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Father of the Bride

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Five days. Two exes. One fake boyfriend. And the first love she never quite got over.

Sunny Dixon came to the beachfront villa to play her part—proud mother of the groom and stand-in for the bride’s late mother. All she has to do is smile, keep the peace, and make sure her son doesn’t run before the vows are said.

It all seems easy enough…until she locks eyes with the host.

Dr. Mark Bennett. Wealthy plastic surgeon. Father of the bride. Owner of the villa. And the man whose heart she broke all those years ago.

To make matters worse, Sunny’s ex-husband is still sniffing around, and she’s secretly been letting him. To save face while he flaunts his new fiancee, Sunny brought a fake date whose only job is to look good and make her ex squirm.

It works. A little too well. On the wrong ex.

Because Dr. Mark is barely holding it together, juggling the wedding, his latent grief, a threat to his business, and Sunny’s undeniable pull. If anybody found out what they were sneaking off to do during the festivities, it would be disastrous.

Secrets fester. Old grudges flare. Old flames reignite. By the time it all comes to a head, the wedding won’t be the only thing at risk.

294 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 6, 2025

135 people are currently reading
139 people want to read

About the author

Shae Sanders

51 books575 followers
Just a girl who loves black love. Reading it, writing it, and living it.

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5 stars
241 (58%)
4 stars
133 (32%)
3 stars
30 (7%)
2 stars
3 (<1%)
1 star
2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
Profile Image for Dahyana.
695 reviews90 followers
May 11, 2025
Beautiful Chaos

I absolutely enjoy the hell out of this!
It was deliciously chaotic in the best way. There were secrets, love, audacity, pettiness, a couple of fistfights, weddings, and yes… ṣẹx̌. These mature folks were getting it in.
But these parents really brought the drama. Even at their big age, with grown children, the mess was never too far behind. But somehow, it all came together beautifully in the end.

Honestly, this would be amazing on the big screen. Hear me out:
Tasha Smith or Keesha Sharp as Sunny
Chiké Okonkwo as Dr. Markez
And get this…Taye Diggs as Orion…it could work
I’ve got the whole cast lined up in my head!
Anyway—get into this, y'all. It’s hella fun.
I knew Shae was gonna come correct. She always does!
Profile Image for Jaleesa.
410 reviews63 followers
May 8, 2025
Ate it up!!$

You know Shae Sanders is gonna do it for me every single time. This was deliciously messy, like I was waiting for everything to hit the fan and when it did I clapped. Pick this up and have a good time!
Profile Image for Kameel.
1,067 reviews301 followers
May 11, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Profile Image for Carolyn Norman.
789 reviews11 followers
May 9, 2025
What an amazing feel good, second chance romance. But y’all it was so messy and petty in a way that made you laugh out loud. I loved this book from start to finish.

The story - it’s 4 days before Davion and Brooklyn’s wedding. Her father a premier plastic surgeon has paid for the wedding event of the year. But there are challenges.

See Davion’s parents, Sunny and Orion, are divorced but still having sex. They’re marriage broke up because Orion was cheating on Sunny. Davion hasn’t forgiven his father.

Mark is a widower. His wife got sick and died 3 years ago. On the first night of the 3 days of pre wedding festivities, he realizes that Sunny is his first love from college.

Y’all then the story goes left. Orion wants his wife and family back - not realizing that ship has sailed. Davion and Brooklyn both have wedding anxiety. There’s a fight. A declaration of love and some secrets revealed…and a whole lot of questionable hookups!

But it’s so much fun! Such an easy and smooth read and so opposite Shae Sanders last book. If you’re looking for a good time this book is it!

Borrowed this from Kindle Unlimited.
Profile Image for Nadia Latai (Nadiasbookishworld86).
627 reviews57 followers
July 9, 2025
This was a GROWN romance For real 🔥🔥🔥
Mark + Sunny ' s second chance, mature romance , messy situation, heated romance was everything! This had family drama, grief journeys, first love and new love , and family collaboration.... oh how I love the way Mark stepped up and not intimidated in the least....
1,087 reviews8 followers
May 11, 2025
Father of the bride

Now that’s how you spin the block! Sunny and Mark rekindling that old flame was everything to me. These were some grown folks right here and when their secrets came out and caused some friction for their children, they went to them and were honest about their connection and past and encouraged them to continue on with their original plans of getting married. I loved how Sunny and Mark loved their children and wanted the best for them and encouraged them to get them down the aisle. I also loved how easy and organic the reconnection was between Sunny and Mark.

