Party of Two (The Wedding Party #5) by Jasmine Guillory

Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory is the fifth book in The Wedding Party series. I know that this series is beloved by many, but I just think Guillory's writing is okayish and while I appreciate that she writes about diverse characters, I don't think I'm her audience. This will probably be my last book by Guillory unless she does something radically different.

Olivia (she is Alexa's sister from the first book in the series) has recently moved to Los Angeles to start up a law firm with her friend. When she's waiting to move into her house, she's living in a hotel and meets a hot, funny guy named Max at the hotel bar. After they separate without exchanging phone numbers (who does that?!), Olivia recognizes him as the United States Senator from California while she's watching the news. They end up running into each other again and hijinks involving cake, fries, and way too many glasses of wine ensue.

Interesting characters:

I hate to repeat myself, but these characters have a lot of potential, but Guillory just doesn't really meet that potential. Olivia has started her own firm because, as a black woman, she's faced lots of gender and racial discrimination and finally wanted to just be on her own. She also had some problems with the criminal justice system in her past. But instead of diving into that backstory, we just spend way too much time with Olivia thinking about Max, but not in any way that related to her past. Just frustrating. There's a line when Olivia has an honest moment of reflection about Max - 

"'...I've seen plenty of his flaws! He's hot-headed, he's impulsive, he has an enormous ego! He's used to the whole world doing his bidding, in a way he doesn't even realize; he's incredibly privileged, which he sort of realizes, but not anywhere near the degree he needs to. And I don't think I've ever seen him eat a vegetable. And his shoes are all just impossibly ugly." (page 163)

- and I really thought that things were going to get real, but then, it's over. There's no more honesty.

And Guillory just states things about Max without really explaining any of it. He's giving a speech and people are just eating it up and laughing, but do we actually hear any of the speech? No. It's ridiculous. I cannot with Guillory's writing. I just can't.

Believable conflict:

Sure, there's actually a lot of conflict. Max is in DC for a great deal of the week, so there's a distance thing happening. There's class conflict, racial conflict, and conflict because these two just eat junk food together and never talk. 

But...

Look, this is picky. Most Americans can't name their senators, let alone recognize them. Guillory acts like there's paparazzi lurking everywhere for glimpses of this man who I just don't think would be that famous, especially if he were somewhere unexpected (i.e., not near his own home or in DC or whatever).  I found this entire plot point to be ridiculous.

Emotional tension:

Sure. Because there's so much conflict, there's real tension. You really think these two like each other, but maybe they are right for each other because their lives just contradict too much.

Happily ever after:

Sure. They seem happy. I mean, who knows what happens when Max retires from the Senate and they have to spend more than 36 hours together, but that's just me thinking about the worst case scenario.

Look, I just don't care for this author, but many people love her. 2/5 stars