Tuesday, 9 June 2020

[Review] The Worst Best Man, by Mia Sosa



Title The Worst Best Man
Series: --
Author: Mia Sosa
Publisher: Avon
Number of pages: 368
Publication date: February 4th 2020



Synopsis:
A wedding planner left at the altar. Yeah, the irony isn’t lost on Carolina Santos, either. But despite that embarrassing blip from her past, Lina’s managed to make other people’s dreams come true as a top-tier wedding coordinator in DC. After impressing an influential guest, she’s offered an opportunity that could change her life. There’s just one hitch… she has to collaborate with the best (make that worst) man from her own failed nuptials.

Tired of living in his older brother’s shadow, marketing expert Max Hartley is determined to make his mark with a coveted hotel client looking to expand its brand. Then he learns he’ll be working with his brother’s whip-smart, stunning—absolutely off-limits—ex-fiancée. And she loathes him.

If they can survive the next few weeks and nail their presentation without killing each other, they’ll both come out ahead. Except Max has been public enemy number one ever since he encouraged his brother to jilt the bride, and Lina’s ready to dish out a little payback of her own.

But even the best laid plans can go awry, and soon Lina and Max discover animosity may not be the only emotion creating sparks between them. Still, this star-crossed couple can never be more than temporary playmates because Lina isn’t interested in falling in love and Max refuses to play runner-up to his brother ever again...


Review:


This book is written by a Brazilian author, and I had a great time reading it, and reading a bit of Brazilian Portuguese.

The Worst Best Man has an “enemies to lovers” trope, although I don’t really think Max and Lina were enemies per se, but more Lina hated him for something they both believed he had caused, even if he hasn’t the one to actually do the deed.

Max is charming, funny, caring, and very good at his marketing job. Lina is a sexy, emotional, resilient, funny, hard-working wedding planner. And Lina was engaged to Max’s brother. Literally, they broke up on the wedding day – Andrew sent Max a text to tell Lina it was over. Classy, right?

Anyway, Max and Lina have to work together to create a pitch for Lina’s dream job, and pretty much Max’s dream job as well. Which means they have to put their differences aside and work together to “sell” Lina as the best wedding planner for a rich hotel.

As they start to get along, they go to visit a wedding venue, and… oh no, the car broke down, and they have to stay there, and there’s only one room for a couple, so of course they decide to share but there’s only one bed. Another great trope.

I really liked the way the author introduced the change in pace between our couple, how they are slight enemies, to friends, to lovers, to and actual couple.

The event at the wedding venue was a touch of genius to get the characters to open up without forcing them and to give us readers both inside in the life of WOC (Women of Colour), “A Black woman isn’t justifiably upset, she’s angry. A Latinx person confronts someone, they’re fiery or feisty. I don’t like raising my voice in public, Max. There’s too much baggage associated with it. A woman gets emotional in the workplace, she’s irrational and not fit for leadership.”, and a male character who recognizes his privileged and own prejudice, "I’m a White man, and I’m embarrassed to realize that none of this would have occurred to me if Lina hadn’t forced me to see it. It’s a privilege I take for granted—the ability to be who I want and say what I want no matter the space I’m in."

This was a funny, steamy, enlightening rom-com, with great touches of Brazilian culture, from capoeira to brigadeiros, and it really was a joy to read it.



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