Review: The Wedding Shake-up (Wedding Meet Cute #2) by J.J. Knight

The Wedding Shake-up by J.J. Knight
Series: Wedding Meet Cute #2
Published by Montlake Romance on September 26, 2023
Genres: Adult Romantic Comedy
Pages: 271
Source: Purchased
Format: ARC
My Rating:
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Blurb:

In a breathtaking island paradise, it’s easy for a handsome local and a sexy tourist to get swept away in a tart and tempting romance by a USA Today bestselling author.

A destination wedding on La Jarra Island for Tillie James’s sister has its drawbacks: hair-wrecking ocean spray and pincher crabs. And its perks: sexy, hotheaded beachfront bartender Gabe Landers, who brings out the competitive streak in fellow drinkslinger Tillie. When the rivals get together for a cocktail-making challenge, the blend is pure bliss, leaving them shaken and stirred.

The spirited blue-eyed tourist from Georgia makes Gabe’s head spin faster than his signature drink, the mermaid sunrise. But he’s determined not to obsess—out-of-towner love stories never last. Tillie agrees. They’ll just enjoy each other for now and make a clean break. No strings. No attachments. No chance. But when Tillie’s kiss goodbye comes with an invitation for Gabe to visit Atlanta, he can’t resist. As fate has it, it’s home to a heartbreaking piece of his own past.

As Tillie and Gabe face new challenges, destiny could tear them apart…or turn an intoxicating romance on the rocks into more than they ever expected.

My Review

So this started out with a perfectly hilarious bit where crabs came out of the bushes and some of them came straight at the wedding party. While Tillie and Gabe started out as a bit of grumpy/sunshine/enemies, once they really started hanging out the enemies was gone, and Gabe’s grumpiness went away. The two of them had such a perfect, meant to be connection that when we got close to the end, and Tillie was going to have to go back to home and the real world, so far away from the tropical paradise island where Gabe lived, I honestly could not figure out how in the world they were going to make it work!

Along the way though, there was the fun times of the two of them working together at Gabe’s little bar in a hut. Now I’m not much of a drinker, but the drinks they were making sounded sooooooooooo good! I’m so glad I got a couple of the recipes for them in the box I got from the author for this month. Although the chocolate layered drink sounded yummy too, and I may have to do some online research for that one. Not that I have any alcohol in my house to try to make it though.

With Tillie being the youngest in her family, seeing how her sisters behaved with her and her “fling” made sense in a way. But it still was irritating, and as I am the oldest sister, I didn’t agree with her sisters, although their reactions somewhat made sense as I said, based on their family background. So Tillie’s reluctance to be able to move or stay there with Gabe made sense in that aspect. But it was also easy to understand why she didn’t want Gabe to leave his own family and world.

Gabe’s background had its own issues of course, and those fit the story perfectly, filling in the puzzle pieces that made these two the perfect couple. What happened at the end that made it possible for the two of them to see a way to be together was something I didn’t think of, and I love that the author used that for the plot. The way Tillie’s sister came to understand and know that she needed to be with Gabe was natural and realistic I thought as well.

Now I’m just looking forward to getting her sister Lila’s story in the next book!