[Review] The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory
Publisher: Berkley Books (Oct 30, 2018)
Review copy provided by Times Reads

Blurb:
When someone asks you to spend your life with him, it shouldn’t come as a surprise–or happen in front of 45,000 people.

When freelance writer Nikole Paterson goes to a Dodgers game with her actor boyfriend, his man bun, and his bros, the last thing she expects is a scoreboard proposal. Saying no isn’t the hard part–they’ve only been dating for five months, and he can’t even spell her name correctly. The hard part is having to face a stadium full of disappointed fans…

At the game with his sister, Carlos Ibarra comes to Nik’s rescue and rushes her away from a camera crew. He’s even there for her when the video goes viral and Nik’s social media blows up–in a bad way. Nik knows that in the wilds of LA, a handsome doctor like Carlos can’t be looking for anything serious, so she embarks on an epic rebound with him, filled with food, fun, and fantastic sex. But when their glorified hookups start breaking the rules, one of them has to be smart enough to put on the brakes… 

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Every once in a while, I do find myself in the mood to pick up a romance novel since there’s nothing more exciting and enticing as a love story that I could lose myself in. Liking the sound of The Proposal from what I read in the blurb in the back of the book, I decided to find out what I’d find in Jasmine Guillory’s sophomore novel.

Right from the get-go, we see the heroine, Nikole who is at a baseball game with her boyfriend of five months and out of the blue, she’s proposed to and it’s all up on the Jumbotron! What’s worse is that she doesn’t see herself getting married to someone who she’s been dating for five months, let alone someone who misspells her name in his wedding proposal.

Enter Carlos, man candy who’s back in LA and ready to be Nikole’s knight in shining armour. Or so we thought. But then again, we know that they’d end up together with their happy ever after, seeing that it’s a romance novel and come on, who doesn’t love a happy ending?

Personally, I really enjoyed The Proposal, mainly because Jasmine Guillory’s voice is fresh and her writing is incredibly readable. I liked that everything panned out like a romantic comedy that I would happily devour and the cherry on top of it all? The addictive you swoon-worthy chemistry between Nikole and Carlos. There’s something about reading witty banter, adorable flirtations over texts and the undeniable sexual tension between the heroine and her love interest. Or in Carlos’s case, the hero because frankly, he deserves it.

Before going into The Proposal, I had no idea that it was a companion novel to Jasmine Guillory’s debut novel, The Wedding Date, which I’ve not read. But rest assured, you can read both separately since they are only loosely connected. Also, her next novel, The Wedding Party is also a companion novel of The Wedding Date and The Proposal.

In Jasmine Guillory’s The Proposal, I found myself thoroughly entertained throughout the book, especially the romance as I thought the flirtations, the characters and the premise worked well together. I liked that things started off casual between Nikole and Carlos, I did appreciate that it was an instant attraction but both of them didn’t act on it since they weren’t looking for something serious. Also, you’ve got to have some iron will if you’re not smitten with Carlos. He’s a doctor, he cares for his family and he cooks. Enough said.

It’s pretty much a given for the heroine to have a best friend or two, so here’s my take on Nikole’s girlfriends. I liked that they were supportive, loving and real with her, especially Courtney, her Asian best friend who left her corporate job behind to pursue her dream of opening a cupcake store. However, I felt like her other best friend, Dana, wasn’t fleshed out enough aside from the fact that she’s black, badass and lesbian. But regardless, yay for representation of women of colour and LGBTQIA+ because I’m glad that for once, romance novels today are not straight af.

So, putting down my final thoughts on The Proposal, which was picked for Reese Witherspoon Book Club’s Book of the Month for February 2019, I did enjoy the book, I liked the chemistry and overall romance of the story. The secondary characters were great and I liked how they fit into the plot without drawing the main focus of the story away. Though my slight issue with the book is that the ending felt awfully rushed. Other than that, I would recommend The Proposal if you’re in the mood for a feel-good and swoon-worthy read.