Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory

4/5 Stars

The closest comparison to this book is when you buy a cookie, and it's perfectly warm and freshly cooked, and you bite into it, and the chocolate chips are melted, and it's just ooey gooey goodness. This is that book.

Jasmine Guillory has done it again. She never fails to blow my mind with her ability to create such chemistry between two characters. This is the second book I've read by her (The Proposal), and she never fails to have me glued to the book.

The story follows Olivia Monroe, an attorney who just moved back to California from New York, and she meets Max Powell, who happens to be a senator. I could've dealt without the New York slander, but it doesn't make me love this book any less. I love this storyline, not only because it's my dream to fall in love with a man who happens to be a part of an American dynasty, but also because most romance novels center around the question of will they won't they? , but in this novel, it's simply about Olivia and Max deciding if what they have is worth fighting for.

Although it is a cheesy romance novel that never failed to have my heart aching, it had so much depth. With Max being a senator, it tackled real-world issues like racism and criminal injustice without it taking away from the true plot of the novel.

I really loved these characters. Olivia Monroe is a driven, private, hard-working, and independent lawyer who just opened up her own law firm. She is a planner and never does things on impulse, while Max is the opposite. He doesn't mind being in the public eye and is very impulsive, and does things in the spur of the moment. He reminds me so much of a golden retriever, lmao. I love him.

Something this book lacked was a super climactic climax. I love the angst in romance novels when the couple has a really heartbreaking fight or falling out. I love the drama of it all: them screaming at each other, tears streaming down their faces, all because they love each other so much. Never once did I doubt that what these characters shared was true love, but I was ready to have my heart shattered by the climax of this book, and that just didn't happen. I was super happy at the ending though; it made my heart skip a few beats.

Oh, what I would do for a handsome, rich, and golden-retriever-like boyfriend who adores me.

As usual, I cannot wait to read another book by Jasmine Guillory.