and they start to become important to each other. Each time they plan their fake break up, something happens and they don’t follow through. But at some point they both begin to realize that they don’t want to say good bye. They don’t really want to fake break up.

“Don’t break up with me, Megan,” he whispered against her mouth. “Not tonight.”

“She didn’t want to lose him. What was she going to do?”


Chance brought them together, but Josh hasn’t really told Megan all the details of why he is here. He is falling in love with this woman, a woman he has only known for a few days. What will she say when she knows all the details?

“Just go with it for now. Fate put you together in the first place. It will keep you together.”

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This book is chock full of sweet moments, plenty of sigh worthy moments, plenty of sexy moments. But even more than that, this book is full of hilarity. Megan’s mother is the monster bridezilla Mom of all time. She has the four days planned out to the minute and itineraries are printed and distributed. But nothing goes as it is supposed to. How can it when you have a granny who likes to parade around the house in the nude, and likes to do yoga in the nude. Or a very over protective brother bent on breaking Josh and Megan up. Or a best friend who is also a divorce attorney and is instantly suspicious of Josh.

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But, with all the hilarity, suspicions, stress and drama, Megan and Josh still manage to fall in love. They escape to a piece of land she used to camp on as a child, and she and Josh find the quiet time they need together to realize that they have become important to one another, that they need one another, and they just aren’t ready to say good bye.

“What she felt for him scared her, but the thought of losing him scared her more.”

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This book will take you on the ride of your life. I laughed out loud so many times. But at the same time, Josh and Megan were so adorable together. They didn’t even know they needed each other. Fate stepped in and provided what they didn’t even know they were lacking, their other half, “the one!”
Profile Image for Didi.
865 reviews286 followers
January 28, 2015
3.5 STARS

This was a cute, steamy and funny CR. It started out slow and felt stagnant at times, but the last 20% made up for it. The idea of this whole book was a little far fetched. Where as any other time this could be categorized as insta-love, the way it was presented was believable. Still, the ending was unlikely but funny nonetheless. Cute epilogue too.
Profile Image for Jacob Proffitt.
3,134 reviews1,820 followers
April 27, 2018
I stayed with this way longer than I should have. The thing is that the core of the characters, and their connection, works pretty well. I liked Josh and Megan both and wanted them to work things out and be together. I was even on board with how fast they fell for each other. But two things tanked this completely.

First, Megan's family is awful. Her mother is a narcissistic nightmare, her father an absent bumbler, and her brother a macho bantam blustering like a cock on a dungheap. And her gram wasn't even a little bit funny (as I think Swank meant her to be). She was just stupidly gross and insensitive. But the big fault in the story is her mom. Nicole (or Knickers as the friends irreverently call her) is a domineering control freak who does really stupid things in order to achieve things that those really stupid things would never, in a million years, achieve. Like changing the theme of Megan's wedding to "Disney Princess" because that's what someone else did. Or an asinine "handfasting" thing that she made up and indulged because someone else had done something like it and people thought it was sweet. What I'm saying is that she's both stupid and insensitive. And she tears down her daughter at every opportunity. People keep reassuring Megan that "your mom loves you, she just ... " Only every evidence is that she really, truly doesn't. And lots and lots of evidence suggests that she sees Megan as a disappointing tool for her own aggrandizement who consistently fails to achieve the purpose of catapulting her into social dominance. And we eventually get the reveal that and that's why she's so "difficult". And no, that is completely inadequate as an explanation for driving your daughter away and ruining her wedding. I mean, everybody knows you do not mess with the dress. But she totally cancelled Megan's dream dress in order to change it into a "princess" monstrosity. That was a size too small because "all brides lose weight before their wedding, don't you know."

It's so over the top that it just doesn't work. I mean, I suppose someone with severe Narcissistic Personality Disorder might do those things. Maybe. But then, someone with that mental illness wouldn't have tolerated the spoiler above. It doesn't hold together. And that's before you get to Megan tolerating it all this time and simply giving in. Ugh. I'm frustrated anew just thinking about it.

