Book Review: "Hold Still" by Nina LaCour

"How amazing it is to find someone who wants to hear about all the things that go on in your head. You just think that things will stay the way they are. You never look up, in a moment that feels like every other moment of your life, and think, Soon this will be over."

Caitlin and Ingrid were best friends. They were practically inseparable, sharing a love of photography, music, laughing at themselves and others. One night they were talking about their futures, and the next morning, Ingrid was dead, having committed suicide.

Ingrid's death shakes Caitlin at her very foundation. Ingrid didn't leave a note, but Caitlin realizes there were so many times where she should have said something to Ingrid when she noticed her erratic moods, her cutting herself, her crying jags. Could she have saved her friend?

When school resumes in the fall, Caitlin has to navigate her way without Ingrid for the first time. She's a jumble of emotions—anger, loneliness, guilt, grief—and doesn't like being an object of curiosity to her classmates, who want to know how Ingrid killed herself and whether she left a note. Even their favorite photography teacher treats her like a pariah.

Then Caitlin finds Ingrid's journal under her bed, where Ingrid presumably left it for her to find. As she reads Ingrid's words, she begins to understand more clearly just how troubled her friend was, how she struggled to find self-worth, tried to will the boy she liked to reciprocate her feelings, and how she wanted Caitlin to understand what she was feeling but was afraid she'd treat her differently or worse, not want to be friends with her.

"Maybe there is no right thing to say. Maybe the right thing is just a myth, not really out there at all."

Nina LaCour's exquisite, emotional debut novel, Hold Still, chronicles Caitlin's first year of living without her best friend. It is a year of trying to comprehend this loss, wanting to lean on people yet not wanting to let anyone else in or be vulnerable, and a year of understanding there was little that could have been done to prevent Ingrid's death. It's a story about how to find the strength to move on, to identify rays of hope again, and realize that making new friends isn't betraying the memory of the one you lost.

This book is also a tremendously candid look at the effects a suicide has on the lives of those left behind. From parents to friends to teachers to crushes, everyone is affected in some way, and LaCour beautifully explores the range of emotions and actions that are caused by such a tragedy. I expected this book to make me cry and it certainly did, but it wasn't as maudlin as I feared it might be—it is powerful and immensely poignant.

I've been a fan of LaCour's writing since reading You Know Me Well, a book she wrote with David Levithan, a few years ago. Last month I read We Are Okay, and was again captivated by her tremendous storytelling ability. She is a writer whose work you really need to read, for its beauty and its emotional power.

On the off chance that someone reading this review is in crisis or having suicidal thoughts, please know that there are people standing by to listen to you and help you. Please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, the Trevorlifeline for LGBTQ+ Youth at 866-488-7386, or if you are in the U.S., you can text "HOME" to 741741, which will reach the Crisis Text Line.

Book Review: "The Chain" by Adrian McKinty

It seemed like any other morning. Rachel's 13-year-old daughter Kylie was waiting at the bus stop while she headed to a doctor's appointment. On the way she received a call from an unknown number. The call told her that Kylie had been kidnapped, and she was now part of The Chain.

Rachel was given explicit instructions. She has to pay a ransom electronically and then kidnap another child as her daughter had been kidnapped. If she follows the instructions to the letter, and the family of the child she kidnaps do the same, then Kylie will be released. Any deviations from this script, any calls to the police or FBI for help, any trying to outsmart those in charge will result in Kylie being killed, if not Rachel as well.

"You've never experienced fear until something or someone puts your child in danger. Dying is not the worst thing that can happen to you. The worst thing that can happen to you is for something to happen to your kid. Having a child instantly turns you into a grown-up."

Rachel is utterly overwhelmed by the tasks that lay ahead, but she has no choice. She never imagined she'd be the type of person to kidnap a child, be willing to sacrifice their life for her daughter's, but protecting your child makes you do unbelievable things. When your life is falling apart completely, how do you convince the world that it's just another day, that you're perfectly fine?