This book had plenty of drama and plenty foolishness, especially coming from that clown Orion. He needed to be humbled quickly because he was a nuisance and thought way too highly of himself. I could only imagine how crushed his spirit was in learning about Mark and Sunny’s past.

If you’re a fan of a second chance romance and don’t mind some drama, I think you will enjoy this read as much as I did.
Profile Image for Whit.
3,674 reviews52 followers
June 29, 2025


I have read and enjoyed so many books by this author, but this was really disappointing!

This whole crew needs to grow up! Sunny, Mother of the Groom, Dixon's ex-husband cheated on her and she's still having sex with him???? Sorry, did the rest of the men, on earth, all die or disappear? And he was all that was left?

If i wasn't 44% in, I would DNF this bad boy, because the bride and groom are way too childish to be getting married to anyone.
Profile Image for Stacie.
2,571 reviews276 followers
July 17, 2025
3.5 Stars!

A lot of drama, but good!
Profile Image for A Rush Of Emotions.
1,435 reviews4 followers
November 23, 2025
Second chance

I enjoyed this second chance romance. Sunny is on the way to her son's destination wedding. She's going to do everything she can to keep the peace between all parties, including her ex husband who she's been sleeping around with on the fly. She's even got a fake boyfriend planned to show up in order to keep things somewhat cordial. What she doesn't expect, is the father of the bride to be "the one that got away".

Mark is used to doing anything and everything for the ones he loves. When he sees Sunny for the first time in over 20 years, he doesn't know quite what to do. Very quickly, their situation turns steamy, and they find themselves sneaking around like they're kids and not full grown adults.

This book was fun, short, and had all the romantic elements I love.
Profile Image for Coffee&Books.
1,173 reviews108 followers
May 17, 2025
LOVED! Shae is always a good time. I loooooved the Seasoned romance betwen Sunny & Kez (Dr. Mark if you nasty). Steamy, sultry, grown folks behavior, conversations & situations. Sanders gives us these adult characters whose chemistry jumps out. These aren't immature people making rash decisions. These are adults living real life while handling their kids' wedding AND a rekindled attraction.

Sterling….. meet me in the nearest alley. But was I not paying enough attention, or did we not get much warning about his big reveal? That twist caught me completely off guard. Would have been beautiful foreshadowing if we'd gotten a few more hints.

I love a story with characters who've lived enough life to know what they want and go for it unapologetically. This was a great read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Rebecca.
68 reviews2 followers
May 11, 2025
Amazing

This was so good. The parents being the drama was a surprising treat. This is a second chance romance. They meet in college and life happens so they go their separate ways. Now in their late 40s fate puts them in the same space again. The flow of this is perfect to me. There was never a dull moment. I knew this was gonna be a five star when the end came and I was smiling while reading like a goof.
Profile Image for Amy (amysbooksnthings).
1,638 reviews31 followers
August 17, 2025
This was so great. I was invested in this couple right from the start and thought it’d be interesting to see how everything would play out. And overall this was definitely a fun and wild ride for Sunny and Mark and their families.
Profile Image for Sunflower.
80 reviews14 followers
October 8, 2025
Father of the Bride was my bookclub's book of the month, here's my take on it:

It reminded me of the movie "Jumping The Broom" in a sense. I liked it a lot, it was a different vibe from the books we've previously read, kind of like a breath of fresh air from all the unhinged mess. I like the background story of Kez & Sunny, they kept the book interesting with their sneaky romance. I rate it 5/5 ⭐️
Profile Image for Lizzy Clark.
861 reviews29 followers
August 9, 2025
THIS WAS A MESSY AZZ SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE, LOVE STORY

