Mia Sosa writes funny, flirty, and moderately steamy contemporary romance that celebrate our multicultural world. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Yale Law School, Mia practiced First Amendment and media law in the nation's capital for ten years before trading her suits for loungewear (read: sweatpants). Born and raised in East Harlem, New York, she now lives in Maryland with her college sweetheart, their two bookaholic daughters, and the one dog that rules them all. For more, visit her at her website miasosa.com. You can find more of my reviews of Sosa's works here.
Just weeks away from ditching DC for greener pastures, Solange Pereira is roped into helping her wedding planner cousin on a random couple's big day. It's an easy gig . . . until Solange stumbles upon a situation that convinces her the pair isn't meant to be. What's a true-blue romantic to do? Crash the wedding, of course. And ensure the unsuspecting groom doesn't make the biggest mistake of his life. Dean Chapman had his future all mapped out. He was about to check off "start a family" and on track to "make partner" when his modern day marriage of convenience went up in smoke. Then he learns he might not land an assignment that could be his ticket to a promotion unless he had a significant other and, in a moment of panic, Dean claims to be in love with the woman who crashed his wedding. Oops. Now, Dean has a whole new item on his to-do list: beg Solange to be his pretend girlfriend. Solange feels a tiny bit bad about ruining Dean's wedding, so she agrees to play along. Yet as they fake-date their way around town, what started as a performance for Dean's colleagues turns into a connection that neither he nor Solange can deny. Their entire romance is a sham . . . there's no way these polar opposites could fall in love for real, right?
I'd been meaning to read The Worst Best Man forever, because how could I not read a book with that cover? Finding out that there was another book in this world, one that followed Lina's cousin and Max's best friend, was like discovering a well-hidden secret, so I was excited to dive back into DC with these characters and the Pereira family! What was really wonderful about The Wedding Crasher was that while this was in the same world as Lina and Max's story, their relationship never eclipsed that of Solagne's and Dean's. Sosa left a lot of space for their story, while also providing just the right amount of cameos, to make this a really satisfying standalone and companion.
This book had some insane plot twists! Like, I honestly am not sure how I would describe the middle of this book to people! I haven't even seen a rom com that has this much craziness in it—and I've seen a lot of rom coms. It was so exciting to see the middle of a book spiced up like that. The only thing that would have complemented this craziness for me is if there had been a bit more of a realistic timeline set up. For example, like if Solagne and Dean had to pretend to date for longer than a month, or if Dean had hit Solagne up a bit longer than a week or so after the wedding had been called off. I understand that time warping is just part of the genre, but I think a bit of a longer period of time would have complemented the insane hijinks a bit better. All-in-all, though, a very entertaining and romantic read!
Finally, The Wedding Crasher references all of the funniest, most relatable media (When Harry Met Sally... and Always Be My Maybe among my favorite of them), and Solagne and Dean have very relatable fears and doubts about relationships. I appreciated the dual point-of-view Sosa sets up so that we can learn the opposite philosophies that these characters lived by. It makes the way they learn and grow together that much more rewarding at the end, when they finally do let go and reach for their Happily Ever After. Especially since the book takes us exactly back to where we started—with a wedding, and a wedding crasher.
Mia Sosa consistently delivers with her contemporary romance novels, and she's already created such a rich world with Lina's, Max's, Solange's, and Dean's world—so I've very hopeful that she'll continue writing in this world! For more, visit her at her website miasosa.com.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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