I'm giving a fairly vague plot summary because it's best to let things unfold without much knowledge or expectation. Adrian McKinty's The Chain has an amazing concept at its core—talk about the worst kind of pay-it-forward you've ever seen! Rachel and some of the others involved are tremendously believable even as the things that they are doing are utterly unbelievable, but it makes you wonder how you might react if faced with the same situation.

The book starts with a bang, but the pace starts to lag after a bit. At times the narrative gets a little too technical, and I'm never a big fan of when a book needs to spend a lot of time explaining the evil plot. And while the pace picks up toward the end, I found the conclusion tremendously predictable and a little ridiculous, which is saying a lot considering how crazy the whole concept is.

I've seen a few friends rave over this book, so maybe my cynicism with thrillers is showing again. McKinty is a talented writer and I love the concept he has come up with. If this interests you, I'd definitely encourage you to read it—July seems to be the month for me to challenge a lot of highly rated favorites!!

Book Review: "The Magnificent Mrs. Mayhew" by Milly Johnson

When was the last time you couldn't get enough of a book and wanted to devour it in one sitting, yet when you were finished, you were sad? That happened for me with Milly Johnson's newest book, The Magnificent Mrs. Mayhew. I wasn't familiar with Johnson's writing, but apparently she's known as "the Queen of Feel-Good Fiction" in the UK, and boy, they're not kidding!

Sophie Mayhew was raised to believe that a woman's purpose is to serve her husband, that the best thing she can do as a wife is to be a supportive and valuable spouse. And that's exactly what she has done for the last 14 years for her husband. John F. Mayhew is immensely handsome, politically shrewd, and ruthlessly ambitious, and with his glamorous, intelligent wife "Sophie the Trophy" by his side, he's one step away from becoming prime minister.

Sophie remembers when her relationship with John was full of passion rather than photo opportunities, spontaneity rather than scheduled appearances and carefully scripted remarks. But this is the role she agreed to, so even if she has had to sacrifice the things that bring her joy, even if her husband and her own family don't appreciate her for anything more than being the dutiful wife, she knows she is key to her husband's success. Even if the public and the media scrutinize her every move, her every outfit, her every expression, John is destined for greatness. That should be enough for her.

Then one day, scandal breaks. Sophie hears the allegations and is sad and angry, but not totally surprised. John's PR specialist assures them the scandal will go away quickly once Sophie lets the world know she stands faithfully by her man. Yet for some reason, Sophie can't bring herself to recite her prepared remarks and toe the line she always has. Instead, the words that spill out are spontaneous—and certainly not what John or his team wants anyone to hear. When everyone begins closing ranks around her to mitigate the damage, Sophie decides to flee to a small town on the coast where she spent the best summer of her life as a teenager.

"Sophie the Trophy was hardly known for being her own woman. If anything, she was the enemy of strong women. She existed in the shadow of her husband, she was good enough to work for him but not good enough to be given a wage for it. She bowed to his will, and for her pains he humiliated her in the worst way possible while lecturing the British public on keeping their own houses in order."

Sophie changes her appearance and assumes a new name, and hopes to keep a low profile. But she is shocked at how friendly the townspeople are, and how quickly they are to provide her food, supplies, smiles, simply because they recognize a person in need of help. For the first time in years, she starts to feel appreciated for her personality and her gifts, not scrutinized and criticized at every turn. And she realizes how horribly she's been mistreated, not only by her husband, but by her own family.

As she befriends Tracey, the owner of the local pub, and her brother, Elliott, the vicar, she comes to terms with the sacrifices she has made in her life. She doesn't know if she's ready to give up everything, or if she still loves her husband, but she knows that she feels freer and happier. As her feelings become more complicated, she knows she can't stay forever, but she doesn't know if she can step back into her old role, or if she's willing to give up everything she's known in order to really be herself.

"Kindness was not a weakness, it was an essential part of being a human being, a gift to be bestowed upon others, a strength."

