Review by Booklist Review
Time is running out for Maya Jackson to make her mark as a bridal-wear designer. Maya believes that working for Laura Whitcomb--New York City's premier purveyor of wedding fashion--is the best way of achieving that goal. However, when Maya's father needs help, she packs her bags and heads for Charleston, South Carolina. Derek Sullivan has a limited amount of time to turn things around at Always a Bride, his late mother's beloved business. Hiring Maya to help out seems like a good idea at the time, and it isn't long before Maya is making headway with the shop's customers and with Derek's teenage daughter, Jamila. But how long will Derek have Maya in his life before she decides to head back to New York? With superb character development and great emotional depth, Afro Filipina writer Williams stitches together a quietly powerful love story that is beautifully enriched by the deft and insightful incorporation of weighty issues such as grief and medical conditions into the compelling plot and brightly enhanced by glimpses into the vibrant culture and history of Charleston.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A struggling bridal shop owner finds love with a wedding dress designer in this inspiring romantic romp from Williams (Healing Hannah's Heart). Maya Jackson returns to Charleston, S.C., to help her father recover from a broken hip. On unpaid leave from her N.Y.C. bridal gown brand, she accepts a temporary job at a bridal shop while she's there. Derek Sullivan's wife died in a mass shooting three years ago, and now he's working to save the shop he inherited from his mother and reconnect with his 12-year-old daughter, Jamila. Maya's experience and eye for style breathes new life into Derek's almost-bankrupt business, and her presence gives Derek and Jamila hope for a brighter future. Meanwhile, Maya gets a chance to showcase her designs, which have always been rejected by her famous boss. But as Maya, who has sickle cell anemia, grows close to Derek and Jamila, she worries her prognosis will be too much for them to handle. Maya's determination is admirable as she manages her illness and works for the happy ending she deserves. With this heartwarming tale, Williams has created a budding family that readers will root for. (June)
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Review by Library Journal Review
In this sweet debut, two wounded people help each other heal and find their happily-ever-after. Maya is a talented Afro Filipina fashion designer at a prestigious New York City bridal company. She puts her bid for a promotion on hold when her father is injured and she must return home to Charleston, SC, to care for him. In Charleston, she meets Derek, a military veteran and widowed father who owns a bridal boutique. Derek offers Maya temporary work, helping to revive his struggling shop; their business partnership soon becomes another chance at love. Williams has written likable characters who work through serious issues (chronic illness; grieving the death of a family member; workplace racism), but Maya and Derek's romance is underdeveloped. Narrator Carmen Jewel Jones does a wonderful job bringing the audiobook's characters to life. VERDICT This contemporary romance is recommended for readers who enjoy the return-to-hometown trope.--Migdalia Jimenez, Chicago P.L.
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A wedding dress designer learns to trust her professional instincts after returning home to Charleston to care for her ill father. Maya Jackson has a dream job in New York working for Laura Whitcomb, one of the most prestigious wedding gown designers in the world. Although Maya has been told she's in competition for a promotion, Laura denigrates every single one of Maya's designs, which are inspired by her Filipino and African American background. Maya also hides her sickle cell disease from her boss, recognizing Laura's pattern of discriminatory behavior and fearing retaliation. Nevertheless, Maya continues to hope that becoming Laura's junior designer will open future opportunities in the wedding gown industry. When Maya's father becomes ill, Laura agrees to let her take an unpaid leave of absence to care for him. Worried about her loss of income, Maya takes a job at the first Black-owned wedding boutique in Charleston to make ends meet. Having inherited the boutique from his mother, Derek Sullivan is struggling to keep the business afloat while also raising his teenage daughter. Three years earlier, his wife was killed in a mass shooting at their church, which is presented as a muted backstory rather than an active emotional factor for Derek. Maya's original designs and her knowledge of the bridal business breathe new life into the boutique. Derek and Maya go out on a few sweet, bland dates, but the barely-there romance feels like an afterthought; their relationship lacks chemistry and is woefully underdeveloped. Maya is torn between hoping for Laura's seal of approval and honoring the legacy of her heritage, and this dilemma drives the plot and timeline of the novel. Williams' choppy, stilted prose is not strong enough to carry the emotional weight of the novel. A simple story about learning to trust yourself to achieve happiness. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.