STERLING AND HIS STORYLINE WAS NOT NEEDED AT ALL 🤷🏽‍♀️

ORION OL MAN/CHILD AZZ IRKED MY MOTHERFUDGESICKLESTIX NERVES THE ENTIRE BOOK. I WAS SO GLAD WHEN DAVION LET HIS BIH AZZ HAVE IT. ALTHOUGH I DON’T AGREE WITH HOW MARK AIRED THEIR DIRTY LAUNDRY, I’M WAS BEING HAPPY WHEN HIS BOAT THAT BIH 🥷 BUBBLE AND LET IT BE KNOWN WHO SUNNY’S REAL FIRST EVERYTHING WAS😳💀🤣🤣🤣👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽! OL COMMUNITY 🍆 HAVING AZZ BIH. KARMAS A BIH

BROOKLYN SPILLED AZZ FOR IN MY NERVES TOO. BUT IN THE END SHE GOT HER ISH TOGETHER. I HONESTLY DIDN’T THINK HER AND DAVION WOULD MAKE IT, BUT THEY FINALLY HAD A REAL ADULT CONVERSATION THAT WAS LONG OVERDUE

I LOVED ME SOME JULES AND TIGRA, THEY KEPT ME LAUGHING

KEZ & CICI🤎! 30 YEARS, TWO MARRIAGES AND 6 KIDS BETWEEN THE TWO DID NOTHING TO DIMINISH THE LOVE THEY HAD FOR EACH OTHER BACK IN COLLEGE. IT WAS FELT THROUGH THE PAGES AND I WAS HERE FOR MRS SUNNY GETTING HER GROOVE BACK WITH A REAL MAN AND NO LONGER ACCEPTING CRUMBS FROM A BIH 🥷 WHO DIDN’T KNOW WHAT HE HAD UNTIL IT WAS GONE. THEIR ENDING WAS UNEXPECTED BUT SO WELCOMED🫶🏽
Profile Image for Gwendolyn.
229 reviews3 followers
June 11, 2025
Ooo, whew! This was deliciously Messy! Mark and Sunny, with their bomb and explosive reconnecting. I loved this for them after not seeing each other for 30 yrs. Even though they were not supposed to be the center of attention in this story, they wiggled right into that leading position. Or, was the story written for this to happen way? Either way, I loved it. It was a genius move.

Cheater Orion, the jerk ex-husband, didn't have a chance in hell getting his ex-wife back. In the process, he lost the respect of his sons. He acted and talked like a fool.

I'm glad that Davion and Brooklyn were able to sustain their love ❤️. They hit a little bump during the festivities because of their parents, but realized they had a love stronger than they had figured.


I loved this story about the seasoned and Gen z couples.
8 reviews
June 6, 2025
If it's meant to be it'll come back to you!

Shae, you are an amazing author! I've been going through your catalog and I'm so pleased. This book was everything! As an almost 40 year old woman going through a divorce reading about characters close to my age who still believe in love is so necessary. I love that Kez and Cici were able to pick up where they left off without allowing baggage from the past prevent them from following their hearts. With the other love connections made at the wedding, I would be interested in reading more about this characters. Outstanding job!
Profile Image for NubianJoí .
2,165 reviews10 followers
June 21, 2025
Double Do’s

Spencer Tracy’s FOTB was the original😊…Steve Martin’s FOTB was/is a classic but will always be the best 😂🥹…Andy Garcia’s FOTB 😏 hmmm, I respectfully decline to comment 🤭🤷🏾‍♀️‼️ You be the judge of your lying eyes & subjective judgment 🧐😂🤣. Meanwhile, the literary version of FOTB was too urbanly cute & comical in a authentically Shae Sanders style 😻🤦🏾‍♀️☺️🫣‼️Nonetheless, “Father of the Bride”, as one of my favorite movies of all times I’m pleased to include this “FOTB”(4.25 ⭐️’s) book, the Dixon’s & Bennett’s as favorites too, especially the double do’s 😍🤩‼️
Profile Image for Nikki B..
81 reviews
June 22, 2025
This story was amazing!