The second thing that crashed this story is Josh keeping his stupid secret for way, way too long. By the second day, he had enough understanding of both Megan and her father that it wouldn't have been a huge deal for him to simply tell her about it and start working through the fallout. But no, he's a complete moral coward about this, even as the stakes rise steadily because every hour she has to look back on him keeping that secret from her (and him knowing she's smitten) is an extra weight on the eventual crash. And it hurt even more when his cowardice was matched by Megan's with her mother and it's hard to fool yourself that they aren't both complete cowards. That is, when Swank isn't manufacturing coincidence to prevent people finding out.

I was done way before the reveal about the mom's idiocy, but I skimmed ahead, hoping that the hinted reveal would redeem the book, somehow. I don't know what could have. And the eventual reveal definitely didn't work, even a little bit. So now I just have the regret of wasting as much time as I did. Ugh.
Profile Image for Karen.
814 reviews1,178 followers
July 22, 2015
4 STARS


”You are singularly the best thing that has ever come into my life.”

Loved it! This was my first book by Denise Grover Swank, and it definitely won't be my last. Such a sweet and romantic story. I have to admit it got a bit zany at times. Far-fetched… absolutely. But definitely a lot of fun to read. The characters were so endearing. It would have been very difficult not to fall in love with them.



Megan Vandermeer was on her way home to Kansas City to attend her wedding. Unfortunately, she had broken up with her lying and cheating fiancé six weeks earlier, but has been terrified to tell her mother. Her bridezilla of a mother has been in a spending frenzy, busy preparing the wedding of the century, and Megan is distraught at the thought of shattering her dreams, not to mention the loss of all of the money she’s spent.



But on her way home on the plane, after a bit of over-indulgent self medication, Megan finds herself leaning on an innocent bystander, a man she met on the plane, who has seemingly been dragged into story by her drugged and drunken state, and helps her off the plane out of the kindness of his heart. Unfortunately, things start to spiral out of control when her family meets him and mistakenly takes him for her fiancé when they get off the plane.

“Mr. McMillan,” the woman next to him sing-songed in and undertone. “Will you have my babies?”




Josh McMillan has his own reason for keeping up the farce though. An opportunity of fate that has dropped in his lap. Knowing that his motives aren’t completely honorable, has him feeling guilty though. But the desperate nature of his situation and the beautiful woman who is more than worth the effort has him jumping through hoops to keep this fake engagement going as long as possible.



The amusement on her face faded. She grabbed his face in her hands and gave him a deep, lazy kiss that reached down to his soul, stirring a longing of which he’d never believed himself capable.



But as time goes by and Megan and Josh get to know each other better, and the chemistry between them ignites to an undeniable force, together they find that neither of them wants to walk away when the truth is finally revealed. Or will they stay together and actually go through with this charade.



Only problem, Josh has some secrets that just might ruin everything. He knows he could lose her, but the thought of leaving without her is too painful to contemplate. He must find find a way to keep her...

This is a really cute story. The supporting characters are really quite colorful. I did get a bit annoyed withe the OTT grandmother. I think that storyline was completely unnecessary. But all in all, I loved the book.



Lots of romance, both sweet and sexy. And with a great epilogue too! I look forward to the next book in the series!
Profile Image for Dora Koutsoukou (hiatus).
1,951 reviews560 followers
Read
May 4, 2023
The only thing of beauty this book had for me, was the cover.
I managed to read 13 chapters. None of the characters could hold my interest. Especially the heroine who had no backbone at all!
The storyline was boring and filled with tiring inner monologues. Moreover, some incidents and situations weren’t believable.

Dnf @ 47%
Profile Image for Irene.
835 reviews106 followers
September 4, 2023

Unless the fake-groom leaves you no other alternative and you want to save face in front of your family.

The heroine is a doormat, dominated all her life by her controling mother, so just to escape her, she finds another controling ass**** to take her place.

The Hero presents himself as an honorable man, trying to be true to his family and employees, having insta-feelings for the heroine but has his own agenta.



The side characters are all cartoonish, flat, one-dimentional.
We have the silly girlfriend, the bitch girlfriend, the overprotecting brother, the fuck-it-all brother, and to top it all, we have the exhibitionist granny who goes through a nudity phase.

