Planning for Love

Barth’s contemporary trilogy launch charms readers with a delightfully intelligent heroine who believes firmly in the power of love. Handsome cameraman Bennett Westcott coaxes wedding planner Ivy Rhodes to appear on the reality TV show Wild Wedding Smackdown, saying it will help her business. Sparks fly and the two jump in the sack. Despite a fabulous “sexual marathon” followed by a near-perfect day exploring Chicago, Ivy’s professed faith in old-fashioned romantic ideals sends Bennett running to the airport. When he returns as the producer of another wedding planner–centered reality show, Ivy agrees to go on a single date with him while strategizing how to “convince him dating isn’t an evil, soul-sucking tool to rob him of his masculinity and independence.” Fans of wedding bells and sassy contemporaries will love the well-drawn chemistry and a heroine with brains and heart. (Aug.)