Book Review: The Proposal | Jasmine Guillory

Sweet, sizzling, and modern—The Proposal is a sure-fire hit in the women’s fiction and romance worlds this year! It starts with a meet-cute, as many good love stories do. Only, is it still a meet-cute if our protagonist meets her beau by being horrifyingly and publicly embarrassed by her current love interest??? More like a meet-nightmare! From the opening chapter, you will want to know more about Nik and what happens to her after the nightmare of all nightmare dates!

About the Book

Writer and feminist Nik Paterson is at a Dodgers game with her actor boyfriend Fisher and some of his friends. Nik knows Fisher is not the one (he has a man bun and doesn’t eat carbs for goodness sake), but the physical chemistry is fantastic and she isn’t in danger of getting emotionally attached.

So no one is more surprised than Nik when she looks up from her phone to find herself broadcast on the jumbo screen in the stadium and Fisher down on one knee proposing. He can’t be serious, Nik thinks to herself. But he is. And when Nik tries to subtly tell him it won’t happen, he storms off with his friends.

Finding herself in the middle of the public eye, with tens of thousands of fans staring and a camera crew in her face, Nik doesn’t know how to escape. Until sexy doctor Carlos from a few rows back rushes in to rescue her.

What unfolds is a public humiliation that Nik is unprepared for, and an unlikely ally. Over some fun, casual non-dates and some steamy nights, Nik and Carlos are on the same page about keeping this at a friend-level only. But what happens when one of them starts to catch real feelings?

Reflection

This book is 100% pure fun and delight to read! I am on my branching out tour, and romance is a genre I steer clear of normally. I always think of it as being ridiculous-sappy or erotica, with little room in between. But this book proved this skeptic WRONG! The Proposal is the romantic comedy of the 2018 book world, and I absolutely loved it! It was packed with humor, sizzling chemistry, and enough “awwwww” moments to keep this reader hooked until the last page!

Nik is a truly fantastic character. I loved how she is tough but a bit vulnerable, and fiercely loyal. Nik is not a people pleaser—she is very frank and honest. But years of bad dating experiences may have built some walls around her, and she isn’t as open as she should be to love. Nik is also fiercely loyal. One aspect of this book that I adored was the friendship between Nik, Courtney, and Dana. Their friendship made me so happy, and I loved the way Guillory wrote their interactions. Courtney and Dana are the type of friends who will key the car of a guy who wronged you, read text messages you are too afraid to open, and push you towards something that will make you happy.

And then we have Carlos, who has such a sweet relationship with his family. All of the vulnerable moments he has with Nik just melted my heart. What a guy! I think many readers will find themselves shouting out while reading this saying “can’t you two see you are in love???” But that would have made for a much shorter book, so we are lucky they are so out of touch with their own hearts.

A truly loveable story that has made many must-read lists in the women’s world this fall. And I must say those are well-deserved! Thank you to the team at Berkley for my copy to review.