The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Read if you: Absolutely hate very public proposals, Absolutely adore Characters who are very much in love not realizing they are in love

Reading goal: 14/100

When it comes to love, Nikole Paterson is not looking for anything serious. Which is why she is so shocked when her casual boyfriend Fisher proposes to her out of the blue... on the jumbotron at a Dodgers game in front of thousands of other people. Nikole knows she does not want to marry Fisher, but saying no also means having to face a stadium of disappointed fans who don't know they've only been dating for a few months & that Fisher didn't even spell her right on the screen. Luckily for Nik, Carlos Ibarra notices her panic and whisks her out of the stadium and away the prying camera crews and booing baseball fans. Following this failed proposal, Carlos helps support Nikole through the her embarrassment when the video of the ordeal goes viral, and her very real fears that Fisher may retaliate after her rejection, and Nik finds that Carlos may be the perfect rebound. Nik still isn't looking for anything serious, but honestly, what character in a romance novel actually means that. Obviously they fall in love.

Yes, I know we are well into March at this point and I said that I was moving on from my romance reads, but I honestly forgot I read this one last month and never wrote my review. I think that Jasmine Guillory is incredible in her dedication to bringing more diversity to the contemporary romance genre. Her heroines are always black women, and she features a Mexican-American love interest in The Proposal, and both identities are not featured often enough in romance. Nik and Carlos are both charming and likeable, and it's fun to watch them grow closer and fall in love, even if they don't realize they're in love quite yet. This book is very character driven, and at times I felt kind of bored because so much of the story was both Carlos and Nik wondering how the other felt about them, and there was not much of a plot outside of their relationship. That being said, The Proposal was very cute and had a lot of the sweet moments I look for in contemporary romance.