Nothing that happens in The Magnificent Mrs. Mayhew is surprising; you've certainly seen this story before. But Johnson has created characters that you'll want to root for and characters you'll loathe, and I for one couldn't get enough of this book. Watching Sophie blossom on her own and realize she could have a life where she could make her own decisions and do what makes her happy for once was heartwarming, and I loved her interactions with Tracey, Elliott, Luke, and others.

If you like "feel-good fiction" then be sure to pick up a copy of The Magnificent Mrs. Mayhew. I read the entire book in a matter of hours, and now I'm missing the characters!

I was fortunate to be part of the blog tour for this book. Thanks to Gallery Books, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for giving me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review! See a Spotlight/Excerpt from the book at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2019/07/spotlightexcerpt-magnificent-mrs-mayhew.html.

Spotlight/Excerpt: "The Magnificent Mrs. Mayhew" by Milly Johnson

THE MAGNIFICENT MRS. MAYHEW
by
MILLY JOHNSON
On Sale: July 29, 2019

Purchase Link:
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Magnificent-Mrs-Mayhew/Milly-Johnson/9781982129781

About THE MAGNIFICENT MRS. MAYHEW:
Milly Johnson, the Queen of Feel-Good Fiction and The Sunday Times bestselling author, is back with a "glorious, heartfelt novel" (Rowan Coleman, New York Times bestselling author) about a woman trying to find her own place in the world, who through love, loss, and the kindness of strangers, discovers everything she needs in a village by the sea.

Behind every successful man is a woman.
Behind the fall of every successful man is usually another woman.

Sophie Mayhew seems to have the perfect life. The glamorous wife of a rising political star who is one step away from the highest position in the government, she matches her husband in looks, pedigree, and money. But he has made some stupid mistakes on his way to the top, and some of those mistakes are just now threatening to emerge. Still, this can all be swept under the rug so long as Sophie the Trophy plays her part in front of the cameras. But the words that tumble out of Sophie’s mouth one morning on the doorstep of their country house are not the words the spin doctors drilled into her head.

Bursting out of the restrictive mold that has been tightening around her since birth, Sophie flees to a small village on the coast, a safe haven from her childhood days, where she intends to be alone. But once there, she finds a community that warms her soul and makes her feel as if she is breathing properly for the first time in her life. Sophie knows she won’t be left in peace for long, though, so she must decide: where does her real future lie?

About MILLY JOHNSON
Milly Johnson is The Sunday Times bestselling author of numerous novels about the universal issues of friendship, family, love, betrayal, good food, and the little bit of that magic in life that sometimes visits the unsuspecting. Milly is a columnist for her local newspaper and is also an experienced broadcaster on radio and TV. She can be booked via the Women Speakers Agency for motivational speaking events. Milly is patron of several charities, including Yorkshire Cat Rescue and The Well at the Core. Her publishers call her The Queen of Feel-Good Fiction, and together they are aiming to spread as much joy as possible with every book published. Find out more at MillyJohnson.co.uk or follow her on Twitter @MillyJohnson.

Excerpt from THE MAGNIFICENT MRS. MAYHEW:

Chapter 1

DOORSTEPGATE, 11 A.M.

As Sophie stood in the middle of them all, the moment strangely crystalized for her, as if time had frozen solid and she was able to study everything at leisure, appreciate how odd it was to be surrounded by familiar people in the house she had lived in for eight years and yet still feel as if she had been dropped from a great height into a roomful of strangers.

She saw her mother seated, holding a cup of tea in one hand and the accompanying china saucer in the other, talking to her father, who was standing, one hand slotted stiffly in his jacket pocket; his default pose, as if he were a catalogue model. Mother was talking to him and Father had a polite smile of concentration on his face. Standing next to him, her parents-in-law, Clive and Celeste, looking serious and focused as if they were building up to jumping out of a plane. Sophie’s husband, John, deep in conversation with the top pick of his aides: Parliamentary Assistant (London) Rupert Bartley-Green; Senior Communications Director and Press Officer Len Spinks; Chief of Staff Edward Mayhew, who also happened to be John’s eldest brother; and Executive Office Manager (Cherlgrove) Findlay Norris. Between his two governmental bases and the office that looked after his investment and property portfolio, John had more staff than the POTUS, although there was an opening for a girl Friday (London) now, since his last one was currently enjoying her fifteen minutes of fame. The “people” of breakfast and daytime TV, and every program that attracted those the media chose to concentrate its temporary but brightest lights on, were no doubt already negotiating appearance fees with her “people.” Why is it always someone in that junior assistant/intern/researcher role who topples the boss? thought Sophie. Weren’t there enough cautionary tales of littered corpses to warn any man in a high-profile position—who really should know better—what dark and treacherous waters he elected to dip into when he chose a pretty, young, ambitious swimming companion? A pond with a hundred signs around it, all lit up with massive red neon lettering and strings of exclamation marks: warning. danger. come any closer and you’re a bloody idiot!!!!!

