To Have and to Hold
The Wedding Belles, #1
The Wedding Belles, #1
by Lauren Layne
Releasing
July 26th 2016
Pocket Books
Pocket Books
The Wedding Belles . . . Romantic Comedy all the way. I had so much fun reading this one and the antics that Seth, big brother and Brooke, the wedding planner go up to. Interesting chemistry, characters, plot, and all the antics that lead to a good wedding read that was more than the planning of one wedding or the destruction of another.
I enjoyed meeting new characters in the Wedding Belles series. It was fun trying to figure out who should be next in the line up and which stories would be of more interest. I could put this one in the category of being sweet, simple and lots of fun. More fun than the breaking up of a wedding should be but fun just the same.
Both Seth and Brooke were real people with real issues, real character traits, real differences, real feeling, and a draw to each other that made things flow freely. There was a real feel of movie romantic comedy as the read progressed. I had a clear vision of what was being played out. Layne delivers again. I always enjoy the reads of realism she provides. I am looking forward for the next in this series. The secondary characters make the reading that much more enjoyable.
I enjoyed meeting new characters in the Wedding Belles series. It was fun trying to figure out who should be next in the line up and which stories would be of more interest. I could put this one in the category of being sweet, simple and lots of fun. More fun than the breaking up of a wedding should be but fun just the same.
Both Seth and Brooke were real people with real issues, real character traits, real differences, real feeling, and a draw to each other that made things flow freely. There was a real feel of movie romantic comedy as the read progressed. I had a clear vision of what was being played out. Layne delivers again. I always enjoy the reads of realism she provides. I am looking forward for the next in this series. The secondary characters make the reading that much more enjoyable.
**This ARC was provided via NetGalley
in exchange for an honest review.**
The Wedding Belle series:
From This Day Forward - The Wedding Belles, #0.5 SEE REVIEW
To Have and To Hold - The Wedding Belles, #1
For Better or Worse - The Wedding Belles, #2
To Love and To Cherish - The Wedding Belles, #3
Blurb
Sex and the City meets The Wedding Planner in The Wedding Belles, her sizzling brand new contemporary romance series about three ambitious wedding planners who can make any bride’s dream come true…but their own.
Discovering
her fiancé is an international conman just moments before they exchange vows
devastates celebrity wedding planner Brooke Burke’s business—and breaks her
heart. Now a pariah in Los Angeles, she seeks a fresh start in New York City
and thinks she’s found it with her first bridal client, a sweet, if slightly
spoiled, hotel heiress. Then she meets the uptight businessman who’s holding
the purse springs.
Seth
Tyler wishes he could write a blank check and be done with his sister’s
fancy-pants wedding.
Unfortunately, micromanaging the event is his only chance at proving Maya’s fiancĂ© is a liar. Standing directly in his way is the stunning blonde wedding planner whose practiced smiles and sassy comebacks both irritate and arouse him. He needs Brooke’s help. But can he persuade a wedding planner on a comeback mission to unplan a wedding? And more importantly, how will he convince her that the wedding she should be planning…is theirs?
Unfortunately, micromanaging the event is his only chance at proving Maya’s fiancĂ© is a liar. Standing directly in his way is the stunning blonde wedding planner whose practiced smiles and sassy comebacks both irritate and arouse him. He needs Brooke’s help. But can he persuade a wedding planner on a comeback mission to unplan a wedding? And more importantly, how will he convince her that the wedding she should be planning…is theirs?
Buy Links:
Amazon | B & N | Google Play | iTunes | Kobo
Hold on. Back up. Back all the way up. What do you mean
you’re getting married?”
It was eleven p.m. on a Wednesday, and Seth Tyler was
exactly where he always was these days: behind his expansive mahogany desk at
the Tyler Hotel Group, suit jacket slung over the back of his ergonomic chair,
tie begging to be undone, impeccably pressed white shirt cuffed at the wrists.
He raked a hand through his thick light brown hair in
frustration and fixed his younger sister with his best no-nonsense glare, an
approximation—like everything else he seemed to do lately—of his deceased
father.
When Seth's father dropped dead of a heart attack eight
months ago, Seth had thought the hardest part about his father’s passing—other
than the mourning, of course—would be taking over the family company.
Sure, Seth had been groomed for the role. He’d wanted the
president and CEO title. He’d always wanted it.
Eventually.
But not yet, for God’s sake.
Seth had no problem admitting that he was a perfectionist,
and he’d been bound and determined to take over the family company his way. The right way.
And the right way, as Seth had determined it, was spending
at least a year shadowing each of the senior-level Tyler Hotel Group
executives. Seth had wanted to learn every possible detail, every in and out of
the business, before even thinking about taking over the reins of the Fortune
500 company.
