Will a budding wedding planner and her bad boy neighbor
stop banging heads and start hearing wedding bells?
FOR BETTER OR WORSE
The Wedding Belles #2
Lauren Layne
Releasing Aug 30th, 2016
Pocket Books
Will a budding wedding planner and her bad boy neighbor stop banging heads and start hearing wedding bells in the sexy second novel in USA TODAY bestselling author Lauren Layne’s irresistible new series that marries Sex and the City with The Wedding Planner?
When small-town girl Heather Fowler finally gets promoted from assistant to actual wedding planner, she’s determined to make it as one of Manhattan’s elite Wedding Belles. Unfortunately, her first client demands an opulent black-tie affair at the Plaza…in five months’ time. Heather’s days quickly become a flurry of cake tastings, dress-fittings, RSVP cards, and bridal tantrums. But what she’s really losing sleep over is the live music blaring from her playboy neighbor’s apartment all night.
Five years ago, Josh Tanner was an up-and-comer on Wall Street, complete with the penthouse and the migraines. But a grim cancer diagnosis made him realize there is more to life than the corner office. If only he could convince his pretty, workaholic neighbor to let loose, too. As Heather lets down her guard, Josh is surprised when he starts falling for the sweet, vulnerable woman hiding beneath those power suits. Soon, it’s Heather’s turn to convince Josh to take the biggest risk of all: love.
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“So this is where the noise happens, huh?” she
asked.
Josh’s eyes
narrowed as his friend’s hand touched Heather’s back briefly. “Absolutely,”
Trevor said. “We’re sorry it keeps you up though.”
“Oh, it’s okay,”
she said, waving her hand. “I mean . . . it’s not. But tonight I couldn’t sleep
anyway, so you get a free pass. What do you all play?”
“Donny’s bass,
Felix is on drums. Josh is lead guitar, and I, as the most important member,
have the pipes.”
“Oh! I thought Josh
was the singer,” Heather said with a quick glance over her shoulder at him.
Their eyes locked,
and Josh felt a flicker of . . . something.
“Ah, is that what
he’s telling the women these days,” Trevor joked.
“No, I just . . . I
hear him, singing sometimes,” Heather muttered.
“Our boy can carry
a tune well enough, but wait until you hear me, love,” Trevor said.
Josh turned away in
mild disgust, pulling a beer out of the fridge as Trevor and the other guys
coaxed Heather into the practice room, thrilled to have any sort of audience,
even a reluctant one.
“Yo, Tanner,” Felix
called.
“What,” he called,
popping the lid off the bottle and tilting the beer back to his lips as he
tried to shake off whatever was bringing down his mood tonight.
“Let’s show Heather
here that we’re more than a bit of noise coming through her bedroom wall.”
Josh turned around
to see Donny dragging one of his kitchen chairs across the room, disappearing
into the practice room.
“All right, love,
you just sit down and get comfortable,” Trevor said. “Tanner! Come on, man.”
Josh heard the low
strum of Donny’s guitar, heard Felix do a little warm-up rhythm, and knew there
was no way of getting out of it. If he refused to play a song now, he’d look
like an ass.
Still, his feet
didn’t move, and he took another sip of beer.
Feeling eyes on
him, he glanced up to see Heather in the doorway, leaning one shoulder against
the doorjamb as she studied him.
“Okay, 4A?” she
asked.
Her tone was
lighthearted, almost slightly reluctant, as though she didn’t want to care
about why he was out here alone, feeling oddly itchy with his life.
He appreciated it.
He’d spent enough time in the past few years dealing with people who walked on
eggshells around him, cooing sweetness. Some of it genuine, some of it not so
much.
Heather’s
no-nonsense question was refreshing—and exactly what he needed.
He was happy and
healthy and living the dream, damn it.
Even if he was no
longer sure it was his dream.
“You going soft on
me?” he asked, taking one last sip of his beer before setting it aside and
strolling toward her.
Heather’s eyes
narrowed. “Hardly. I just wanted you to get your shit together so I can see
your cute lead singer work his magic.”
He deliberately
stepped into the doorway so she couldn’t move in either direction without
brushing against him, grinning at her discomfort.
“You’re in a better
mood tonight,” he said, his eyes skimming over her crazy curls and relaxed
expression. “Why?”
“Believe it or not,
I’m not a shrew.”
“Huh.”
Heather shoved his
shoulder with a little scowl. “I’m not!”
“Does that mean
you’re going to start making banana bread like Mrs. Calvin?”
“Yes, definitely.
And coffee cake and sugar cookies and whatever other goodies you might like.
All while wearing a frilly, feminine apron.”
“Dare I hope
there’s nothing under the apron?” he asked, leaning in slightly.
“Right again!” she
said, in mock delight. “I just love to bake naked.”
Josh’s pulse leapt,
but Trevor interrupted before the sudden X-rated picture in his mind could turn
into a full-fledged fantasy.
“Dude, we doing
this or what?”
Josh looked at
Heather.
“One song,” she
said, holding up a finger. “I may as well see what the music sounds like on
this side of the wall.”
“Live the life you want, not the one you have.”
For Better or Worse was just the perfect way to spend my time off. Lauren Layne delivers just another perfect romantic story.
Heather Fowler has goals. She's ready to drop the "assistant" part of her job and become one of the full-time wedding planners at The Wedding Belles. She can't believe all her dreams are coming true. She lives in NYC and her promotion is almost a done deal. She is ready to prove herself. If only, she could sleep without all the loud music coming from her next door's neighbor Josh. He's making her crazy, she doesn't know if she wants to scream at him or jump in bed with him.
“You look like the type that has delicious sweet buns.”
Josh Tanner left his suit and tie job and exchange it for a guitar. A few years back he was diagnosed with cancer, survived, and he made drastic changes to his life, including his now very active sex life. He loves his family but he doesn't want to fall in love and drag someone with him in case his cancer comes back. The neighbor in 4C does make him want things he wasn't looking for. He tries to keep Heather at a distance but he knows she is different. She has become more than a friend. This, of course, is terrifying.
“You're really living a half-life because you're too scared of having no life.”
I love when the characters have chemistry and let me tell you, Heather and Josh had oodles of it. They also had an amazing banter. I found myself laughing or smiling through most of the novel. I also became misty-eyed a couple of times but by the end, I was a happy gal.
I really can't wait for Alexis and Logan's novel. I'm already in love with the Hot British Accountant!
Cliffhanger: No
4/5 Fangs
A complimentary copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Don't Miss Any of the Wedding Belles Novels
In 2011, she ditched her corporate career in Seattle to pursue a full-time writing career in Manhattan, and never looked back.
In her ideal world, every stiletto-wearing, Kate Spade wielding woman would carry a Kindle stocked with Lauren Layne books.
For a list of all her works, please be sure to check out her official website!
