Scan barcode
A review by restless
D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins
5.0
OOF what a lovely book, it got me right in the feels.
What it's about: Kris and D'Vaughn are contestants in a reality TV show. If they can fool their families and plan a wedding in 6 weeks, they'll each walk away with $100k. D'Vaughn is using the show to come out to her family. She doesn't cares who wins, she just needs to find the courage to tell her mama she's gay. Kris, on the other hand, is in it to find true love. What could possibly go wrong?
What I thought: D'Vaughn stole my heart. She has this quiet grace (coupled with boat loads of courage) that just blew me away. She knows who she is, what she wants, and she isn't apologetic about it. But at the same time she also loves her family and community more than life itself, and so much of her life just feels like a time bomb that's ready to explode.
Then there's Kris, who should probably be on an Autostraddle listicle for hot studs in fiction. Just sayin'.
Both MCs are on the same wavelength and very emotionally mature, which means that there wasn't the usual third-act break up. This is definitely a couple that communicates. That said, two large families, a fake wedding, a closet, and a 3-day relationship is a pretty strong recipe for drama, and there's a ton of that along the way. I genuinely got more emotional over the family moments in this book than I normally do a over third act break up.
The reality TV show setting was genius. We go from live action to private-cam confessionals, which gives you a totally different feeling for the characters. Each week introduces a different challenge, and there were some really fun moments as a result.
I also liked the way that faith and community are portrayed in this book. Normally homosexuality and faith are like two angry cats in a box, so I really appreciate what Chencia C. Higgins did with D'Vaughn's character here. The last author to impress me like that was [a:Adiba Jaigirdar|17552525|Adiba Jaigirdar|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1558433323p2/17552525.jpg]. The whole thing just reminded me of this and hit me right in the feels.
Criticisms: is six weeks enough to sort stranger from true love? No, of course not. The whole setting requires a firm commitment to the suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader - and how much you'll enjoy this novel is going to be directly correlated to how well you can do that. Personally I think the author does enough to give these two a firm basis, but the real reason I love this novel is the family drama. Our central couple is just the icing on the cake.
TL;DR: 9/10, highly recommended.
What it's about: Kris and D'Vaughn are contestants in a reality TV show. If they can fool their families and plan a wedding in 6 weeks, they'll each walk away with $100k. D'Vaughn is using the show to come out to her family. She doesn't cares who wins, she just needs to find the courage to tell her mama she's gay. Kris, on the other hand, is in it to find true love. What could possibly go wrong?
What I thought: D'Vaughn stole my heart. She has this quiet grace (coupled with boat loads of courage) that just blew me away. She knows who she is, what she wants, and she isn't apologetic about it. But at the same time she also loves her family and community more than life itself, and so much of her life just feels like a time bomb that's ready to explode.
Then there's Kris, who should probably be on an Autostraddle listicle for hot studs in fiction. Just sayin'.
Both MCs are on the same wavelength and very emotionally mature, which means that there wasn't the usual third-act break up. This is definitely a couple that communicates. That said, two large families, a fake wedding, a closet, and a 3-day relationship is a pretty strong recipe for drama, and there's a ton of that along the way. I genuinely got more emotional over the family moments in this book than I normally do a over third act break up.
The reality TV show setting was genius. We go from live action to private-cam confessionals, which gives you a totally different feeling for the characters. Each week introduces a different challenge, and there were some really fun moments as a result.
I also liked the way that faith and community are portrayed in this book. Normally homosexuality and faith are like two angry cats in a box, so I really appreciate what Chencia C. Higgins did with D'Vaughn's character here. The last author to impress me like that was [a:Adiba Jaigirdar|17552525|Adiba Jaigirdar|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1558433323p2/17552525.jpg]. The whole thing just reminded me of this and hit me right in the feels.
Criticisms: is six weeks enough to sort stranger from true love? No, of course not. The whole setting requires a firm commitment to the suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader - and how much you'll enjoy this novel is going to be directly correlated to how well you can do that. Personally I think the author does enough to give these two a firm basis, but the real reason I love this novel is the family drama. Our central couple is just the icing on the cake.
TL;DR: 9/10, highly recommended.