Rating: 4.5🌈
A Wedding in A Week by Con Riley is expanded from the author’s short story, Keeping Him in Cornwall, that appeared last year in the charity anthology, Heart2Heart #6. It’s also part of Riley’s Cornwall universe, which connects it to one of my favorite books of this author’s, Charles, a fact I didn’t discover until I read a note at the end.
All that aside, A Wedding in A Week is such a lovely romantic story. We get to wallow in all that beautiful Cornish countryside, steeped in the traditions of the family and villages, with that sparkling dark sea beyond the cliffs. Overlay that with a complicated fabric of two men’s common history, pained backgrounds of losses and heavy burdens, and hidden love so Riley’s story is full of remarkable layers.
It starts with Stef recuperating from a potentially devastating accident as well as still in mourning over the loss of his father three years earlier, and the heaviest of knowledges, that of his younger brother’s inherited the then heart condition that killed the father. That brother, Lukas, sends back Mark, a man who stayed with the family while growing up, to help during recovery.
That reunion between Mark and Stef is one of quiet emotional homecoming’s. I loved the many elements Riley used to bring the men romantically back together after a hurtful split. The loving memories of them with Lukas, Mark’s best friend. The pasties moment that included his mother in his kitchen. And always there’s the inspirational landscape of Kara-Tir , the farm that’s the heart of Stef, his family and this book.
So many little details, so many lovely moments that all combine into a beautiful contemporary romance.
I’m absolutely recommending A Wedding in A Week by Con Riley and if you haven’t already read them, now’s the time to dive into the others in this universe!
Cornwall universe:
Learning to Love :
✓ Charles ❤️
◦ Sol
◦ Luke
◦ Austin
◦ Heppel Ever After
Cornish Shared World Standalones
✓ Finding Mr. Fabulous
✓ A Wedding in a Week
Christmas Collection
◦ His Last Christmas in London
◦ We Only Kiss at Christmas
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Description:
A second chance with his brother’s best friend also comes with a deadline.
Three years after inheriting his family farm, an accident forces Stefan Luxton to rethink his future. Turning his farm into a five-star wedding venue is one goal. Another is to reconnect with Marc, who Stefan loved but let slip away to the city.
Now Marc’s back, trying for a job that might keep him in Cornwall long term, and Stefan’s determined to help him. There’s just one problem — he only has seven days to do it.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 