REVIEW: Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory

Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory: Olivia has recently moved back to California to open her own law firm with her best friend. One night at the hotel bar Olivia finds herself in a dessert rant only to find the cute guy down the bar agreeing with her. While they share a plate of cookies they get chatting about the merits of a good cake and pie, the traditional kind non of this new age fufu stuff. Thinking this guy looks so familiar but unsure of where she had seen him, Olivia doesn’t give it to much thought, it is Hollywood after all isn’t everyone an actor of some kind. It is only when she returns to her room does she notice the cute stranger from the bar that she had been flirting with was actually congressman Max Powell. Thinking he has lost his chance at getting to know the captivating Olivia, Max is pleasantly surprised to find her amongst the crowd at an event he has to talk at a few weeks later.

“No, I’ve never sent a cake before to try to get a woman to go out with me.”

Finally having her full name and the name of her firm, Max decides to woo Olivia the best way he knows, with cake. And so begins their cute relationship laced with sweet treats. What started as a cute undercover relationship soon begins to get very real when Olivia’s past is brought into the public eye. The question is can Max convince Olivia that he and their relationship is worth living with a little bit of limelight?

“Some of my needs may change, but my feelings for you will not. I will love you for the rest of my life.”

I really enjoyed this novel by Guillory. Both characters were very well rounded, I will say that I did prefer Max. I found Max to be such a cute impulse loveable politician, he was charming and very persistent in his quest to win over Olivia. I will say what Olivia found a short coming in Max’s character; his impulsiveness, I found to be his shinning quality. This brings me to Olivia, as a whole she was a good character, but I did find her constant reluctance to jump into the unknown slightly tedious. I found her need to plan every step of her life to hold her back from truly living and that was slightly annoying for me.

One thing I found that stood out and was a major winner for me, was the constant mention of cakes and pies! As a sweet lover myself, I found myself relating to their need for real good cake, so much so that Olivia and Max inspired me to make my own chocolate cake. Overall this book was somewhat half way there for me, I found Olivia’s insecurities held not only her back but the book as a whole. Other than that it was an enjoyable novel without to much unnecessary drama.

Book Info:

Publication: June 23rd 2020 | Berkley Books | The Wedding Date #5

A chance meeting with a handsome stranger turns into a whirlwind affair that gets everyone talking.

Dating is the last thing on Olivia Monroe’s mind when she moves to LA to start her own law firm. But when she meets a gorgeous man at a hotel bar and they spend the entire night flirting, she discovers too late that he is none other than hotshot junior senator Max Powell. Olivia has zero interest in dating a politician, but when a cake arrives at her office with the cutest message, she can’t resist–it is chocolate cake, after all.

Olivia is surprised to find that Max is sweet, funny, and noble–not just some privileged white politician she assumed him to be. Because of Max’s high-profile job, they start seeing each other secretly, which leads to clandestine dates and silly disguises. But when they finally go public, the intense media scrutiny means people are now digging up her rocky past and criticizing her job, even her suitability as a trophy girlfriend. Olivia knows what she has with Max is something special, but is it strong enough to survive the heat of the spotlight?