Profile Image for Jennifer.
1,774 reviews6,698 followers
December 31, 2015
Pretend boyfriend/fiancé romances are my go-to genre when I'm in a reading slump. This romance dynamic never fails to entertain in my opinion. Unfortunately, I can't say that about The Substitute. Based on my reading experience, I just couldn't connect with the characters or remain invested. The story felt slow-moving, all the lying became annoying after a while, and although there was a lot of intended humor, it felt a bit too over-the-top to solicit the intended laughable moments from me. At the start of the book, I did really enjoy watching these main characters meet though and there were some sweet moments that were memorable but in the end, it was just an OK read for me.

If you enjoy this author or enjoy this particular storyline/genre, don't let this review stop you from trying it out. Lots of goodreads members liked it a great deal.

The Substitute is the first installment in Denise Grover Swank's contemporary romance series titled The Wedding Pact. This is the first book I have ever read from this author.

My favorite quote:
“Coffee is the elixir of the gods.”
Profile Image for Amy Daws.
Author 38 books8,293 followers
January 3, 2015
Goosebumps, Giggles, Tingles, Tears, and Torture.
I only say torture because it's over and it was so wonderful I wanted it to last forever! I can't believe what a true gift I got wrapped up in a pretty ARC package.

Seriously...this book was the best. You know those books where you realize you're only half-way through and you know...you just KNOW it's going to be one of those stories that sticks with you and jumps above so many others you've loved before it?

THAT HAPPENS WITH THIS BOOK!

Denise Grover Swank ramped up this book in such a perfect way that I feel exhausted with giddiness by the time I finished it. Honestly, just when I thought I couldn't squeal (internally for the most part) anymore, she hits me again and I find myself squealing again...outside and in public no less.

"You are my once in a lifetime..."

If ever there was a perfect man you wanted to dream about saying those beautiful words to you....he exists as Josh in this book. Typically insta-love in books is a hard sell for me. It always feels forced and rushed, and frankly, hard to believe. But seeing the heroine, Megan, through Josh's perspective in this book makes me actually believe in fate and falling for the person who is MEANT for you in the universe.

And the comedic element and secondary characters in this book is definitely something to be noted! I lol'd in the first chapter and knew I was going for quite a ride. The funny hits just keep on coming when Granny enters the picture. Prepare yourself!!!

It ends beautifully and leaves you feeling happy and hopeful. When I finished, I felt like I just read something major. Sometime beautiful and honest and innocent and something that is sure to be a hit.

I can't say enough great things about this story. Story sounds like such a simple word when you had happy tears and chills multiple times throughout...but Denise Grover Swank does that and more. I can't wait to watch this book blow up into the hit that I'm certain it will be!

5 Happy Tear Stars!!!
Profile Image for Fanny.
2,291 reviews54 followers
February 18, 2021



Y pensar que casi dejo pasar de largo este libro cuando lo comenzaron a leer en un club de lectura en el que participo, sin embargo, por alguna razon decidi empezarlo, y fue una lectura genial.

The Substitude aunque no lo parezca es un romance hilarante que te hara reir a carcajadas, sinceramente, hacia bastante tiempo que no encontraba una novela que transmitiera tan buenas vibraciones como esta, y aunque el final me resulto un poco precipitado ( me hubiera gustado que la autora se tomara un poco mas de tiempo para cerrar la historia ), de ahi el que no le ponga las cinco estrellas, puedo afirmar honestamente que la historia de amor de Josh y Megan me hizo pasar unos dias increibles.

La trama no es de las nunca antes leidas, y es cierto que tiene algun que otro giro un tanto predecible, no obstante, la pluma de la escritora es fantastica y la novela te atrapa desde un primer momento, para ya no soltarte hasta el desenlace.

Estuve dudando sobre que puntuacion ponerle durante un rato, finalmente me decidi por las cuatro estrellas, personalmente creo que se las merece, no solo por el buen rato que me hizo pasar, sino tambien porque en general, es un libro bien llevado y con unos personajes agradables.

