It Takes Two

May 14, 2018
Holiday combines class and sass with a hefty dose of humor in her second Bad Bridesmaids contemporary (after One and Only). Workaholic New York lawyer Noah Denning has looked after his family for so long that he’s forgotten to live for himself, too. Toronto defense attorney Wendy Liu hasn’t gotten over Noah standing her up for their high school prom 17 years earlier—though he had a good reason—and when he visits Toronto, she finds reasons to be out of town. Then Noah’s sister, Jane, who’s been Wendy’s best friend since childhood, asks Wendy to be her maid of honor, and Wendy feels obligated to accept, even though avoiding Noah will be impossible. When Noah and Wendy decide to throw dueling parties in Las Vegas for Jane and her fiancé, they fight to outdo each other—and struggle to resist their reconnection, as Holiday beautifully illustrates through wry, snappy dialogue with a hint of vulnerability on both sides. Wendy’s determined never to let anyone break her heart again; Noah’s not going to rest until she gives him another chance. Holiday doesn’t skimp on burning-hot scenes of passion, and this winning hero and heroine will take up residence in readers’ hearts. Agent: Courtney Miller-Callihan, Handspun Literary.

With her friend getting married, bridesmaid Wendy Liu is thrust back into contact with her friend's brother, Noah Denning. Wendy was stood up by Noah at the prom, and she used her pain over that experience to toughen herself. Narrator Angele Masters conveys Wendy's brash exterior as well as her softer side as she finds herself reflecting on her past. Listeners will enjoy the banter between Wendy and Noah. Masters gives the male characters heavy, somewhat clunky voices, but listeners will adjust to them as the story progresses. This romance novel is full of humor as Wendy and her friends deal with the upcoming wedding and what the bride claims to be low-key details--that are anything but. S.B. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Starred review from June 1, 2018
There are three reasons why Wendy Liu is not looking forward to best friend Jane Denning's upcoming wedding. First, despite what Jane promised, preparations for the wedding are anything but low-key and super-fun. Second, while Wendy is thrilled that Jane has found true love, she can't help but think that once Jane is married, their best-friend status will change. Third, Wendy has spent the last decade or more successfully avoiding Noah Denning, Jane's brother and the man who broke her heart, and now she is going to be forced to spend a considerable amount of time with him. Holiday crushed it with One and Only (2018), the first in her Bridesmaids Behaving Badly series. In this second installment, she proves conclusively that she is no one-hit wonder by serving up another irresistible mix of lively, piquantly witty writing; sharply etched, marvelously memorable characters; and some completely combustible love scenes that are guaranteed to leave burn marks on readers' fingers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)