Title: A Wedding in a Week
Author: Con Riley
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 296 Pages
Category: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 5 Stars
At a Glance: A Wedding in a Week is the sort of love story Con Riley does so well, and has been doing consistently for many years. It’s not only about the building up of a relationship between two people but the building up of two people in a relationship.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: A second chance with his brother’s best friend also comes with a deadline.
Three years after inheriting his family farm, an accident forces Stefan Luxton to rethink his future. Turning his farm into a five-star wedding venue is one goal. Another is to reconnect with Marc, who Stefan loved but let slip away to the city.
Now Marc’s back, trying for a job that might keep him in Cornwall long term, and Stefan’s determined to help him. There’s just one problem — he only has seven days to do it.
Review: Without risk there is no reward. That’s a lesson Stefan Luxton is learning, step by daunting step. His fear of failing those who depend on him looms as he works to come up with ways to supplement his family farm’s income, and he’s doing it alone because, by nature, he’s a protector. Learning to let himself lean on people rather than carry those burdens alone means asking, it means letting people know he needs help, and Con Riley delivers this facet of A Wedding in a Week in staggeringly romantic ways.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a romance without Marc. Marc unintentionally complicates things a little by being wonderful, irresistible, bright, charming, help in a time of need, and he also happens to be Stef’s brother’s best friend. To complicate matters, Stef broke Marc’s heart five years before this story takes place. But—and here is where the exceptional kindness comes in—they both understand that timing is everything, and their time was not then. It is now.
Marc’s history with the Luxton family factors into his place on the farm. It’s the one place Marc always belonged to something, to someone, and I’m not sure if I overlooked it or if it was intentional, but Marc not having a surname feels significant to his heart-wrenching backstory. His friendship with Lukas, his love of Kara-Tir and Cornwall, his feeling of belonging, and his love for Stef makes Marc a Luxton in every significant way, offering him a name he wasn’t born with but one that fits him and means he never needed any other. I loved the romantic implications of that part of the story, even if it’s only something I conjured up for myself.
The lushness of emotion and detail abound in A Wedding in a Week. There is more than a story of two people falling in love at play. As in life, there are chaoses that interrupt the flow of days, things that Stef and Marc face together as a team, and accept help when it’s needed and offered. It’s the building of community and family alike around them that exponentially increases the warmth and gentleness of the story. It’s the stakes in everyday life that are high, but become more manageable with someone strong to depend on.
A Wedding in a Week is the sort of love story Con Riley does so well, and has been doing consistently for many years. It’s not only about the building up of a relationship between two people but the building up of two people in a relationship, while friends and family play an integral role in the sense of warmth and fondness.
You can buy A Wedding in a Week here: