Planning for Love by Christi Barth

Hopeless romantic Ivy Rhodes

and

anti-Cupid Bennett Westcott

request the pleasure of your company for

their disaster of a courtship

Wedding planner Ivy Rhodes is the best in the business, and she’s not about to let a personal problem stop her from getting ahead. So when she’s asked to star in the reality TV show Planning for Love, it doesn’t matter that the show’s videographer happens to be a recent--and heartbreaking--one-night stand.

Bennett Westcott admits he didn’t handle his encounter with Ivy very well. But looking at her beautiful smile--and great body--through a camera lens every day? He can’t be faulted for suggesting they have some no-strings fun.

The more time they spend together, the more Ben realizes Ivy isn’t the wedding-crazed bridezilla he’d imagined. But if he doesn’t trust himself to make a relationship last, how can he convince Ivy to give him another chance?

Read Your Writes Review

Planning for Love is the first book I’ve read by Christi Barth. I am SOOOO glad this book is part of a series. This will so NOT be the last book by Christi I will read.

Ivy Rhodes is a twenty-nine year old wedding planner and co-owner of Chicago’s Aisle Bound, a wedding consulting company, with her best friend Daphne Lovell. Ivy is a hopeless romantic and believes in happily ever after, long-lasting love. Her parents have been happily married to each other for forty years.

Ben Westcott is a cynic who doesn’t believe in marriages lasting past the “I Do’s”. Bennett’s entire family is full of un-happy ever afters. He believes his family has been cursed by his great-great-grandmother a hundred years ago. Interestingly enough, Ben is the cameraman for a wedding reality tv show.

When I started reading this book, I actually found the author on Twitter and asked if I was supposed to be laughing as I was reading it. I was expecting a romance, but I wasn’t expecting to find myself laughing at the characters. This was one of those rare books where I actually liked ALL of the supporting characters. By the end of the book, Ben and I both realized that this statement was true, “Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what.”

I loved that the book started each chapter off with an advice quote like, “Life is what happens to us while we’re busy making other plans. - John Lennon” or “Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing. - Goethe”. Yes, I’m a planner and a hopeless romantic as well.

This isn’t one of those books that’s going to make you cry. But it is one of those books which will make you go, “Awwww.” Ernest Hemingway said, “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” To that I can say, Ivy and Ben do realize that they love each other and Ben is finally willing to put down roots and take a chance on love and the elusive happy ending that his family has never had. The journey that this book takes you on to get there is the magical part of romance that I love.

Did I mention that I was doing the happy dance, when I found out that this was part of a series? I can’t wait for the next book, A Fine Romance.

I was lucky enough to receive this book through NetGalley, but it was also on my personal reading wish list.

Rating: 4

Visit Christi Barth’s website to learn more about her and her books.

Planning for Love can be purchased from:

Amazon