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May 08, 2018Irene99 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Refreshing modern-day romance convincingly told in the first person. Avery, planner of posh weddings, meets Joe at one of them, where he manfully handles a scorpion problem. As Joe doesn’t show off his wealth, Avery embarrassingly mistakes him for one of the help. He persists in wanting to see her despite her own distaste for love after a bad experience and a philandering father. A difficult client provides drama as Avery plans a wedding for a relationship littered with red flags. She is drawn into the embrace of Joe’s family as she struggles with career choices, like whether she might become a reality star in New York. Avery’s half-sister and work partner, Sofia, is her only real family, while Sofia’s distant mother tends toward a “litany of complaints concealed within complaints, like a set of toxic Russian nesting dolls.” Sofia’s grumpy, secretly-besotted co-worker Steven provides another delightful story within the story. There are many beautiful and funny turns of phrase, like “Frantically I rummaged through my bag, a tote so heavy that whenever I set it on the passenger seat, the car would signal me to buckle it in," and “I was dismantled, everything inside me thrown into chaos.... You had to run with a feeling like that, all the way to sunrise.” Side trips to an animal shelter where Joe volunteers to photograph pets provide a sweet backdrop, where one toothless aging lap dog wins hearts.