RJ is an unromantic divorce attorney, but when a video of her officiating an impromptu wedding goes viral, she becomes a highly sought-after wedding officiant in her spare time (much to the dismay of her law firm). After leaving his job as an event manager for a football team, Lear takes a job planning weddings (a lot of which happen to be weddings that RJ is officiating). Despite having a meet disaster and constantly butting heads, the more weddings RJ and Lear work together, the harder it becomes to deny their attraction to each other. Having both been burned in the past, the pair decide to become friends with benefits (or enemies with benefits, if you will). However, the longer their arrangement goes on, the harder it is to not catch feelings.
Do You Take This Man is a contemporary rom-com invoking the enemies to lovers, friends with benefits, and forced proximity tropes. This book would be ideal for fans of books like The Fastest Way to Fall by Denise Williams, The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang, Book Lovers by Emily Henry, Set On You by Amy Lea, and Thank You, Next by Andie J Christopher as well as fans of movies like The Wedding Planner. Some themes present in this book include love and heartbreak, friendship and companionship, death, weddings and divorce, parenthood, family, facing darkness, and overcoming fear. Some potential trigger warnings include off-page death of parent and absentee parent, recalled cheating, trauma surrounding infant paternity, and infant NICU stay. In my opinion, the moral of this story is that, even if you’re struggling or heartbroken, at a certain point, you need to try to live your life and find love again; or, in the words of Lear’s Uncle, “there’s nothing wrong with bein’ sad…but, at a certain point, you got to start dancing again.”
Firstly, the concept of this book, a divorce attorney/wedding officiant with a wedding planner, to be unique and I was happy that there were some unexpected twists in the plot. Also, having previously read and enjoyed The Fastest Way to Fall by Denise Williams, I was happily surprised the main characters, Britta and Wes, made frequent appearances in Do You Take This Man.
Given the fact that RJ is a wedding officiant and Lear is a wedding planner, I anticipated that there would be a fair number of weddings in this book, but there was even more weddings (and pre-wedding events) present in this book than expected. On the one hand, if you enjoy weddings and are a fan of movies like The Wedding Planner, this book will be right up your alley! However, if weddings aren’t really your thing, the abundance of weddings, rehearsal dinners, and wedding planning in this book may be a turnoff.
It was challenging to get into Do You Take This Man with the middle of this book seeming to be quite repetitive as there was a constant cycle of weddings and secret hook-ups. Also, even though their relationship was steamy, RJ and Lear had a tendency of hooking-up after rehearsals in secluded areas of wedding venues, which seemed a little cringey.
Overall, Do You Take This Man was steamy, romantic, and unique! If you are a wedding enthusiast and are a fan of Williams’ other romance novels, then I highly recommend picking up a copy of Do You Take This Man!
Do You Take This Man is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
After butting heads, an event planner and a wedding officiant begin an enemies with benefits arrangement as wedding bells chime around them in the newest rom-com from acclaimed author Denise Williams.
Divorce attorney RJ would never describe herself as romantic. But when she ends up officiating an unplanned wedding for a newly engaged couple in a park, her life is turned upside down. The video of the ceremony goes viral, and she finds herself in the unlikely position of being a sought-after local wedding officiant. Spending her free time overseeing “I dos” isn’t her most strategic career move, but she enjoys it, except for the type A dude-bro wedding planner she’s forced to work with.
Former pro-football event manager Lear is a people person, but after his longtime girlfriend betrayed him, he isn’t looking for love. He knows how to execute events and likes being in control, so working with an opinionated and inflexible officiant who can’t stand him is not high on his list. He’s never had trouble winning people over, but RJ seems immune to his charms.
Surrounded by love at every turn, their physical attraction pulls them together despite their best efforts to stay an arm’s length apart. Lear refuses to get hurt again. RJ refuses to let herself be vulnerable to anyone. But when it comes to happily ever after, their clients might not be the only ones saying “I do.”