En conclusion, un romance lleno de humor ( la abuela de la protagonista me saco mas de una carcajada ) que no resulta forzado en lo mas minimo, y que ademas me dejo de muy buen humor.

Altamente recomendable!

3.75 Estrellas!
Profile Image for Sam Chase.
775 reviews132 followers
November 21, 2021
Rating: 4.75 stars

This is just a wonderful book. I loved it so so much! It was such an interssting concept, with such great characters. I really enjoyed reading it. It's also a book I could definitely see being turned into a fabulous rom-com. Can we make this happen please?

Some other elements I liked in this book were the concepts of family. It was really nice to see how Megan's relationship evolved with her mother. And who doesn't love Gram? Oh my god, she was just hilarious. Example below ;)

Megan’s grandmother was stark naked next to the bed, with her hands and feet on the floor and her saggy butt up in the air, giving him a view he would—unfortunately—never forget. Josh’s brain told him “Retreat! Retreat!” but his feet refused to move. “Josh!” Gram’s face appeared between her ankles. “Good morning!” “Sorry!” he sputtered out. “I was looking for a bathroom.” “This isn’t it, but come do yoga with me.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Uh… I’m not really a yoga fan.” He started to back up and ran into the doorjamb. “That’s probably because you haven’t tried it au naturel.” He cringed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s not it.

Just as with The Gambler, there were some super steamy scenes in this, which I again recommend skipping over if that's not for you.

I can't say how much I love this book enough. It was so much fun and I just can't get enough of the plot or the characters. And again, can it be a movie? Pretty please??

Reread: April 2017

Reread: July 2018

Ugh, my love for this book is just too strong. The plot is my perfect rom-com dream, and it all plays out so well. I highly, highly recommend this book to mature rom-com lovers!

Reread: November 2021

I think as I've read more and more romances my adoration for this one has lessened, but I still appreciate its fun plot and memorable characters. This will always be a staple in my library!
Profile Image for ♡Tonya♡.
2,062 reviews574 followers
June 13, 2017
Welcome surprise!

***FREE AS OF 6/12/17***

3.5 stars

I saw this book mentioned on Facebook, and it was free, so I thought I'd check it out. I'm really glad I did. It's a zany little love story which takes place over the course of 4 days. It was pretty cute, with -

-no cheating
-no ow drama whatsoever
-no om drama- heroines ex who cheated on her shows up but his attempts to make trouble are quickly squelched
-no a lot of pushing away
-moderate steam
-epilogue that wasn't very far out and was a set up for the next book - which was disappointing

**some of the secondary characters will get stories. However, I'm not sure about them because of their actions in this story.
Profile Image for Rachel.
638 reviews38 followers
January 24, 2015
Overall rating: 4 super cute stars!

Triggers:
Cheating:
Love triangle:
Sex with om/ow:

HEA:

My review:

This book was recommended to me at the perfect time! I was looking for something light and sweet and funny to read after the trilogy I finished that had me bawling my eyes out in a GOOD way! ;)

Meghan was in a bit of a pickle. She was due to be married this weekend, yet she broke up with the cheating bastard of a groom 5 weeks ago. The problem is that, the wedding was still set because she never told her parents! So she is on a plane, heading home to face the music except fate had another plan.

Josh McMillan has always put his personal life to the side in order to do what's best for his family, especially after his father passed away. Even though his brother Noah is three years older, Josh has always been the mature one. So when he is at his wits end to how to save his father's failing company, he decides to hope on a plan and let fate guide the way. Not only does fate give him the perfect opportunity to get the intel needed to possibly save his company, but she was wrapped in the most beautiful way possible.

Josh is smitten with Meghan from the very beginning, but when he finds out that she is also the daughter of the man that stole his design (or did he?), he thinks fate is literally shining down on him. So when her parents make the mistake of thinking he is actually Jay her fiancee', he totally goes with it!

