The Unexpected Wedding Guest (Mills & Boon Modern Tempted) (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
It lives up to the Harlequin Kiss promise in an interesting and fulfilling way. See, I enjoy Ugly Betty and Meg Cabot as much as the next girl (listed on Kiss Harlequin’s submission page as equivalents), but I have to be honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy the new line, which launched February 2013. Kiss describes itself like this:“You think of flirting as an art form! Harlequin KISS stories are all about the delirium of a potential new romance—where fun-loving heroines and irresistible heroes just can’t get enough of each other.”I don’t think of flirting as an art form, and I don’t generally buy romances focused on the potential of a new romance. I want solid people and solid stories and solid love. (You can tell I buy mostly historicals, right?) So wasn’t I surprised when Aimee Carson and the first book in the Wedding Season series made me do some rethinking? This couple has some history. Yet Reese and Mason are seeing each other after a long separation. More than that, neither is sure if they can risk their hearts to the sexual heat that always burns when they’re near each other. With this set-up, Carson satisfies very kind of reader. Whether you like fun and flirty or serious and sentimental The Unexpected Wedding guest will leave you giddy. It will also make you a Carson fan and a Kiss convert..It has psychological realism. While a happy ever after is guaranteed in a romance, love never comes easily. Growing up on tales of misdirection, miscommunication, or the problems associated with an Alpha-males refusal and supposed inability to communicate, I am thrilled that writers are now sharing stories where real-life emotional struggles are impediments to love. Carson delivers an Alpha hero who wants to share, who wants to be enough, but who can’t . . . really can’t.“There was a question in her gaze that he couldn’t answer. Which was way he’d never turned on the lights last night. As much as he’d wanted to feast on the site of her naked body, especially after dreaming of her for so long, he just couldn’t stomach seeing the look in her eyes. The questions he knew that would follow. And he was no closer to the answers than he’d been ten years ago. So, instead, he’d avoided the inevitable inquiry and poured himself into making love to Reese.”As the characters and the reader struggle with Mason’s “pathology,” the author tackles tough issues: post-traumatic stress, war, and how to build love when your past seems too ugly and too stacked against you. I loved that Carson was willing to talk about war in a way rarely seen in romance. We all need more stories about strong men who don’t find war to be the best place to exercise their super-Alpha maleness. And no one needs those stories or models more than the men at war themselves. I also loved that everyone can relate to this story. Anyone who has ever felt there was too much bad blood, too much water under the bridge to carry on–wait, isn’t that everyone?–will enjoy this book and experience a real benefit when reading it.It has thrilling sexy times! I am a sexy-times snob, but Aimee Carson impresses. I just love the way she phrases things, the way she makes (often obligatory) sexual desire fresh:“A familiar feeling settled low in Reese’s stomach–a funny combination of heat and expectant anticipation that left her heart trying to outdo its previous record. Every time Mason crossed her mind, which was pretty much every 2.5 seconds, that same sensation rolled through her chest. Making her feel happy and hopeful and hungry to hold him again [...] The fiercely intense way he took her left her both shattered and reborn. Every time.”Achieving a balance between desire and intimacy, Carson mixes description, emotion, and point of view to great effect:“Reese arched against him, and he decided he didn’t care how the hell they’d wound up here. He was just glad they had. Out of place and time, the cabin dark, the night beyond darker still. And as he dropped one hand to her thighs, sliding her skirt up to her waist, he knew they were going to make love. [...] And the urge to take her burned too bright, too hot for such a short acquaintance. It was as if he’d been here hundreds of times before, yet it felt like the first time, too.”It is part of a series that reaffirms your faith in love. I loved this quote from Cassie, the super geek and the heroine of book two: “In a world with billions of people, meeting The One is a statistical improbability.” And who doesn’t agree with that? So how come couple after couple after couple in romance seem to manage it so easily? Well, the answer is . . . they don’t. It’s not easy. And the odds aren’t in their favor, but they make it work anyway. Reese and Mason have a lot of problems, a lot of bad memories, and a struggle with Mason’s short-term memory loss. It’s a quagmire, and when the book ends, you know they’re going to be together forever. And you know they’re going to be happy. But you aren’t sure if they’re going to be blissfully happy for every moment that follows. Yet you have faith that they’re going to keep working at it. They’re going to keep forgiving. They’re going to keep kissing and making love. They’re going to hold on to The One and find a way to make the dream a reality. And what’s not to love about that?Disclaimer: An ARC copy was provided. Firstly I’d like to thank the publishers for sending me this book to read and give an honest review. Modern Tempted (previously known as RIVA) is a fabulous new series from Mills & Boon, these books are fun, flirty, sexy and romantic but with a contemporary edge. This particular book is the first in The Wedding Season quartet – four books following four college roommates as they rediscover their friendship and fall in love with their perfect match.This book began with Reece’s last day at University and a brief description of her relationship with Mason. They seemed like a passionate couple and I was keen to find out where everything went wrong for them. The story was told from both Reece and Mason’s point of view which is something I always enjoy because I like to know what each character is thinking.Ten years after University Reece was preparing for her wedding to Dylan, until Mason arrived and turned everything upside down! I found this so exciting to read because of the whole love triangle thing – the chemistry was hot and the sexual tension was almost palpable. I also grew to care about the characters, particularly Mason whose history was rather touching.I can’t wait to read the next book in The Wedding Season quartet!This was an enjoyable, quick read that was completely unputdownable.
What do You think about The Unexpected Wedding Guest (Mills & Boon Modern Tempted) (2013)?
Book 1. Young dumb love. Quick and light, book 0.5 was better.
—Nick
Entertaining and good. I quite enjoyed this.
—reisss1
