Thank you to NetGalley for providing this as a Read Now choice.

Wow, what a book.

Julie is in her 40s and a recovering alcoholic who has just fallen off the wagon. She is full of self-loathing and decides to act as a wedding planner for her brother Ben and her best friend Kate who want to get married in a year, to prove to them that she can be relied upon. Suddenly she is stuck with her brother's friend Luke who wants to be a co-planner. Julie is annoyed. Luke gets on her nerves - he is simply too cheerful for her.

This is an effortless read about real people with complicated feelings of depression, anxiety and worthlessness but also love and friendship.

The romance is slow-burn which is the only way this could have worked. Julie needs to learn to trust herself again, to stop pushing people away and to understand that she is a good person who deserves romance, commitment and love. It is fantastic to see her opening up to Kate, Ben, Luke and new friend Quinn, to address her self-destructive behaviour with men and to distinguish between self-preservation and self-sabotage.

I loved this book and couldn't put it down. All the characters have such depth. I loved Julie from the moment she let rip in the first AA meeting - she is such an authentic hot mess, and she was completely right to be pissed off with the God guy!

Luke is fantastic as a single dad love interest who is kind, warm and non-judgmental. His emotional intelligence shines off the page.

I have also just realised there is an earlier book that detailed how Kate met Ben. It's called Someone to Kiss and I trawled my library and e-book library apps in vain - only to find I'd got it as a free Kindle book a year ago, LOL. It's now on Kindle Unlimited and I shall read it shortly!