Story Title: The Runaway Bride
Book Title: Once Upon a Wedding: A Fiction From the Heart Second-Chances Anthology
Author: Sonali Dev
Publish Date: June 11, 2019
Publisher: Self-Published
Format: Kindle
Source: Own copy
Date Read: June 20, 2020
Review
A sweet story about a bride with concerns/cold feet the night and very early morning of her wedding to her childhood crush. Nisha Raje overhears that her fiancé's ex is back in town and there is talk the ex is invited to the wedding. Nisha is blindsided; she calls up Neel and asks "WTF? Did you know about this?" and Neel is tells her "Well we kinda met up." Nisha is livid, and rightfully so. Neel choose Barbara over Nisha in high school and then gave up his dream college to follow Barbara to her dream college and then on to Oxford. He was the one to break up with Barbara and return to California to seek out Nisha in the hopes of her still having feelings for him. Nisha decides to leave the mansion where the wedding is to take place and runs to the nearest contact; Neel follows her and they wind up at someone's house. After getting some advice by that guy, Neel and Nisha walk about San Francisco and lay it all out - fears, dreams, what they want from the other and what they feel for the other. Grown ups talking - it's a miracle! The wedding at the end sounded amazing (and hella expensive!). 3.5/5 stars.
This story is related to Dev's The Rajes series but can be read as a stand-alone.
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Story: Always Yours
Book Title: Once Upon a Wedding: A Fiction From the Heart Second-Chances Anthology
Author: Priscilla Oliveras
Publish Date: June 11, 2019
Publisher: Self-Published
Format: Kindle
Source: Own copy
Date Read: June 22-24, 2020
Review
A very summery feeling romance, complete with a softball game. Lourdes Reyes is the sister of the groom and a recovering drug addict. She really has her act together, being almost two years sober and holding a job with a future, enjoying a renewed relationship with her brother, and just working on herself. And then he shows up - Eduardo Santana, her first and only love. The guy that broke her heart and eventually that darkness led to her taking that first hit. He's back and hoping to make it up to her, even knowing her past. There was a little misunderstanding twist that was easily rectified, then more grown ups talking! This story was aided by the side characters Alex and Frankie; I could've done without younger brother Diego trying to do the protective brother act. I feel like I need an Alex and Frankie story now. 3.5/5 stars.
Overall: I tried to read the first book in this anthology and I had to DNF - less is more and an editor was sorely needed. The two stories I bought the anthology for definitely made the 99 cents I paid worth it. I hope that the authors release these stories as single stories in the future.
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