Reviews with content warning for Cursing - D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding

OMG! Love love love this one! 😍 A cute Black lesbian love story with a fake dating trope, curvy girl rep, lots of comedy, family dynamics, emotional dialogue and hella spicey 🥵 Leans into some common lesbian stereotypes but does so playfully.

I love that FINALLY there's more Black lesbian love story representation and that this is a fluffy, low drama romance.

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notsobinaryart's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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displacedcactus's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This is a solidly decent romance novel, which will probably be elevated to a great read for readers who specifically enjoy fake dating and/or reality TV themed romances. I'm pretty neutral towards those tropes so it didn't grab me as much as it could have, but I still really enjoyed reading it.

Mainly for me, I didn't necessarily buy the set-up of the reality show. I also found that I wanted a little more of the characters' lives outside of the show. I mean, Kris is a fitness influencer who lifts, and we never get to see her in the gym?!?

However, it has a fun diverse cast and is sufficiently steamy, and low angst.

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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

If this cover doesn’t catch your eye, I really don’t know what to tell you. Haha. But in all seriousness, I was feeling in the mood for a romance and this one was both on my TBR and available on the “new books” shelf at the library.

D’Vaughn and Kris are both contestants on a reality tv show, Instant I Do, in which people are paired with a complete stranger and must convince their families that they are in love/engaged and plan a wedding together over a six-week period. This season, the show is focusing on queer couples, so D’Vaughn is using it as a chance/push to finally come out to her family. While Kris is there to, despite how cheesy it sounds, find true love. And building her social media brand up at the same time would be convenient. As the two spend time together, they realize that actually, their feelings for each other might mean even more than the money they could win be “making it” though the full six weeks of the show.

I know I have said this before, but the reality tv setting is getting really popular in recent romance releases. And despite the fact that I don’t watch them myself, IRL, I have enjoyed reading about them (Rosalie Palmer Takes the Cake and The Charm Offensive being two notable favs). So I didn’t really read too much into the details of the “show” in this one, I just clocked it was a reality tv situation. If I’m being really honest, that might have been a mistake for me here. The concept of this show actually made me really uncomfortable, in the squirmy way. Like, maybe if your “partner” was not a good match for you and you don’t make it very far into the six weeks, it would be different. But the idea of lying to my entire family about something as serious/emotionally invested as being in love with someone, like legitimately going out of my way to include them in something that was most likely fake, feels wrong to me (especially for people as close to their families as D’Vaughn, and especially Kris, were). So even as the rest of the story unfolded, that sense of discomfort remained a constant background “noise” for me, and really affected my overall reading experience.

As far as the romance itself, it was fast (obviously), but I did feel the chemistry between D’Vaughn and Kris. The physical chemistry in particular was spectacularly written. I also loved the unquestioning emotional, from the very beginning, between the two, especially in the way they dealt with each other’s families. Their dialogue together was sweet (pet names were used to adorable effect) and snarky, a great combo. And the ebb and flow, but steady rise, of D’Vaughn and Kris’ relationship was exactly what I wanted – there was conflict, of course, but no “last minute breakup” or manufactured miscommunications/drama (well, other than the completely manufactured show situation), but I felt even that was never really as big a hurdle as it could have been. In addition to their romance build, I did think the focus on coming out, the ways people can be supportive and not be at all supportive (even when they think they’re being an ally) was well done. It was complex and nuanced and emotional in ways that felt very genuine.

The development of the show, the way the “challenges” worked, etc. did leave something to be desired. Like how is the point to try to get people to legit say “I do,” but also not give them that much time to get to know each other outside of time spent with families? The involvement of the EPs, the filming, and other details felt uneven too. Also, the challenges themselves just weren’t that inspired. But all in all, I guess it did provide the scaffold for the rest of the story and that was the point of it, as a plot device and vehicle for relationships development.

While there was some deeper emotional exploration and reactions to the coming out/diversity/acceptance aspects, this was overall just a cheese-basket of tropes. It was fast and entertaining and not a new favorite because of the show set-up, but I was here for the rest of it, for D’Vaughn and Kris’ happy ending.

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penandpages's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Fans of The Charm Offensive will love this sapphic, reality show romance!

Though the premise of Instant Do was completely confusing to me, I really liked Kris and D'Vaughn. There relationship was superficial in a lot of ways which fit the premise of falling in love in 6 weeks, though it felt very evident that Kris has a lot more emotional maturity than D'Vaughn.

It was a fun read and highly recommend for a lighthearted romance pick!

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snowydaze's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I received an audiobook copy of D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Words cannot describe how much I enjoyed this book that turned the fake dating/engagement trope on its head. The main characters were fleshed out and continued to communicate with each other throughout the book. Which was a refreshing change from the usual aspects of the trope. Additionally, they both actually felt remorse for their lies which rarely happens in books with a similar premise. Overall, this book was refreshing and unique in its plot and I highly recommend reading it!

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