The Lovers by Rebekah Faubion
This story begins with Kit Larson, who is meeting up with her parents at the Polo Lounge for her mother’s birthday brunch. This birthday brunch happens every year at the same place, but this time, Kit’s boyfriend David was supposed to come along. We learn right away that Kit and David had just broken up, and Kit is gathering the nerve to ask her parents if she can crash back at their house for a while, but surprise! Kit’s parents tell her they’re getting a divorce. Her mom has found someone else, and they’re selling the house. Kit freaks out for a variety of reasons, and one of those reasons is the baggage of her father’s desire to always have the perfect, cinematic romcom life. Since that is no longer happening, what does that mean for Kit’s prospects?
As Kit leaves the lunch before it ever really starts and tries to process this with her bestie, she gets an offer for a gig. Kit is a tarot card reader and has gotten quite the following online, especially after being on a high-profile reality show reading for a wealthy celebrity family. The gig is a wedding weekend for a lifestyle influencer in the desert (Joshua Tree, for those familiar with Southern California). This opportunity might just be what Kit needs to reset.
Our other heroine is Julia, a Type A wedding planner who works for a company but is eager to go out on her own. She just needs this influencer-laden big ticket wedding to go off perfectly so she can have it in her portfolio before starting her own business. Unfortunately, one of the bridesmaids had to drop out but there was someone ready and extra willing to jump in who just happens to be Julia’s evil ex-girlfriend, Piper Cunningham.
The complications keep coming, because Kit and Julia know each other and haven’t seen each other in years. Kit was “the one who got away.” Their finding each other again was foretold by a tarot reader when they were children, and the one thing that Julia didn’t plan for the wedding was the tarot reader. The bride said she had a connection and would take care of it.
This book is fun and sexy, and it’s a great read if you feel like an escape.