There is so much happening on the periphery in The Proposal, and it's all necessary - Guillory builds depth into Nik and Carlos and breadth into their relationship, because they need to know their own strengths (and we readers need to see it) before they can truly rely on each other. 'The Proposal' packs all the feel-good punch of a rom-com, with a weighty kick of gravitas around dating issues, loss, and male privilege. She also explores the impact of Carlos' father's death, and the way it changes his personality and his decisions. She seamlessly alternates between Nik's close-knit friendships and Carlos' attentiveness to his family (whether or not they need that attention). And the more enmeshed they become in each other's lives, the harder it is to keep believing that this is just a no-strings-attached fling.Īs entertaining as Nik and Carlos are together, Guillory has also given them real lives outside the contours of their relationship. Nik pushes Carlos to deal with his pain and fear about his family, and he cheers on the passion for journalism that no one else in her life seems to care about. (And if anyone could have a healthy and mature casual fling, it'd be Nik and Carlos.) While that no-strings status keeps them from being becoming too codependent, it also allows them to communicate freely because they think the stakes are so low - which, ironically, only strengthens their relationship. Carlos also has plenty on his plate between dealing with the stresses of a new job and the loss of his father. Still reeling from that proposal, Nik wants to balance her need for independence with the expectations that society - especially men - places on women. Nik and Carlos are clear about their expectations: This will just be a fling. These two may love indulging themselves with rosé and cupcakes galore, but their romance is anything but cloying.īook Reviews Prejudice Complicates The Course Of Love In 'A Very Large Expanse Of Sea' And she doesn't make readers wait long for Nik and Carlos to get intimate - but the real sexiness here stems from an easy repartee that never misses a beat, no matter what's going on. Guillory nails our national fatigue over cliché marriage proposals in a hilarious opening that'll have readers cringing along with Nik. So when Nik decides she's ready for a rebound, the hot and sensitive Latino doctor seems like a natural choice. Carlos Ibarra - a secondary character in The Wedding Date - and his sister Angela happen by just in time to save Nik from further humiliation. Not only does she get a lot of flak as a black woman for rejecting a white man, Fisher himself later admits to using their relationship for professional gain.īut Dr. Opening with a marriage proposal on a JumboTron at a Dodgers game, the story takes an unusual turn when Nikole Paterson's "no" goes viral, leaving her to fend off ire coming from every direction - especially from her narcissistic soon-to-be-ex boyfriend Fisher. The Proposal knocks it out of the ballpark, pun intended in this case. Jasmine Guillory's debut novel, The Wedding Date, was a best-seller when it arrived back in January - and if you're worried that she might succumb to sophomore slump, fear not. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. They soon discover they have more in common than either of them expected, and as their deadline nears, Izzy and Beau begin to realize there may be something there that wasn't there before.īest-selling author Jasmine Guillory’s reimagining of a beloved fairy tale is a romantic triumph of love and acceptance and learning that sometimes to truly know a person you have to read between the lines.Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title The Proposal Author Jasmine Guillory But despite his standoffishness, Izzy needs Beau to deliver, and with her encouragement, his story begins to spill onto the page. He is jaded and withdrawn and-it turns out-just as lost as Izzy. Beau Towers is not some celebrity lightweight writing a tell-all memoir. How hard could it be?īut Izzy quickly finds out she is in over her head. So when she overhears her boss complaining about a beastly high-profile author who has failed to deliver his long-awaited manuscript, Isabelle sees an opportunity to finally get the promotion she deserves.Īll she has to do is go to the author’s Santa Barbara mansion and give him a quick pep talk or three. Overworked and underpaid, constantly torn between speaking up or stifling herself, Izzy thinks there must be more to this publishing life. When she first began her career in publishing right out of college, she did not expect to be twenty-five, living at home, still an editorial assistant, and the only Black employee at her publishing house. A tale as old as time-for a new generation.
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