A modern recapitulation of the “star-crossed lovers” plot, American author Jasmine Guillory’s romance novel The Wedding Date follows two career-focused adults, Alexa Monroe and Drew Nichols, who live at opposite ends of California. They meet serendipitously in an elevator in San Francisco, leading Drew to invite her on a date to his friend’s wedding. The chance encounter causes them to string each other along in a romance, leading to a series of encounters in which certain idealizations about each other break down. Though they nearly slip away from each other, Alexa and Drew learn to negotiate their career goals and personal biases, building harmony despite their unorthodox relationship. The novel opens on an ordinary weekend night in San Francisco. Alexa, who works as the chief of staff for the city’s mayor, rushes to join her sister, who is visiting the city in celebration of her promotion at a law firm in New York City. Doubly anxious about being late and ruminating on her fraught relationship with her sister, she runs into an elevator just before it halts, suspended between two floors. She suddenly becomes aware that there is a man in the elevator with her; bemused, he introduces himself as Drew Nichols. Alexa surreptitiously appraises him and realizes she is attracted to him. Moments later, they realize that the entire hotel has lost power. Making the most of their scenario, Alexa forages through her bag and takes out the champagne and cheese meant for the pregame at her sister’s, partly at the goading of Drew. They set up an improvised picnic on the elevator floor, waiting for the backup generators restore the elevator’s power. Drew reveals awkwardly that he is in town from Los Angeles to serve as a groomsman for his best friend’s wedding to one of his ex-girlfriends. His date canceled her plans just before the wedding, leaving him with no choice but to go alone. Alexa sympathizes with Drew, even more impressed with him when he reveals that he is a pediatric surgeon. Just as she begins to tell him about her life, the elevator restarts, making its way to her sister’s floor. They part ways, but only briefly, before Drew calls her back and asks her to be his date to the wedding. She hesitates for a moment, but then impulsively agrees. Alexa quickly dials her friend, a professional stylist, and arranges a makeover for the wedding. She makes her way to the rehearsal on time looking much better than she would have expected on short notice. Along the way, she texts with Drew, asking in half-jest whether she will be the only black person at the venue. They agree to treat the date’s outcome with a grain of salt, using it to convince the wedding party that Drew actually has a girlfriend. They pull off their plans without a hitch and have sex later that night. The next morning, Drew pushes his flight back to spend the day with Alexa. When it finally comes time for them to part ways, they are both disappointed. However, they aren’t separated for long: the very next day, Drew invites Alexa to LA. After barely a week, they begin regularly traveling between LA and the Bay Area to spend time with each other. Drew grows on Alexa, who sees how much he cares about his patients, and Drew appreciates Alexa’s hard work for the mayor of Berkeley. Meanwhile, Alexa helps open Drew’s eyes to the qualitative differences inherent in being a woman of color, and he works to become a more sensitive partner. Despite their efforts to stay together, the two lovers eventually feel at an impasse in their relationship. This occurs over several events where they notice key differences between them. For example, while working on an at-risk youth program in the arts, Alexa is taken aback when Drew asks whether art is the chosen solution for helping lift children out of poverty. Alexa retorts that Drew is privileged enough to never have seen injustice while misbehaving as a kid or simply living as a privileged race. Ultimately, however, they learn to communicate better about their pasts, their emotions, and their reactions to each other’s ideas. The Wedding Date suggests that, while most relationships are at their onset superficial, the blissful ignorance that might help them begin a relationship is not necessarily the tool of their demise.

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Jasmine Guillory

Adult

Novel

Fiction

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