Save the Date (Dating Series #1) by Monica Murphy-Review & Excerpt Tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 25, 2019.
Caroline Abbott loves her job—helping engaged couples pick out the perfect save the date cards and invitations for their dream wedding. Working at Noteworthy means she has to deal with the occasional bridezilla, but Caroline’s always up for the challenge.
Until one particular bridezilla walks into the stationery store who’s fiancé happens to be the boy Caroline shared her first kiss with. Alexander Wilder is all grown up now, helping run his family’s successful luxury hotel chain, and is somehow even better looking than she remembers.
When Caroline just happens to catch Alex’s fiancée half naked with another man well, of course she has to tell Alex. Of course, he breaks off his engagement.
And of course, the ex-bridezilla has gone completely bonkers.
At least Caroline has her friends to save her from crazy ex-fiancées. But she also has the sudden interest of…Alex? Caroline knows they share a connection, but is he on the rebound? Or after seeing her all these years later, does he really want something more?
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REVIEW: SAVE THE DATE is the first instalment in Monica Murphy’s contemporary, adult, romance series. This is twenty-five year old, stationary salesperson Caroline Abbott, and twenty-eight year old, billionaire hotelier Alexander Wilder’s storyline.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Alex and Caroline) SAVE THE DATE follows the second chance romance (of sorts) between Caroline Abbott, and Alexander Wilder. Caroline works for a local stationary store, NOTEWORTHY, and her latest wedding client is none other than her ‘first kiss’ Alexander Wilder, her brother’s childhood friend, and the man with whom she will fall in love. Alexander seems oblivious to his fiancé ‘s actions, including the affair discovered by our story line heroine. As Alex prepares for a trip overseas, our hero is informed, by his father and company CEO he needs a ‘fake fiancé ‘ to improve his image as he negotiates the purchase of new property. With his fiancé no longer in the picture, Alex offers Caroline a trip to Paris in an effort to secure his business negotiations. What ensues is the building relationship between Alex and Caroline, and the potential fall-out as Alex struggles with the possibility of sabotage at a personal level.
The relationship between Alex and Caroline is a rekindling romance between two people who were one another’s first kiss, a first kiss where shortly afterward Alex ghosted our story line heroine. Years later Caroline will come face to face with her childhood crush only to discover Alex was engaged to someone else. The limited $ex scenes are passionate and seductive, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text but I struggled with the lack of perceived palpable sexual chemistry.
We are introduced to Alex’s former fiancé Tiffany Ratcliffe, and his father Mr.Wilder; Caroline’s boss Iris, co-worker Cassie, and best friend Stella; and French businessman Alain Descheaux and his wife Sabine, as well as their son Louis, and his wife Manon.
SAVE THE DATE is a story of family, friendship, second chances and love; a story of perception, power, and wealth. The premise is engaging and inviting; the romance is tender and suggestive; the characters are captivating and colorful. SAVE THE DATE is a energetic and spirited story of fated love.
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
Watching me.
And he’s not just any guy. He’s cute. Wait, no. Not cute. He’s…hot. Dark hair. Blue eyes. Wearing a suit that fits him perfectly. I know just from looking at the fabric that it’s custom. Expensive.
He’s smiling at me. And I’m scowling at him in return because the caffeine hasn’t quite hit my bloodstream yet, so I’m not on top of my game.
“You looked like you were having a moment.” His voice is deep. Rich. His face…vaguely familiar?
I stand a little straighter. Take another sip of my coffee as I contemplate the man in front of me, because for some reason I still can’t come up with anything to say.
Listen, I always have something to say. But this guy. This gorgeous, well-dressed maybe-stranger, is leaving me a little…
Dumbstruck?
Huh.
“That moment you were just having. With your coffee,” he continues, gesturing at the cup I’m clutching in both of my hands, like it’s my baby. Which this morning—every morning—it is.
“She loves coffee,” Stella says from behind me.
Glancing over my shoulder, I give her a look, one that says shush.
“I can see that.” The amusement in his voice is obvious. He thinks it’s funny. The sacred moment I was having with my latte made him smile.
I wouldn’t mind coming up with other ways to make him smile.
Whoa. Where did that thought come from?
“What I want to know is, how did you get such special treatment?”
I blink at him like I’m an uncomprehending idiot. “Excuse me?”
“Well, I’ve been here for the last fifteen minutes. First, standing in line.” He gestures at the line of customers that trails out the door. “And now, waiting for my order.”
Guilt fills me. Just a tiny bit. Sweet Dreams Café is the most popular bakery and coffee shop in Carmel-by-the-Sea. All the tourists love it. All the locals love it too. It’s been in Stella’s family for generations.
“Yet you skip past the line, walk straight in here and grab your ready-made drink within a few seconds of your arrival. Do you have a Fast Pass?” A brow lifts, and I’m hit with a quiver. Like Cupid just drew back his bow and shot that arrow right in my heart.
Or perhaps that arrow struck me in, ahem, other places.
Who knew a brow lift could be so sexy?
Monica Murphy is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of the One Week Girlfriend series, the Billionaire Bachelors and The Rules series. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide. She is both self-published and published by Random House/Bantam and Harper Collins/Avon. She writes new adult, young adult and contemporary romance.
She is a wife and a mother of three who lives in central California on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere along with their one dog and too many cats. A self-confessed workaholic, when she’s not writing, she’s reading or hanging out with her husband and kids. She’s a firm believer in happy endings, though she will admit to putting her characters through angst-filled moments before they finally get that hard won HEA.
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