Spotlight: Accidentally Married on Purpose by Rachel Harris & Ready to Wed by Cindi Madsen

I saw this tweet in my stream the other day:

“So much is underestimated in the difficulty of writing "fluff." I can't think of anything else in writing that's so deceptive in its ease.” (by @MissDahlELama)

I guess if something makes you happy and isn’t overly angsty we equate that with easy to write??
But it’s really difficult to take a trope (best friends little sister, friends to lovers, secret baby etc), make it your own, and keep readers invested even though they know exactly how it will turn out.

There has to be tension and lust but it’s usually fade to black sex. The writer has to find a way to make you really believe in this couple even though you’re not privy to their most intimate moments. The end has to be wrapped up in a nice little bow despite often wacky circumstances that might otherwise leave a reader rolling their eyes.

It’s such a difficult balance and my somewhat rambling intro leads me to two authors that I think nail it every time. They also both just happen to have new book releases!

Accidentally Married on Purpose by Rachel Harris takes on the drunk marriage (that they can’t remember) in Vegas trope and it’s a funny, sexy, heartfelt package of summer swoon.

Ready to Wed by Cindi Madsen has Dakota, a wedding planner, jilted at the alter, only to reconnect with her childhood best friend, Brendan West. This book made all kinds of happy with the humor, friendship and love connecting the characters.

I highly recommend both of these books – and really, anything written by them if you’re looking for the much underappreciated “fluff”. I don’t really see what’s so wrong about reading books that make you happy. Harumph!

***

One ring plus one wild night equals one crazy love.

Sherry Robicheaux loves men. She loves love. And she loves an adventure. So when she meets a mysterious man while working backstage at a country music concert in Vegas, she’s all about what’s happened in Vegas staying there.

Country music superstar Tyler Blue just wants a weekend of anonymity…though there’s something about the spunky waitress with the streaks of purple hair that tempts him like no other. Until the next morning, when they both wake up with fuzzy memories…and rings on their fingers.

Convincing Sherry to maintain the ruse for his public image isn’t the hardest part—it’s reminding himself that their time spent playing husband and wife in her small town of Magnolia Springs can’t last. Tyler’s first love will always be music—and the road is no place for a sweet downhome girl.

Goodreads | Purchase


Dakota Halifax loves to be in love. In fact, as one of Las Vegas’s premier wedding planners, she’s built a whole career around romance. Which is why her own wedding has to be nothing short of perfect. And then her fiancé jilts her. While she’s waiting in her wedding dress. On a cruise ship already out at sea.Once back on dry land, Dakota tries to pour her heart into her business and weekly wedding advice column, Get Ready to Wed. But how can the heartbroken celebrate others’ true love? When she reconnects with her childhood best friend, surprisingly sexy and all-grown-up casino bouncer Brendan West, Dakota wonders if maybe she can fall back in love with being in love.

But then her ex reappears, begging for another chance, and suddenly Dakota questions if she’ll ever understand love. Can someone once-burned and twice-shy ever find her way down the aisle again?

Goodreads | Purchase