THE WORST BEST MAN

A Washington, D.C., wedding planner falls in love with her ex-fiance's brother.

Three years ago, Lina Santos was jilted on the morning of her wedding. Since then, she’s made a success of her small wedding-planning business, Dotting the I Do’s. When she's given the opportunity to compete for a job as the in-house wedding coordinator at an exclusive boutique hotel, she’s thrilled about the opportunity but nervous about the nonstandard interview format: She’ll be paired with a marketing specialist and will have five weeks to prepare a sales pitch of herself and the hotel’s services. The catch: Her partner is Max Hartwell, her ex-fiance’s brother, the one who encouraged him to back out of the wedding. Max knows working with Lina isn’t ideal, but it’s a golden opportunity to make a name for himself. The plot is classic “enemies to lovers” and is executed perfectly. Sosa (Crashing Into Her, 2019, etc.) deftly moves Lina and Max through a series of complex plot machinations that feel organic rather than contrived. Lina is a sympathetic and poignant character, fiercely loyal to her family and proud of her Brazilian heritage, and even though she’s an eminently capable wedding planner, she struggles with her fear of failure. Max has always come in second to his older brother, so he fights what feels like a forbidden attraction. As Lina and Max navigate thorny family dramas and professional challenges, they cautiously move from animosity to love and learn that “there are no do-overs in life...there are only do-betters.” It’s a slow-burn romance done perfectly right.

A captivating love story about two people who bring out the best in each other both professionally and personally.