This story was very light and sweet with very little drama. I loved reading it because the hero was just a normal guy. Yes, he was good looking, but he was not a man whore like so many other reads these days. He had no surprise GFs pop up or anything unnecessary drama dealing with other women. This was a very pleasant read if you are looking for something light and sweet :)

I am interested in reading the next book, but I am a little nervous. I have many book triggers, including my heroes sleeping with others after they meet the heroine, no matter what the circumstances are. The heroine in the next book is actually engaged ... so we will see how that goes LOL
Profile Image for Alexa.
481 reviews126 followers
February 21, 2015
This was a really cute romance novel.

There was insta-love but I was expecting it since the premise of the book implies it. And it didn't bother me much to be honest!

The plot was a bit far fetched, but not too much by romance standards. It reminded me of that movie "The Wedding Date" with Debra Messing... If you can hire a male escort to accompany you to your sister's wedding then why not let a complete stranger act as your fake groom? Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but it works!



The supporting characters were a mix of hit and miss. I loved Grandma (reminded me of the awesome Grans of Ilona Andrews' books) and Megan's friend Libby. I disliked Blair, the other best friend, even if I understand she was just trying to help. I hated Megan's mom with a passion. I hated her even more when I heard her reasons to be a psychotic bitch. I disliked her father and I thought her brother was a bit hmm... flat.

I'd really want to read the next book, specially if it's about Libby!
Profile Image for Vintage.
2,518 reviews535 followers
Read
December 30, 2021
DNF.

I don't know who I hated more the horrible mother (she changed her daughter's wedding dress order to something she wanted) or the bitchy, BITCHY best friend who sabotages the h's fake wedding and happiness and won't give it a rest because she's the smartest know-it-all in the room. They were both so intolerable they ruined what little enjoyment I had in reading the book.
Profile Image for Tandie.
1,503 reviews245 followers
July 19, 2015
I love the trope of a fake fiancé, it's my guilty, cheesy pleasure. It didn't work so well in this story since only one party agreed to the fake engagement. I forgive a lot of far fetched plot stuff in fluffy romances, but this was pretty forced. I wasn't in love with either of the MCs, but they were tolerable. I was hoping for more humor as well.

It was okay, but not great. 2.5 stars, rounded up for Goodreads.
Profile Image for Melissa (Mel’s Bookshelf).
495 reviews298 followers
January 23, 2023
January seems to be a romance reading month! I have had a few hit and misses, but I enjoyed this one.

Megan is on the way to her family to break the news to her overbearing mother, that she broke up with her fiancé 6 weeks earlier. Except the wedding is meant to be in a few days. And her mother is arranging it. Josh is on his way to Kansas to try to save his business. On the plane he sits next to a Megan and due to a misunderstanding, now her whole family thinks he is her fiancé. But why isn't he setting the record straight? What could be in it for him?

I love an over the top romance, and that's what this is. Over the top, completely unrealistic, eye rolling situations and crazy characters. But that's what it's meant to be.

If you are after a slow burning true love story this is not it. If you are after a light-hearted, unbelievable escape for a few hours, start reading!
Profile Image for Kate.
2,150 reviews336 followers
August 1, 2017
The probability of me solving E = mc²?


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Although I did read and understand it a long time ago but I still wouldn’t be able to solve it.

The probability of the amount of coincidences happing in this book and everyone believing it?

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This doesn’t mean that I didn’t like reading this book quite the opposite there are a lot of laugh out loud moments in the book.

“Are you a terrorist?” she asked before she could stop herself. “What?” he asked, his eyes wide as he turned to her in horror. She shook her head, the movement making her dizzy. “Sorry you just had a crazed look…..”

There were more moments like this as well. It was completely over the top and it dragged in the middle as there were a lot of things that were repeated. This got me out of my book funk and I only paid 0,99€ for it so it was a bargain.

Quite frankly though who needs an enemy when you have Blair as a friend? She is a cynical, cold hearted b$tch and I really don’t think that I will read her book. Maybe Libby.

