To Have and to Hold

Wedding Belles, Book 1

By: Lauren Layne

Narrated by: Vanessa Daniels

Discovering her fiancé is an international con man just moments before they exchange vows devastates celebrity wedding planner Brooke Baldwin's business - and breaks her heart. Now a pariah in Los Angeles, she seeks a fresh start in New York City and thinks she's found it with her first bridal client, a sweet - if slightly spoiled - hotel heiress. Then she meets the uptight businessman who's holding the purse strings.

Seth Tyler wishes he could write a blank check and be done with his sister Maya's fancy-pants wedding. Unfortunately, micromanaging the event is his only chance at proving Maya's fiancé is a liar. Standing directly in his way is the stunning blonde wedding planner whose practiced smiles and sassy comebacks both irritate and arouse him. He needs Brooke's help. But can he persuade a wedding planner on a comeback mission to unplan a wedding? And, more importantly, how will he convince her that the wedding she should be planning is theirs?

©2016 LL Book Company (P)2016 Tantor

Great story, so so narrative

I’ve read several of Ms. Layne’s book, and I particularly like her earlier series, like this one. Only downer is the narrative. The voice is pleasant, but delivered in a stiff, unnatural cadence. But definetly worth it.

A fun read with some NSFW moments

My first Lauren Layne book and I wasn't disappointed. I will admit that I judge books by their covers, so when I saw this cover (and the rest of the covers for the series), I knew I needed to read this story! You often wonder about wedding planners falling in love while planning a wedding and this book gives you that and more. A fun read with some NSFW moments (don't listen without headphones LOL)!

Okay.

I was really enjoying this book until close to the end. I find it so dumb that anyone would be upset, mad or even surprised that a billionaire brother wouldn’t hire a PI to check out a sketchy future BIL. Sometimes these stories are just dumb as authors try to think up new storylines. This is one of them.

Good, but major flaw

I liked the characters and the narration was fine. My issue is with an heiress getting engaged to someone without a background check and no mention of pre-nup. It's standard procedure for wealthy families to conduct background checks on even potential dates, let alone mysterious fiances. And even without a background check, a pre-nup should have been mentioned. And anyone growing up with the wealth implied in this story would be wary of gold diggers. Other than this major flaw, I enjoyed this production.

Narrator Lacking Emotional Depth

At times the narrator didn't have enough emotion in her voice. It was lacking in some areas. I think she could've played into it a bit more. she also mispronounced the word "meme" as "me-me" 🤦

loved it

I really enjoyed this book. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Had potential but…

I have to agreed the narration was lackluster, at best, kind of monotone, didn’t convey emotion. As far as the story, I disliked Brooke. Her passive aggressive insults to Seth came off mean girl-esqe. Seth should have run after the hateful things she said, he’s a person than me. Brooke’s personality was all over the place, I couldn’t get a sense of her character, like she was bipolar.
Seems Lauren’s books have a common trope of the male love interest is always villainized even though he usually straight about his feelings, and the female protagonist is kind of mean and emotional selfish. Yet he’s the one who has to apologize. I don’t get it. And even though they end up together in the end, it feels a little unsatisfying because the women are a little unhinged.

annoying narrator

Dear god, the narrator was so annoying with her sing-song tone and pitch. She could not keep her tone and melody steady. I could not finish this book. The story sounded interested though so maybe I’ll continue reading.

DNF

Oh my gosh - how could this narrator make a sex scene feel like I was listening to a textbook?? The narration was so stilted and stiff through the whole book. Ruined it.