It would have been easy for the other woman to fall in love with her husband, though; if that were what it was. John could sell ice to the Eskimos, coal to Newcastle, toys to Santa, and all the other clichés. Charm personified, absurdly handsome, moneyed, intelligent, refined—oh yes, John F. Mayhew was the full package. Sophie could guess how quickly Rebecca Robinson would have become ensnared in his net, even thrown herself into it willingly, because she had done the same thing fourteen years ago, when she was eighteen.

She’d met him at the Christmas Ball when she was in her first year at Cambridge University, studying French, and he was in his last year studying business and politics. He’d been absolutely wrecked on champagne and told her he was going to marry her, before his friends dragged him off for yet more alcohol. She didn’t think much about it until Valentine’s Day, when their paths collided again at a private party. She spotted him long before he noticed her, which gave her the luxury of studying him unseen. He wasn’t her dream type at all, but he was extremely magnetic, and from the way he held himself, it was more than obvious he knew what his best qualities were. He was long limbed and lean, and she imagined him as a human equivalent of a well-bred racehorse, something pampered and valued. Greek-statue profile, midbrown hair that flopped into his eyes— and what eyes they were: puppy-brown, intense, seductive. Eventually, as if detecting the heat in her gaze, his eyes swept around to hers, locked, and she felt powerless, as if she were a hen and he a fox. He sliced through the banks of students that stood between them, mouth stretching into a killer smile, and when he reached her, said:

“Well, if it isn’t you again. Where have you been hiding yourself?”

And from that moment they were a couple. Sophie forgot all about swooning over the rugby player who was in her class, which was a shame because he would end up captaining England and was a thoroughly nice chap, but John F. Mayhew engulfed her brain and was all she could think about.

John F. was going to be richer than Croesus and prime minister one day, he said, and she didn’t doubt that he would be. She could easily forecast his future: top of the tree in his chosen profession, women would adore him, men would want to be him, magazine reporters would queue up outside his door to take photos of the beautiful home he lived in. His children would be perfect and well behaved. Maybe they’d be her children, too. Maybe this was the man her old headmistress Miss Palmer-Price told her would be the one to carry her along in the grip of his force field. The “F” stood for Fitzroy, he told her postcoitus in bed on the night he took her virginity. His great-great-great-grandfather— Donal F. Mayhew—and his best friend, Patrick, had decided to escape the great Irish famine by emigrating to America in the late 1840s. But an Irish heiress fell hook, line, and sinker for the strong and handsome—if impoverished—gypsy Donal and he changed his mind about going. Donal and his wife eventually moved to London, where his determination both to shake off the label of male “gold digger” and to better himself drove him to build up a fortune in his own right selling property, metal, alcohol, ship parts; anything legal or illegal to trade in order to make a profit. Across the pond, Patrick’s family’s fortunes improved with every generation, too. His great-grandson John F. Kennedy became president of the United States of America. The Kennedys, John said, had stolen the idea of using the “F” from the Mayhews, and in doing so had cursed themselves. As if he couldn’t get any more fascinating, traveler magic was thrown into the mix.

