(Bridesmaids Behaving Badly #3)

Author: Jenny Holiday

Date of publication: 29 Jan 2019

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Author's links:

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 5 Stars

Blurb

Gia Gallo is officially in bridesmaid hell. Stranded in New York with her best friend's wedding dress, Gia has six days to make it to Florida in time for the ceremony. And oh-so-charming best man Bennett Buchanan has taken the last available rental car. Looks like she's in for one long road trip with the sexiest - and most irritating - Southern gentleman she's ever met...

Bennett's pretty sure that if there was ever a woman to break his "no flings" rule, Gia would be it. Sure, she's stubborn. She's also funny, smart, and the attraction between them is getting hotter with every state line they cross. While Bennett doesn't do casual, Gia doesn't do "relationships." But if they break the rules, this unlikely pair might discover that their impromptu road trip could turn out to be the best ride of their lives.

I absolutely loved this book  - it's fun and happy-making but with serious edges and some darkness to it which make it the perfect kind of contemporary romance for me.

Gia is an awesome heroine, a fashion model at the end of her career - no bitchness, no aloofness but also no fake modesty regarding her looks. I found her stress of having to start something new/unfamiliar, the uncertainty, the sense of lacking (academic smarts, experience outside the world of modelling) very relatable.

She is also not looking for a relationship after being burnt before, one-night stands, or at best, a repeat performance, is her thing. And then she meets Bennett who turns her life absolutely upside down, rather helps her see other possibilities both in her personal and in her professional life.

Gia is battling an eating disorder and she is not quite ready to admit it. And Bennett is a chef, a top chef at that. I loved how this aspect of their relationship was handled, he didn't pressure her, his delicious cooking and his love for her didn't cure her, they helped her admit the problem and start looking for professional help to cope with it.

He is wonderful overall, caring and patient with Gia while dealing with his own demons, and they were some pretty dark demons. She was an unexpected source of solutions for a number of his issues. She literally made him face his past and move on from it.

They started are reluctant strangers, forced by the circumstances on a road trip that lead to unexpected and scary for them both intimacy and openness. 

The story ends with the sweetest, mushiest epilogue - perfect end to the series. We see all the previous couples and glimpses at their lives down the line were heart-warming.

The whole series shows great female (and male!) friendships. I liked how the family relations were presented in the story - re-establishing contact with one's family without forgiving and forgetting, some hurts are too deep to heal. Still, this was a hopeful aspect of the story for me. I also loved all the food, the idea of a community restaurant was new to me and found it really intriguing.

The writing was what I have come to expect from Jenny Holiday, lovely, engaging writing, real, down-to-earth characters, nuance both in the presentation of the good guys and the bad ones.

I highly recommend the whole series! (this book can be read as as standalone but it would be work even better if you have read the previous books)