--- description: Find out why 'The Wedding Date' made the list. title: 'The Wedding Date' Is on TIME’s List of the 50 Best Romance Novels image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt662c22ebd37afa10/698a594adb2987080826bea5/The-Wedding-Date-Jasmine-Guillory.png?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 01, 2024 # The Wedding Date by [Shannon Carlin](/author/shannon-carlin/) ## Shannon Carlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Carlin is a contributor for TIME.  A stalled hotel elevator is the setting for the unforgettable meet-cute in [Jasmine Guillory](https://time.com/6210266/jasmine-guillory-drunk-on-love-favorite-romance-novels/ "undefined")’s charming and seductive 2018 debut, _The Wedding Date,_ which offers a [progressive depiction of modern sexual](https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/10/proposals-jasmine-guillory-how-write-consent/571768/ "undefined") and [racial politics](https://time.com/5861861/jasmine-guillory-black-fiction/ "undefined") in a genre known for being overwhelmingly white.Drew Nichols, a white pediatric surgeon from L.A., is in San Francisco for his ex-girlfriend’s wedding, and he’s without a plus one. That is, until he gets stuck in a lift with Alexa Monroe, a Black lawyer turned chief of staff for the mayor of Berkeley, Calif. (Guillory was [working as a lawyer](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/20/style/jasmine-guillory-romance-novel.html "undefined") when she wrote _The Wedding Date_ and quit to become a full-time author in 2019, months after the release of her second best-selling novel, _The Proposal_.) Alexa agrees to be Drew’s pretend girlfriend for the occasion and sparks instantly fly. Their spicy fake date quickly turns into a hot and heavy long-distance affair, forcing the pair to decide whether their one-time charade could actually be something more. **Buy Now:** _The Wedding Date_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780399587665 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3zwFotC "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. The Wedding Date: Best Romance Books ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996607/the-wedding-date/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996607/the-wedding-date/"},"headline":"The Wedding Date","datePublished":"2024-08-01T12:13:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:34:07.963Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996607/the-wedding-date/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","Special Project"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt662c22ebd37afa10/698a594adb2987080826bea5/The-Wedding-Date-Jasmine-Guillory.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shannon Carlin","jobTitle":"Carlin is a contributor for TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/shannon-carlin/"}],"creator":"Shannon Carlin","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt662c22ebd37afa10/698a594adb2987080826bea5/The-Wedding-Date-Jasmine-Guillory.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996607/the-wedding-date/","name":"The Wedding Date"}}]}] ```