Review can also be found at
http://jerisbookattic-reviewblog.blog...
Profile Image for Jennifer.
2,784 reviews6 followers
March 7, 2018

I didn’t realize I’d used a not so nice word in this review. Oops. Edited it out. ;)

What I liked about this book:
1) I enjoyed the dual povs and the third person narrative. First person narratives in romance novels give me the cringes.
2) Josh is a nice guy, even though it took him long enough to do the right thing.
3) If you cared about what happened to the MCs, there is a nice epilogue at the end of this story.
4) Some of the banter between the H and h is pretty funny.

What I didn't like:
1) The female MC, Megan. She is so spineless against her mother. I can't stand it.
2) Knickers. She is the craziest, most clueless mother. I understand her backstory toward the end of the book, but it doesn't undo all the pain she's caused.
3) All the lying. If I had known that the lies would have gone on for as long as it did, I wouldn't have read this book.
4) Blair. I know she's jaded and cynical, but she's mean. Good intentions with a mean delivery makes you a meanie.
Profile Image for Cyndi.
2,382 reviews101 followers
November 22, 2019
Our heroine is terrified of her mother. Especially since she has become a mother-of-the-bride-zilla. If that is not a phrase, it should be. Some mothers become unhealthily involved in planning the perfect wedding for their daughter. They soon skip past any wants of the bride and groom and take over the whole shebang. Its like a stage mom on crack.
A few months before the D-Day the soon to be bride finds the soon to be groom has been busy elsewhere. They part ways, but Momzilla doesn't know. She blissfully keeps planning a wedding that is not to be. (I'd be angry at all the wasted money, but that's the romantic in me)
Our bride to be hops on the plane for the unhappy event and pops some Dramamine. Not being the smartest tool in the shed, she also downs a couple of drinks. Her drunken self relays the problems with the upcoming visit to the hot guy who has the misfortune to sit next to her.
This guy (our hero) is trying desperately to save his company. He is headed to meet the guy he thinks has stolen his designs. The father-of-the-bride. Now he plans to get closer by stepping in as the fiancé of the drunk bride to be. What could possibly go wrong? I love a good Harlequin movie and this would be top notch.
Profile Image for fatima.
605 reviews203 followers
August 31, 2016
I got a free download of this book and was like, okay, why not! And it was pretty entertaining - it by no means isn't anything extraordinarily, but the characters and their interactions were pretty enjoyable to read about, and I loved the family dynamic going on. Not to mention that I'm helpless when it comes to fake dating that leads to an actual romantic relationship in fiction.
Profile Image for Mahima.
468 reviews122 followers
April 19, 2020
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I read it few months ago but forgot about the review.
So this is an amazing love story which began from a misunderstanding.
Both the characters didn't know about the 'real' each other until they did💞
I loved the chemistry between them and the sassyness which was shown on every damn page!!!
Profile Image for Dilushani Jayalath.
1,000 reviews188 followers
November 22, 2019
Now that was a pretty long book. With a twist that I usually love, pretend lovers turning into real lovers. It is always amazing to watch people who don't expect themselves to fall in love end up falling hard.

The story itself is carried pretty smoothly with some humorous moments that really got me laughing out loud. Especially the antics with Grams. She's got to be the best character in the whole story. Libby and Noah takes home after her but I was sure if our author made some bad decisions regarding Grams I would have personally found her and talk to her (normally stories like this tend to take a really ad turn for some moving moment in the family for them to realize the truth). Another amazing thing that happened to the story was the angst level of the story was low. I loved even though they met literally four days ago that they managed to find a trust in themselves more than Jay and Megan ever had. Josh was the sweetest guy ever (despite his not that genuine motives at first) and the amount of trust and leverage he gave Megan to take the final decision was truly nice. I even ended up liking Knickers after we got the full story of what happened (though I started hating her father, Bart. What was actually going through his head? I mean even though he regrets it. I am still mad).