By April Sophie could not imagine living without John F. Mayhew; then in May she found that she’d have to, because he dumped her for the fabulously rich wild child Lady Cresta Thorpe. Sophie was heartbroken. John graduated with honors and spent a year touring the world with Cresta, who had dropped out of university, far preferring to indulge her habits of clubbing, cocktails, and cocaine. His life, so she gleaned from gossip, was shining and golden as hers slipped further into the dark and depressing. Her coursework suffered and she started self-medicating with alcohol to blot out the pain. She also realized that the girls she’d thought of as friends weren’t that hot in a crisis. She had never been good at gathering friends. The beautiful, insubstantial people were attracted to her, but the really nice people found her own good looks intimidating.

It took Sophie a long time to get over losing John F. Mayhew, partly because she didn’t have a group of hard-core pals to help chase him out of her heart. She buried her true feelings deep as she had been taught to at school, threw herself into her studies, never let anyone see how wounded she was. Her heart had just about healed by the time she graduated, give or take the scar he had left.

Months later, Sophie had been working as a temp at the London headquarters of the glossy magazine Mint when she heard that they were to run a feature on a young, successful investment banker, a high-risk taker and up-and-coming politician, at home in his recently acquired, stupidly expensive bachelor penthouse. His name was John F. Mayhew. Sophie’s heart started to race. She wangled it so she accompanied the reporter and the photographer, desperate to show herself off at her best to him: content, happy, preened, and perfect— unattainable and indifferent. Or so she thought.

He was overjoyed to see her, ridiculously so, and she was gracious enough not to dampen his delight with a long-overdue rebuke for dumping her so callously. He asked her out to dinner and she accepted, merely for old times’ sake, sure that if he asked to see her again, she would politely refuse, walk away, having shut the door firmly in his face this time.

He had never forgiven himself for the caddish way he had behaved, he said in Le Gavroche. He’d been glamoured by Cresta’s glitzy veneer, but it was mere infatuation. He hadn’t realized how much he felt for Sophie until he lost her. Sophie was in love with him all over again before the dessert menus had been delivered to them.

Six months after the photos of his bachelor pad had been published, John F. Mayhew had moved out and into Park Court, a beautiful, if run-down, country residence—a wedding present from his parents for himself and his new bride-to-be, the sublime Miss Sophie Calladine. She ignored that little voice inside her that warned her about the speed of all this, the worm burying into her happiness. Is this the real deal, Sophie, or are you just grateful to be loved?

To a woman starved for affection, the full spotlight of his attention was blinding, disorientating—of course she knew this. She had gulped it like air seeping through a hole in a vacuum. For that reason, it would be too easy to let that worm convince her that genuine love was not her primary reason for accepting John’s marriage proposal: but it was, it really was. It had to be said, though, that her heart was whooping considerably that she had also earned parental approval for her choice of husband, and she could even hear the echoes of applause from her old headmistress, nodding consent from the afterlife: I knew you’d be a credit to St. Bathsheba’s in the end, Sophie, like your sisters and your mother before you. But she did love him very much. Enough to have sacrificed her own wants and needs on his altar for the past eight and a half years. Enough to be standing here with her heart ripped open in this roomful of people who were looking at her to mend her marriage. Because by doing that, Sophie Mayhew would mend everything.

Book Review: "Girls Like Us" by Cristina Alger

What a pleasure it is to read a thriller that doesn't have an unreliable narrator, one which keeps you guessing about every single plot point because you don't know what is true and what is a figment of their imagination!

FBI agent Nell Flynn returns to her childhood home in Long Island's Suffolk County for the first time in 10 years when her father, Martin, a homicide detective, is killed in a motorcycle accident.

Nell and her father were never close, particularly after her mother was brutally murdered when Nell was seven. Even though she followed in Martin's footsteps and became a cop, their relationship was always a bit strained and never really went beyond the exchange of polite information and conversation.

"Dad had an unshakable, almost evangelical sense of right and wrong. But there were contradictions. He loathed drugs but felt comfortable pickling his liver in scotch....The criminals he most despised were abusers of women and children, but I once saw him strike my mother so hard across the face that a red outline of his hand was imprinted on her skin. Dad had his own code. I learned early not to second-guess it. At least, not out loud."

