June Calder knows how to keep a wedding running: measure twice, label everything, and never park a mobile kitchen in a boat launch lane.
Unfortunately, the man whose launch she blocks is Ben Avery, owner of the coastal Maine boatyard where June’s former cooking mentor is getting married. He is broad-shouldered, infuriatingly competent, and the older brother of Owen Avery, the man June left at the altar three years ago.
Ben helps her save the site survey. June helps his family save the wedding menu. Their arguments become banter, their practical fixes become reasons to stay late, and the attraction between them refuses to respect the seating chart.
June and Ben are both single, and their attraction begins three years after the canceled wedding. No one is cheating. The forbidden line is family loyalty: June is being paid to cater Ben’s mother’s wedding, Owen will be there, and loving June may cost Ben the easy trust of the brother she hurt. June will not become a secret, a substitute, or an apology with a place card.
As the wedding approaches, Ben has to decide whether protecting his brother means hiding what he wants. June has to decide whether an honorable love still counts if the family does not approve on schedule.
Warm, funny, and sensual, A Very Bad Plus-One is a contemporary forbidden romance about real work, complicated families, and choosing a future in public.
The wrong brother. The right choice.