The epilogue was unnecessary but the story would have come to a risky ending if they didn't add it and I fully expect to see Josh and Megan in the upcoming book and hopefully with a baby or two in the tow.
Profile Image for Mandy.
1,524 reviews228 followers
January 23, 2015
I loved this book! Megan is traveling home to Kansas City for her wedding. She broke up with her cheating ex-fiance 6 weeks ago and never told her family. She plans to break the news to her overbearing, over-the-top mother in person when the plane lands but fate has other plans. This book is seriously funny! I loved Josh and Megan - they had amazing chemistry and witty banter from the moment they met. There is a really great group of supporting characters, especially Megan's friends (Blair and Libby - the next two books in this series are about each of them) and her Gram. This book was total perfection in my opinion - it was funny, sweet, steamy, had an interesting storyline, great characters and fantastic writing! This is the first book I have read by Denise Grover Swank and I can't wait to read more (especially the books in this series!) If you are looking for a humorous romance with loveable characters, I can't recommend this book enough!
Profile Image for Siv30.
2,453 reviews150 followers
May 30, 2017
3.5 כוכבים
ספר חמוד ביותר ומשעשע.

מייגן נפרדה מארוסה ג'יי לפני 6 שבועות כי היא תפסה אותו בוגד בה. 4 ימים לפני החתונה היא עולה על מטוס לפגוש את אמא שלה בכדי לספר לה שיש לבטל את החתונה.

מייגן, מדוכדכת ומפוחדת לוקחת 2 כדורי הרגעה ומשהדבר לא עוזר היא שותה 2 משקאות אלכוהוליים בטיסה.

ג'וש מתיישב לידה במטוס, במקום הפנוי של ג'יי. העסק שלו נתון בקשיים בשל גניבת הפטנט שלו. הבחורה לידו נ��אית לו קצת מוזרה ולפני שהיא נרדמת היא מספרת לו את סיפורה.

כשהם נוחתים ג'וש מעיר את מייגן אבל היא כל כך לא מפוקסת ולא מסוגלת לצאת מהמטוס בכוחות עצמה, שהוא סוחב אותה על גבו כשהוא מסביר לאנשים התוהים שהוא ארוסה. מסתבר שמשפחתה של מייגן ממתינה לה ועכשיו הם חושבים שהוא ארוס שלה ומכאן הבלגאן מתחיל.

קומדיית טעויות משעשעת שהדמות הכי מלבבת היא הסבתא. נודיסטית צעירה בנפשה.

הדמות של האם, ניקול מעוצבת באופן אמין ביותר כך גם דמות הסבתא הפרועה. אהבתי כניקויי ראש עמוק
Profile Image for Jacqueline.
1,668 reviews152 followers
July 19, 2023
The plot was daft, frankly, but despite that, this was such a good listen, it didn’t take itself too seriously but it wasn’t silly slapstick either. And unlike the other book I read by this author, the smut was mighty fine and plentiful.

I’m closer in age to the bride’s mum than the bride so I really felt for her in this story (and especially so after learning why she fell out with her sister. Think I’d have said bollocks to the lot of you and gone off to find a nice secluded beach somewhere and avoided the whole lot of them). I also love yoga but promise never to practice nekkid yoga where anyone can see me. You’re welcome.

Complete story but part of a series. Free to listen to audible subscriber X.
Profile Image for Pam Nelson.
3,459 reviews106 followers
February 12, 2019
This book cracked me up! I loved the banter, the back and forth. It was great I really enjoyed the fact that once Megan even had any inkling that something was up with Josh and why he wanted to “help” so badly she calls him out on it!! Ha, that was great.

OMG, we have to talk about Megan’s grandmother, she stole the show no joke this lady was funny and the comedic relief this book needed.
I wouldn’t want to have Megan’s mother, she seemed to be very judgemental I get why but it was almost too harsh.

Megan and Josh’s brothers cracked me up they both are gems in their own right. I wonder if they have their own books. *snicker* that would be fun to listen to I think.

This was a first for me by this narrator I believe and I really enjoyed it. I liked the different tones and voices she gave to the characters it really brought them their own uniqueness which I really enjoy.
Profile Image for Jennifer Comeaux.
Author 9 books601 followers
Read
March 5, 2017
I thought there was too much telling and not enough showing in this book. I also found a lot of the attempts at humor to be forced and a little too slapstick for me. I think the story could've worked better as a novella because it dragged on, and the sex scenes were gratuitous filler that didn't add anything to the emotional arc of the story.
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