So Daphne always catches the bouquet at every wedding she attends. Why isn’t she married? After catching the bouquet so many times, one would expect her to not be single eventually. Well, she cannot let go of the one boy who she thought always held her heart. She cannot overlook the way he truly treated her. Sure she admits he broke her heart, but she doesn’t admit to his faults that blinded her so many years ago.

When Daphne and Mayson find each other again, she thinks that this is it. She falls back into her old patterns with him. She continues to deny his faults and taking her for granted. When tragedy strikes, the question remains if she can move on, or stay in the past with Mayson.

I had a hard time with this book. I gave it 4 hearts… I almost gave it three, but could not bring myself to do so because the characters ever evolving hooked me. It takes true talent to develop a character in the way that Daphne is created by the end of the book. We all know someone like her, or are like her. Either way, her character alone makes the book stand on its own two feet. ( )

So Daphne always catches the bouquet at every wedding she attends. Why isn’t she married? After catching the bouquet so many times, one would expect her to not be single eventually. Well, she cannot let go of the one boy who she thought always held her heart. She cannot overlook the way he truly treated her. Sure she admits he broke her heart, but she doesn’t admit to his faults that blinded her so many years ago.

When Daphne and Mayson find each other again, she thinks that this is it. She falls back into her old patterns with him. She continues to deny his faults and taking her for granted. When tragedy strikes, the question remains if she can move on, or stay in the past with Mayson.

I had a hard time with this book. I gave it 4 hearts… I almost gave it three, but could not bring myself to do so because the characters ever evolving hooked me. It takes true talent to develop a character in the way that Daphne is created by the end of the book. We all know someone like her, or are like her. Either way, her character alone makes the book stand on its own two feet. ( )

Life and love are hard. And sometimes, what you think you have everything you ever wanted, life throws you a curveball. I have read this book twice now, and it just gets better and better. Come enter the world of Daphne, Mayson, and Tanner. Navigate through past loves, dark times, new beginnings, and a swoon-worthy HEA. What I love about this book is that it is real. Melissa Brown does not sugar coat anything. We go through EVERY emotion with Daphne, every question, every insecurity. We grow and change as she does, in the monumental way that can be attributed to your twenties. This is only the beginning of this series, but do not fear, as this can be read as a standalone. Each book only gets better as you fall in love with new characters, but it all begins here. Highly recommend! ( )

3.5 stars

"It's not that I don't believe in true love but, how do you know when someone truly is "the one?" Can you ever really know?"

I've been thinking about this review for a few days now and still not sure how to start. I really liked the blurb on this book and eagerly anticipated it's release but it wasn't what I expected. I suppose I expected a nice light romance read but I got more than that.
It was a story of love, regrets, of what-ifs, of lost loves, of choices and of taking nothing for granted.

Daphne has lived her adult life since college pining for the man she loved, believing that he was the true love of her life and wondering about how things might have been. Because of this she has been shutting herself off from any real relationships.

She has a "gift" of catching the bouquet at each wedding and each time she thinks that this is it; the time when she finally finds true love and lives happily ever after. Her dreams of her past love hold her back though and then "he" walks back into her life. She is thrown for a loop and is thrust right back into her dream of an ideal love story. But life has other things in mind for her.

This story takes us on an emotional ride through heartache, anguish,love and a bit of humor. We saw how Daphne came to some deep realisations about life and about herself. All in all it was a book that made you stop and think about life, the choices we have made and how we have dealt with them, and the choices that we have yet to make. It makes you think about how you have dealt with situations you have no control over. ( )

I don't know where to start with the review of this book. I was so excited for it to come out. I'd already seen the cover art, by Sarah Hansen and was blown away. Everything about the book screamed to me that I would love it. So did I? Well, yeah I did.

Let's start with the storyline. Daphne has had her share of bad luck with relationships, always comparing every guy she's dated to her college boyfriend Mayson. And, there lies the problem. She just can't seem to get past him or her ideal of him as the perfect guy. She thinks she never will. But then at her friend Elyse's wedding, she sees him again and he re-enters her life just as quickly as he left it the first time around.

Daphne knows she has to move on, she even starts to by signing up for a dating service. She dates the guy who's looking for a fun night between the sheets, the tight-wad and the arrogant jerk. It seems like she can't get past the perfect guy.

Suddenly she is asking herself if she will ever get her happily ever after with her dream man or perhaps there is just someone else out there for her after all.


While Bouquet Toss is a romance, it's also a novel about conciliation - about who you were, who you are and who you should be. In a sense, it's a coming of age novel. You learn from the flashbacks what happened between her and her dream guy and you want to find out whether she will get her happily ever after and with whom.

Melissa Brown's debut novel is simply wonderful. It's beautifully written with characters you can relate to and a dialogue that keeps you moving right through out the novel. It's a story about love, loss, heartache and learning to pick up the pieces when you're down and out. One of the aspects I loved about this novel is that Daphne isn't being fought over by two guys, she isn't a simpering wailing annoying girl who yo-yos back and forth between boys, trying to decide which one is the one for her. She's just a girl trying to make it out in the world and find her feet in the dating game.

Beautifully crafted words filled with emotions that feel like you can connect with the characters. This is must for all who love a romance story that is well-written, superbly edited and let's face it, for the girl who wants *that* happily ever after for herself. ( )