Returning home to Suffolk County awakens a lot of memories for Nell, and she's anxious simply to scatter Martin's ashes, get his house ready to sell, and never return again. But her father's partner, whom she knew from high school, asks for her help investigating the murder of a young woman whose body was found mutilated in a park. It seems this murder is connected to another murder uncovered about a month earlier, which means there very well could be a serial killer on the loose in Suffolk County.

It turns out that Martin was investigating the first murder when he died. While the police seem to have a suspect who looks good for both murders, or at least was involved somehow, they couldn't seem to make the charges stick the first time, but they hope to nail him this time. Nell, however, sees that there are definitive doubts about this man's guilt, yet the police don't seem interested in pursuing any other avenues in terms of a suspect.

The more Nell starts to dig into the lives of the two young women, the more she realizes that there is definitely a second suspect—her father. There are too many coincidences and too many connections. But could her father have been capable of murder? And if he murdered these two women, was he guilty of murdering her mother all those years ago? That question fills Nell with rage and sadness, especially because her seven-year-old self was her father's alibi.

As Nell conducts her own secret investigation, she discovers the murders were part of a much larger operation, involving allegations of police brutality, blackmail, corruption, and prostitution, involving people far beyond Suffolk County. It's easy for the police to write off the two young women as victims because they were undocumented and occasionally worked as escorts, but Nell is determined that their deaths not be in vain—but she doesn't realize what a hornet's nest she's stirred up.

Girls Like Us drew me in from the very first pages and didn't let go until the last. I read the book in one sitting, and stayed up late last night (or this morning, technically) to finish it. There certainly were a few twists I didn't see coming, one which confused me in the way it was initially presented and one which disappointed me a bit, but Cristina Alger didn't let up with the book's pacing until the very end.

Nell is a fantastic character and I wouldn't mind seeing her featured in another book. I've been a big fan of Alger's writing since her first book, and I love the way each book she has written is somewhat different. I had been waiting to read Girls Like Us for a while, and I'm so glad it was as good as I hoped it would be.

Book Review: "The Last Book Party" by Karen Dukess

"But how could you live and have no story to tell?"

This quote from Fyodor Dostoevsky is the epigraph to Karen Dukess' terrific debut novel, The Last Book Party, and it couldn't be more appropriate. Dukess' book is both a coming-of-age story and a look at the loss of idealism, the siren song of art and those who create it, and an exploration of the always fascinating dynamics of families and their relationships.

In the summer of 1987, Eve Rosen has a fairly boring job as an editorial assistant at a publishing house, not quite the way her parents envisioned her using her degree from Brown. Despite the fact that she does little more than type her boss' correspondence and deal with those authors he is avoiding, the job represents an opportunity to be exposed to writers and their craft, something that as an aspiring writer, she hopes will rub off on her.

Unfortunately, however, she can't seem to get anywhere with her writing, and is envious of those she views as talented and lucky enough to get their work published.

When she is invited to a party at the Cape Cod home of once-renowned writer Henry Grey and his poet wife, Tillie, she jumps at the chance to do something utterly out of character for her. The Greys have a summer home in the same town as Eve's parents, yet the two couldn't be more different.

"Henry and Tillie and the rest of the older set looked loose and happy in a way that made them seem not only younger than my own parents, though they were ostensibly the same age, but ageless, as if being artists and writers freed them from anything as conventional as growing old."

She is drawn to Franny, the Greys' handsome, artistic son, but he leaves Cape Cod for the remainder of the summer. Exhausted by the dead-end nature of her editorial job, she agrees to spend the rest of the summer working as Henry's research assistant, a task she hopes will finally serve as the creative catalyst she needs to get her writing going again.

But the more time she spends at the Greys', and as she gets to know a young writer slated for a bright future, the more she realizes that it isn't someone else who inspires you to succeed—it's you who needs to inspire yourself. She also discovers that her perspectives on relationships—both parental and romantic—are shaped by far more factors than she ever considered possible.

