Happy for now is where happily ever afters are born.
Camilla Isley
You May Kiss the Bridesmaid
Format:
Audiobook
1/16/2023 – At the time of this review the audiobook is on sale via Chrip for $2.99.
Publisher’s Synopsis:
A year ago I made a mistake, and now everyone at my sister’s wedding hates me. But the best man doesn’t. He wants seven nights of no-strings-attached fun… Should I say yes?
Archibald Hill is handsome, single, and he’s going to his best friend’s wedding ready to make a conquest or two. After all, everyone knows weddings are the perfect setting to get lucky.
Summer Knowles used to have a life—friends, family, a sister who’d do anything for her—until she blew it all away with a terrible mistake. Now, attending her twin’s wedding as the party’s undesirable number one seems like more than she can handle. So, when a tall stranger with smoldering ice-blue eyes offers her a therapy of seven nights of no-strings-attached fun, she might even ignore that he has a beard and accept.
Problem is, Summer has never been good at keeping sex and feelings separated…
Perspective:
1st person. Alternating perspectives.
Rellim’s Thoughts:
This is book 6 in Camilla Isley’s First Comes Love series. I haven’t listened to all of these these or in order, but Isley gives enough background so that it stands well on its own. There are some slight spoilers to other books, specifically To the Stars and Back, so they’re best enjoyed in order.
I have to admit, I didn’t think I’d be able to root for a MC with a past of having an affair with her best friend’s boyfriend. However, I liked that Summer was truly remorseful and had reconciled with the friend. Unfortunately, not everyone at her sister’s wedding is so forgiving. Hooking up with best man Archie doesn’t seem the healthiest way to deal with all the stress, but they both go in knowing it’s short term.
As things go in the just-sex-to-more trope (one of my favs) – they both start to catch feelings. It’s easy to see that it’s more than attraction as they banter, do yoga, send flirty texts, and spend every night together. Isley is good at making closed door romance really sexy.
As the book only spans the wedding week, it’s insta love and ends abruptly on a HFN. I would have loved a little more from Archie’s POV and maybe even an epilogue, but the couple’s stories tend to continue in subsequent books – so I’m sure I’ll catch more Summer and Archie soon.
Narration:
I already love Cynthia Farrell’s narrations and this was no exception. She has a broad range of voices for all the characters and emotions. I also like that she does the chapters from Archie’s perspective in a slightly lower register. Great listen.
About the author:
Camilla’s an engineer turned writer after she quit her job to follow her husband in an adventure abroad.
She’s a cat lover, coffee addict, and shoe hoarder. Besides writing, she loves reading—duh!—cooking, watching bad TV, and going to the movies—popcorn, please. She’s a bit of a foodie, nothing too serious. A keen traveler, Camilla knows mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem, and she doesn’t want to starve all those frog princes out there, but she could really live without them.
You can connect with Camilla Isley here:
About the narrator:
Cynthia Farrell has been a musical theater singer and recording artist all of her life. She has been performing off-Broadway since coming to New York to receive her BFA from NYU’s musical theater department. She has also created an award-winning career in audiobook narration, commercial voiceover and video game voiceover- she has developed a fan base for playing “Catalina” in the Grand Theft Auto game series. In her audiobook narration, she is known for her portrayal of strong female characters, and uses an always engaged, uniquely human delivery of language that is enhanced by her clear, strong, mellifluous singer’s tone and diction. Her voice work is in both English and Spanish, as she grew up speaking both languages- it has given her a unique niche as she doesn’t have an accent in either language. Cynthia has a large body of audiobook work ranging: Romance, Fantasy, Science-Fiction, Young Adult, Motivational & general non-fiction, and Crime drama. In addition to narrating over 150 for retail publishers and producers, she has recorded over 100 books for The Library of Congress, not listed here.
You can connect with Cynthia Farrell here:
My Favorite Quotes
“the moment you stop looking, that’s when Prince Charming will come knocking on your door.”
“The best man is about to get lucky; the least he can do is buy me a drink first.”
“Happy for now is where happily ever afters are born.”
Rellim Reads 