TITLE: Planning For Love
AUTHOR: Christi Barth
PUBLICATION DATE: 08/01/12
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N
BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Hopeless romantic Ivy Rhodes and anti-Cupid Bennett Westcott request the pleasure of your company for their disaster of a courtship.
Wedding planner Ivy Rhodes is the best in the business, and she’s not about to let a personal problem stop her from getting ahead. So when she’s asked to star in the reality TV show Planning for Love, it doesn’t matter that the show’s videographer happens to be a recent—and heartbreaking—one-night stand.
Bennett Westcott admits he didn’t handle his encounter with Ivy very well. But looking at her beautiful smile—and great body—through a camera lens every day? He can’t be faulted for suggesting they have some no-strings fun.
The more time they spend together, the more Ben realizes Ivy isn’t the wedding-crazed bridezilla he’d imagined. But if he doesn’t trust himself to make a relationship last, how can he convince Ivy to give him another chance?
REVIEW:
Have you ever heard the line “Chase him until he catches you”? Well that is the best way to describe this storyline. While some of the story could be a bit cliche’ it was really a good story. Ivy is the typical wedding planner who believes in romance, love and forever. Ben is the typical cynical man who believes in reality, lust and for now. But there is something about Ivy that he can not ignore.
What I enjoyed about this book was the characters were very real and relatable. Both Ivy’s romantic heart and Ben’s scared one are something people can relate to. The background stories are interesting and some of the scenes are very sweet between these two characters. I thought they were written very well together and enjoyed watching Ben do romantic things without even knowing he was being romantic. We have all met people like these two people. The woman who falls in love with every man she has one date with and the man who is afraid of commitment. They are the perfect characters to write a love story about.
However, they are also the same “couple” we read about in a lot of books. While they were enjoyable and it was a good version of the story it was the same story I have read before. Her the hopeless romantic woman and him the commitment-phobic man. There did not seem to be much difference in so many other books as far as storyline goes. I wanted something different, just any part of the book to be different, but it never happened.
I did enjoy the background characters. I would have loved to read more about the guys getting together. I loved the poker game and would have loved a couple more scenes of that throughout the book. Daphne is an interesting character and I hope the next book is about her. She is egotistical (when it comes to work), loyal (when it comes to friends) and funny (ok maybe snide is a better word). While I am sure her story is already written I would love to see Daphne with a man who is color-blind and can not view her floral “masterpieces” the way she does (just a hint to Barth in case her book is not written).
If you love the romance genre, as I do, then you will enjoy this book. Yes, it is something we have all read before but it is beautifully written and enjoyable. I look forward to Barth’s next book.
Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
4 Hearts
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