Last week I sped-read through Love at First Flight, sinking into the Central Oregon setting and the lives of the Moreno family that Janine Amesta created. It spurred me to pick up the ARC I had of The Wedding Con and get to reading it immediately.
Where Love at First Flight focuses on the grief journeys of its leads, The Wedding Con focuses on fear. Naomi Moreno is the middle sister and had witnessed her father be suckered into get rich quick investment schemes via YouTube before his unexpected death. She hadn’t been able to warn him off, nor had she called in help in the form of her older sister Selah, and she is carrying a fear of letting something or someone else have the same negative impact on her family and their hot air balloon business. Boone Reyes is hired on by the Morenos following the patriarch’s death to help Naomi in the chase crew for the balloon and from moment one she senses something is off with him – his background doesn’t completely line up and he uses a phrase she associates with the grifters who her father fell for which sets off even more alarm bells in her mind. 
We jump ahead two years, and Naomi has intentionally stayed cool to Boone, even though they spend a great deal of time together. Everyone else has a different understanding of Boone’s mannerisms, and her family and friends are convinced that he has feelings for her (spoiler, he does, although he isn’t entirely sure what it is he feels) but until their mutual interests for career advancement (she wants to host large events including hot air balloon themed weddings, he wants to become a rock climbing instructor) provide an opportunity for Boone to suggest ways they can help each other achieve their goals and spend more time together Naomi remains unconvinced. Once away from their usual routines the big emotions that Naomi feels around Boone become clearer, but there is much turmoil on the way to their HEA.
I felt for these characters because Amesta does an excellent job portraying the real ways fear impacts us. Boone is afraid his past and how he was raised by his con-man father will prevent him from being able to live a normal life with a regular job and people who will honestly trust him and let him in. Naomi is afraid that there is always another shoe that is going to drop and that the next major disaster is around every corner. She’s also afraid that she won’t be able to save herself and her family from that next big disaster. Amesta plots in ways that Boone’s griftier skills can be a positive while acknowledging that he is learning to not cross lines that never used to bother him. One of the things I liked most here is that Boone is honest with Naomi even when she doesn’t think he is, and it’s her who goes back on her word (based on her fears) and is the one who does the big grovel.
I received an ARC of this book from the author. It has not affected the contents of this review, only its timing. The Wedding Con publishes September 30, 2025.
Bingo Square: White. The white wedding dress and all the other white details are the visual pull of the cover.