⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Wedding Forecast by Nina Kenwood (are there any other Australian romance writers I should know about??)

This is one of my favorite books I've read this year. It doesn't have a US pub date yet but please keep it on your radar/you can get it at Readings Books! To me, this was a perfect rom com. This is Nina Kenwood's first adult novel and I hope she writes so many more.

It's incredibly charming, delightful, funny, sweet, with ideal pacing/flow and great banter and dialogue. The Mums are hilarious, the friends are wonderful and unwaveringly supportive, FMC Anna is vulnerable and relatable (I *love* writer/book lover main characters!), MMC Mac (who is also a book lover! who makes loose leaf tea!) is top tier with an emotional intelligence you could only dream every man had. I'm still thinking of some of the lines Mac said oh my god.

I've read a lot of books this year and so many rely on tropes, which is not a bad thing. I quite enjoy a well-done trope, or one with a fresh take. But one of those most heavily relied on tropes is miscommunication, and while I can forgive fundamental differences in how characters process or internalize feelings thus leading to a little miscommunication, sometimes it's frustrating/tiresome to read. But Kenwood? She didn't do any of that. She sure didn't need it. And she didn't give us the big ol' third-act breakup either (they do have a big obstacle, but it makes sense for them). She gave us two self-aware characters who knew how to communicate their feelings, good and bad.

This was so solid start to finish and I wish it had an epilogue so I can know what came next for Anna and Mac!