But his father’s heart had had other plans. Mainly, up and
quitting during a routine round of golf. And so, quietly, per his father’s
wishes, Seth had become CEO two years ahead of schedule.
Not a day passed that Seth didn’t wish his father was still
with him, but in truth, taking his place at the head of the boardroom table had
been easier than Seth had anticipated. The investors hadn’t freaked out. The
executive team hadn’t left in mass exodus. Even Hank’s longtime assistant,
Etta, had stuck around, seemingly content to call Seth boss even as she busted
his balls about not eating enough vegetables, getting enough sleep, or getting
his hair cut.
But if taking over the family company was easier than Seth
had expected, there was one ramification of Hank Tyler’s death that Seth hadn’t
been in the least prepared for:
A wedding.
Maya Tyler inhaled a long, patient breath, as though
preparing to deal with a difficult child. “Well see, marriage, Seth, is when
two people fall in love and decide to spend the rest of their lives—”
“Yes, I’m aware of how marriage works,” Seth interrupted.
Although, not as aware as well as he’d like, as it turned out. He wouldn’t be
getting any firsthand knowledge of how marriage worked any time soon.
Maya bit her lip. “I’m sorry. I didn't mean to remind you of
Nadia.”
Seth glanced down at his desk to avoid his sister’s
too-perceptive gaze. She wasn’t wrong. He’d gotten to the point where he could
go most days without thinking of his ex, but he hadn’t yet figured out how to
think about marriage without hearing the incredulous laugh she’d let out when
he’d gone on one knee and showed her the ring he’d spent months picking out.
“Can we not?” he said curtly.
“Don’t get pissed. It’s a wedding. You’re supposed to be
happy.”
“I’m not pissed; I’m just surprised.”
That was an understatement. Seth had not seen this
coming, and for a man who exercised precision in all things, he couldn’t say he
was enjoying the shock value of Maya’s announcement. Especially not on the
heels of his father’s death. A death that everyone but Seth had seen coming,
because Seth had been the lone outsider on the knowledge that was his father’s
longtime heart condition.
Apparently, Hank had considered his only son a control
freak—had known that Seth would have stopped at nothing to try to halt death in
its tracks.
His father had been, well, right. It was hard to admit, but if Seth had known about his
father’s condition, he’d have devoted every waking hour to researching
experimental treatment and the best doctors.
Hank Tyler hadn’t wanted that for his final months. Not for
himself or for Seth.
Still, Seth resented not having the choice. Resented his
father nearly as much as he missed him.
But he’d put that behind him. Mostly.
Hank was gone, and Maya was still here. Maya was all he had.
He had known she was dating a new guy—Neil something or
other. But Seth hadn’t thought a thing about it. Maya had whipped through a
constant string of casual boyfriends since high school, and other than a
two-year relationship in college, they had never been serious.
And it certainly hadn’t gotten close to marriage.
What’s worse, Seth hadn’t even met this man that was
apparently to be his brother-in-law.
But none of this would have mattered, not really, if Seth’s
instincts hadn’t been buzzing that something was amiss with the way this was
all going down. Something was off. He knew it down to his gut.
“How long have you been seeing this guy?” he asked.
Maya slumped back in the plush chair facing Seth’s desk with
a groan. “Don’t do this. I knew you were going to do this.”
He frowned. “Do what?”
“The big brother thing,” she said.
“Hard not to, what with me being six years older and all,”
Seth said.
He didn’t add that he was doubly obligated to be protective
given Hank’s death just months earlier. Maya had definitely been Daddy’s Little
Princess. She still got tears in her eyes every time their father’s name was
mentioned.
Maya leaned forward, her pale blue eyes much like his own,
although her blond hair was lighter than his, thanks to her frequent trips to
the salon.
“I love him, Seth. I know you’re jaded these days,
but Neil is exactly the type of guy we women spend our entire lives dreaming
about.”
Seth bit his tongue to stop from saying that he bet Maya was
exactly the type of girl that guys like Neil dreamed about, too. Young, pretty
. . . and filthy rich.
Or so Neil likely thought.
Buy Links:
Amazon | B & N | Google Play | iTunes | Kobo
Author Info
Lauren
lives in New York City with her husband (who was her high school
sweetheart--cute, right?!) and plus-sized Pomeranian.
Five
years ago, she ditched her corporate career in Seattle to pursue a full-time
writing career in Manhattan.
She
writes smart romantic comedies with just enough sexy-times to make your mother
blush, and in her ideal world, every stiletto-wearing, Kate Spade wielding
woman would carry a Kindle stocked with Lauren Layne books.
When
not bringing The Sexy, she likes to blog about her Instagram addiction, and why
mean girls are the worst.
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