Reading this book was like watching one of my favorite movies. I felt like I was there and experienced this wild weekend with the group. Ci and Kez... my goodness. That's all I can say is goodness gracious. This story was filled with laughs, love, heat, history, mystery, excellence and so much more! Tigra was my girl and the supporting character we didn't know we needed. Ms. Sanders is an excellent storyteller and this one is a classic that I'll happily read again and again!
Profile Image for Jessica Terry.
Author 39 books40 followers
July 23, 2025
Plenty of messiness

This was entertaining. A lot of characters, a lot of secrets, a lot of mess. I can't say I was rooting for anyone in particular here but it was engrossing. The thing with Mark's practice felt like a slightly unnecessary layer that was forced in but it didn't ruin anything, for me. I can appreciate the main funny moment that occurred on the beach right before everything hit the fan (it was funny to me, anyway lol).
Didn't particularly love the characters but enjoyed the story.
174 reviews1 follower
May 24, 2025
This Would Make A Good Movid

I absolutely loved this book. It would make a great movie. It has everything, the love, the drama, the humor, hotness. I could go on. Big props on the character development. From the first sentence to the last, I was absolutely captivated. This will go down as the best book I've read all year. A sequel would be great or at least cameo appearances in future books. Bravo!
20 reviews1 follower
June 1, 2025
First read by this author and now I’m about to go down a rabbit hole. I wouldn’t have minded it being longer cause i throughly enjoyed it. I legit laughed out loud at that scene with the singed linen pants LOL! There were actually a few scenes that I laughed so hard at; tried to imagine Luke sitting in the sand dazed lolll
Could have definitely done with more but it was def a good read and I’d recommend it.
Profile Image for Jordan Simmons.
175 reviews
June 5, 2025
mostly liked it

Slight spoilers:

It was a little slow in the beginning, but it picked up. It got a little messy, but wasn’t too bad. I just wished some of the main issues weren’t rushed through. I wanted to see Davion to deal with his dad. I wanted to see the Sterling thing resolved. I wanted more background on their relationship in college. I wanted the ending to be different.
Profile Image for Ju Berrymore.
109 reviews20 followers
May 8, 2025
SCANDALOUS!

Not the parents acting a damn fool leading up to the wedding!! This was sooo MESSY and good! This is a "mature" romance with the main characters being in their 40s but their drama just proves that foolishness has no age limit because Sunny had the uncs bout to pull a muscle and throw out their backs tussling over her. 😜😏
86 reviews
May 8, 2025
can’t miss with Shae

Being almost 40 I love to read stories with ppl closer my age without it being stuffy. kez and sunny were 🔥 from the start and I’m glad they got their happy second chance. Any time you release something I know it’s going to be amazing, you’re one of my faves and I’m so happy to indulge in your words💙💙
140 reviews
May 17, 2025
Well done!

I’m so happy to finally read a book where the MMC and FMC are both older. It made it much more relatable. Sunny and Mark had me laughing.

My only critique is that the issue with Sterling didn’t really add to the book and could have been left out altogether, especially since the way it was wrapped up at the end seemed rushed and had some gaps.
Profile Image for Ava Calhoun.
5 reviews4 followers
May 23, 2025
Seasoned Love

I truly loved this story of seasoned love. Mark and Sunny were destined to be together but life happens. Second chance love can be just as good with your first love. Mark was a take charge kind of guy that made things happen. Sunny needed to feel love and cared for and he did just that. The drama was just enough and the spice was just right. Great book!
383 reviews1 follower
May 23, 2025
Messy wedding shenanigans Shae style

SS consistently delivers a great story; Loved this read about grown folks getting a second chance at love. the messy quotient was much higher in this book than her usual and it was well done because I was cussing folks out in my head for most of the book! LOL
3 reviews
September 18, 2025
Messy Drama. Family Secrets. Romance.

A wedding brings a surprise reunion between Mark and Sunny. He is the father of the bride and she is the mother of the groom. The wedding weekend with a full itinerary of activities playing the background for secrets, drama, fights, and rekindled romance.

This was a very good read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews

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