Nikole Paterson is at a baseball game when her boyfriend of a few
months tells her to look at the jumbotron, and she's speechless: he's
proposing. Not only that, he spelled her name wrong and decided to
propose to her in the most public, not to mention humiliating, way
possible. Her efforts to get him to talk somewhere privately are futile,
and she has to tell him no in front of the thousands of people in the
stadium, and millions of people watching at home. Immediately
branded a villain and abandoned by her now ex-boyfriend, conveniently
playing the jilted fiance, Nik is saved by Carlos Ibarra, who pretends he
knows her and whisks her out of the park before things get out of hand.
A successful doctor, Carlos is intrigued by Nik and enjoys their casual
fling that begins soon after they meet. Neither of them is looking for
something serious, the sex is hot, and Nik enjoys eating good food as
much as he enjoys making it. While Nik continues to navigate her
fifteen minutes of infamy, Carlos is happy to indulge her rebound. But
when they both start to care and get more and more involved in each
other's lives, will their romance be a big hit, or will this romance
strikeout before it has a chance?
Corny baseball metaphors aside, THE
PROPOSAL by Jasmine Guillory is a home run! For fans of
Guillory's debut novel, THE WEDDING
DATE, this is a wonderful sophomore novel by an up-and-coming
and sassy women's fiction author! The romance is both sweet and sexy,
and the characters are fully developed and relatable. The plot of this
book is fun, frothy, and perfectly paced. I loved Nik's friends: Dana, a
black lesbian actress with a cute romantic side plot, and Courtney, an
Asian owner of a popular cupcake bakery - they both give Nikole advice
and commentary on her interesting situation. Carlos' family was warm
and comfortable and decidedly nagging when needed, especially his
sister and cousin. Watching the two main characters fall in love without
realizing it, and seeing them both lay their hearts on the line was
endearing. I also really enjoyed reading about two lead characters of
color. Guillory's writing continues to grow and showcase dynamic
characters with fun storylines. Plus, there are sweet appearances from
the main couple from her first book, and it's great to catch up with
them. Highly recommended to readers looking for a cute escapist read!
When freelance writer Nikole Paterson goes to a Dodgers
game with her actor boyfriend, his man bun, and his bros,
the last thing she expects is a scoreboard proposal. Saying
no isn't the hard part--they've only been dating for five
months, and he can't even spell her name correctly. The
hard part is having to face a stadium full of disappointed
fans...
At the game with his sister, Carlos Ibarra comes to Nik's
rescue and rushes her away from a camera crew. He's even
there for her when the video goes viral and Nik's social
media blows up--in a bad way. Nik knows that in the wilds
of LA, a handsome doctor like Carlos can't be looking for
anything serious, so she embarks on an epic rebound with
him, filled with food, fun, and fantastic sex. But when
their glorified hookups start breaking the rules, one of
them has to be smart enough to put on the brakes...