As the summer draws to a close, and the Greys' famed "Book Party," where the guests dress as literary characters, arrives, Eve sees how easy it is to make decisions on what you see rather than what you know, and she realizes that she is the only one who can chart the course for her future. It's a sobering lesson in the midst of a summer she thought was magical, but comes to realize that perhaps she just didn't look closely enough.

I really enjoyed The Last Book Party. Dukess did a great job creating some fascinating characters and drawing you into their universe much as the Greys did Eve. There were certainly some familiar elements to this story but Dukess threw in some of her own twists, and I like the way she explored the juxtaposition between the dynamics of Eve's family with the Greys.

Interestingly enough, I saw some similarities between Eve and myself, in that I know how easy it is to find excuses not to pursue your dreams but yet wax poetic about how if only things were easier, maybe you'd accomplish what you dreamed of. I also understand that when you dream of writing it's far too easy to give up when the words or ideas don't flow, but that is precisely when you should push yourself, although that's easier said than done.

Dukess accurately captured the time period of the story without making it feel too heavy-handed, and she added enough drama without making the story campy. This really was such an enjoyable book and a quick read, one I'd definitely recommend.

Book Review: "The Wedding Party" by Jasmine Guillory

Jasmine Guillory has really become one of my go-to authors when I'm in the mood for a great rom-com. Her books are fun to read as well as well-written and steamy, and I find her characters so appealing that it feels like hanging out with friends, especially because the characters in all three of her books are linked in some way.

Her newest book, The Wedding Party, follows that age-old story of two people who can't stand each other yet one crazy night something changes. Maddie and Theo have known each other for years through their mutual best friend, Alexa.

There's no denying that they find each other physically attractive, but they're seriously turned off by their personalities. Maddie thinks Theo is pedantic and condescending, Theo thinks Maddie is superficial and a bit of a bitch. They do everything they can to avoid one another, or stick to mere pleasantries if they have to interact.

When an emotionally vulnerable Alexa takes Maddie to Theo's birthday party, it's the last place she wants to be, and Theo isn't thrilled to see Maddie there. But why can't they take their eyes off each other? Why are they thinking of each other that way? It must be the alcohol. When Maddie agrees to drive Theo home and somehow she challenges him to show her his dance moves, one thing leads to another, and...an amazing night and morning ensue.

But once the afterglow dissipates, Maddie realizes underneath the sexual skill and the hot body, it's still condescending Theo, and Maddie can't help but get an attitude, even when he tries to say the right thing. They acknowledge this was a mistake, and Alexa must never know about it. Until it happens again, and it's even better and hotter than the first time.

When Alexa asks both Maddie and Theo to be in her wedding party (as bridesmaid and bridesman), the two realize they're going to be thrown together constantly, and suddenly, that seems like a good thing, since they can't stop thinking about each other. They agree that they can continue to spend time together as long as they still keep it a secret from Alexa, and they need to recognize that this is a time-limited deal: once the wedding is over, they can go their separate ways and go back to hating each other.

It should come as no surprise that this situation turns out to be far more complicated than they imagined. How can you be so drawn to someone that makes you so angry half the time? Where is the line between love and hate? Does telling people about a relationship you've kept secret have the potential to change the dynamics?

When an incident occurs that shakes both Maddie and Theo, they need to examine their feelings and decide whether their relationship has a future, or if they're just not right for each other. But first they have to survive the wedding...

We've seen this story so many times before, but in Guillory's hands it still feels fresh and appealing, and you find yourself rooting for Theo and Maddie. I know I wanted to smack both of them at least a few times when they either misinterpreted something the other said, or said the wrong thing. I like the way Guillory kept the plot from getting too melodramatic or slapstick-y, so while elements of the story are certainly familiar, she didn't resort to clichés to advance the action.

This may be the sexiest of all three of her books, and I'd really love to see an adaptation of this on television or in the movies, because it would be great to see what everyone looks like after forming pictures of them in my head. (You don't need to read Guillory's books in order, although characters from the first two books do appear.)

If you're a fan of hate-you, love-you romances, this will definitely be up your alley. I for one can't wait for her next book now!!