REVIEW: Not that Kind of Proposal by Victoria Lavine
Not that Kind of Proposal by Victoria Lavine: : Gracie Holland has rebuilt her life as a wedding planner at Larkwood Estate after a soul-crushing breakup. When her beloved boss dies and leaves the estate to her grandson Jude, a divorce lawyer determined to sell it, Gracie comes up with one final plan to prove Larkwood deserves to stay open. Falling for each other was definitely not part of the plan.
NOT THAT KIND OF PROPOSAL by Victoria Lavine was an enemies-to-lovers rom-com filled with banter, wedding planning, forced proximity, family legacy, and two people who had very different ideas about love.
Gracie was a romantic, she believed in love even after experiencing how badly it could go, and I loved watching her refuse to let one terrible relationship change what she wanted for her future. I also loved how fiercely she fought for Larkwood, it wasn’t simply a workplace to her—it’s the place where she rebuilt her life, so protecting it meant protecting something deeply important to her. Jude was the perfect opposite. As a divorce lawyer, he has spent years seeing relationships fall apart, so his skepticism about happily-ever-after makes complete sense. Beneath that cynicism, though, is a man who cares deeply about his family and the legacy his grandmother left behind.
Gracie and Jude’s arguments, wedding-planning disasters, cake tastings, and late-night conversations gave them plenty of opportunities to get under each other’s skin. I loved watching that irritation turn into curiosity, attraction, and eventually something neither could easily dismiss.
NOT THAT KIND OF PROPOSAL delivered exactly what I wanted from an enemies-to-lovers romance: a heroine who believes in love, a hero determined not to, plenty of banter, wedding chaos, and chemistry that refused to stay professional. Add in family legacy and two people slowly realizing their ideas about happily-ever-after might not be so different after all, and this was such a fun romance.
Tropes & Vibes
💥 Enemies to lovers
💍 Wedding planner heroine
⚖️ Divorce lawyer hero
🏡 Forced proximity
😂 Banter
❤️ Grumpy x sunshine
🌹 Wedding planning
🔥 Spice
💬 QOTD: Do you believe opposites really do attract?
Book Info:
Publication: July 21, 2026 | Atria Books |
Gracie Holland can plan the perfect Happily Ever After—unless it’s her own. After a soul-flattening breakup, she’s rebuilt her life planning weddings at Larkwood—an ivy-covered Rhode Island estate where she lives in the staff cottage (and only occasionally cries herself into a blanket burrito). But when her beloved boss passes away and leaves the estate to her grandson, Gracie suddenly finds herself pitted against a love-allergic divorce lawyer determined to sell Larkwood by summer’s end—even if it means crushing his grandmother’s legacy and everyone’s jobs beneath his polished wingtips.
As someone who cleans up romantic disasters for a living, Jude Larkwood has no intention of keeping the estate as a wedding venue, no matter how much he loved his Nana. Selling it is critical for reasons he can’t discuss, but there’s just one problem: his Nana inexplicably left the guest cottage to the estate’s maddeningly romantic wedding planner, who has somehow turned his mind into her permanent residence.
So, when Gracie proposes that he help her plan her ex’s shotgun wedding to prove Larkwood is worth saving, he agrees—on one condition. If she fails to convince him by the big day, she’ll sell him her cottage.
But as bickering and cake tastings turn into late-night confessions, Gracie and Jude find themselves breaking every vow not to fall for each other. After all, opposites may attract—but can a hopeless romantic and a professional cynic really say “I do” to their own love story?
