Book by Book / While We Were Dating

by Jasmine Guillory

Publisher: Jove Book published by Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
Ginasbookreport Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Chick Lit
Read This If You Love: The Unhoneymooners / other Jasmine Guillory books 

In By the Book, Izzy is making her way in the world of publishing. Her one time dream job has hit the reality that publishing isn’t always a glamorous thrill-a-minute industry. Day after day she slogs through her list of to dos, which includes reminding Beau Towers that he has an actual deadline for his memoir. Izzy finds herself on the standoffish author’s doorstep and all her frustrations come pouring out after his rude behavior. The perfect start for a romance, right! But is Beau really a jaded jerk or is he just as lost in life as Izzy. By the Book delivers a sweet love story built on finding yourself and someone to support you along the way. 

Side note: As someone who worked in book publishing, sooooooo much of the commentary in By the Book regarding the industry is accurate. I particularly enjoyed the portion where Izzy talks about having to manage an author’s panic and requests. When I worked as an editor, there was a “they realized they are writing a book for others to see” timeframe. 

While We Were Dating is the sixth book in the Wedding Date series. This time around, we get Theo’s brother Ben’s love story and it is a doozy! Ben is working on a big ad campaign and just living his single life. Enter Anna Gardner, an Oscar-nominated actress. What starts as a flirtation quickly leads to, IMO, Guillory’s steamiest book yet! If you like a lot of romps in your romance novels, this book is for you. It’s also full of really funny quips and scenes. 

Confession…I don’t really enjoy contemporary romance/romance books and shows much. However, years ago I joined a book club that would read one about every third book. I found a few gems that I really liked a lot, including The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren. From there, I picked up Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory and loved her writing style and characters. Cut to years later and I’m still a Guillory fan and, having just finished these two, have read all of her books. One of my favorite things about her Wedding Date series is that each character gets their own book where we learn their love story. Characters who are the mains in one book are the side characters in the other novels. It leads to a cozy connection where the readers falls back into a familiar universe. It’s like you get to check in with old friends over and over. Personally, I would LOVE a more extended novel where ALL the characters from that series interact together at some major event. How fun would that be!?!