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Maddy Kind Lifts the Veil
A slow-burn sapphic romantic comedy about love, expectations, and choosing your own happily ever after – from internationally bestselling author Natasha West
Maddy Kind never planned on getting married. But after saying “yes” in the heat of a family gathering, she’s suddenly weeks away from a wedding she doesn’t quite recognise – and barely holding it together.
Enter Eva Givens, the wedding planner hired to make everything perfect. Calm, professional, and completely detached, Eva has built her career on managing other people’s love stories without ever getting involved in them.
Maddy is a tough client to chaotic, overwhelmed, and full of doubts she can’t quite put into words. However, as the plans come together, so do something lingering looks, late-night conversations, and a connection neither of them can ignore.
Because the closer they get to the wedding, the clearer it becomes her heart was never really in the plans being made for her. And it’s leading her elsewhere.
With the big day approaching, Maddy must follow the life she’s already set in motion… or risk everything for the one woman who was never part of the plan.
Maddy Kind Lifts the Veil is a witty, heartfelt lesbian romcom about finding the courage to rewrite your own ending.
Maddy Kind never planned on getting married. But after saying “yes” in the heat of a family gathering, she’s suddenly weeks away from a wedding she doesn’t quite recognise – and barely holding it together.
Enter Eva Givens, the wedding planner hired to make everything perfect. Calm, professional, and completely detached, Eva has built her career on managing other people’s love stories without ever getting involved in them.
Maddy is a tough client to chaotic, overwhelmed, and full of doubts she can’t quite put into words. However, as the plans come together, so do something lingering looks, late-night conversations, and a connection neither of them can ignore.
Because the closer they get to the wedding, the clearer it becomes her heart was never really in the plans being made for her. And it’s leading her elsewhere.
With the big day approaching, Maddy must follow the life she’s already set in motion… or risk everything for the one woman who was never part of the plan.
Maddy Kind Lifts the Veil is a witty, heartfelt lesbian romcom about finding the courage to rewrite your own ending.
276 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 25, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 13, 2026
This book was a quick and easy read. The story was pretty simple, but I don’t mean that as a criticism. It was easy to get into, and I could really relate to both characters. I liked Maddie’s shy nature and how Eva managed to draw her out of her shell. Overall, the two of them had great chemistry—so tender and beautiful.
Toward the end of the book, things started to move a bit too fast, and I have to admit that I didn’t quite like the pace there.
Despite this minor drawback—which is certainly a matter of taste—it’s an entertaining novel with two sweet characters.
Toward the end of the book, things started to move a bit too fast, and I have to admit that I didn’t quite like the pace there.
Despite this minor drawback—which is certainly a matter of taste—it’s an entertaining novel with two sweet characters.
June 2, 2026
Solid story with enjoyable characters
I liked this story! I have minor nitpicks, but nothing that keeps me from recommending it. My main quibble is that I feel it ends too soon. The pacing is a bit slow, even though it takes place over a year with plenty of time skips. There are not very many scenes with just the romantic leads, which was a little frustrating for a slow burn. It would have been nice if the epilogue/HEA was extended to give us more time with the characters when they're together.
I liked this story! I have minor nitpicks, but nothing that keeps me from recommending it. My main quibble is that I feel it ends too soon. The pacing is a bit slow, even though it takes place over a year with plenty of time skips. There are not very many scenes with just the romantic leads, which was a little frustrating for a slow burn. It would have been nice if the epilogue/HEA was extended to give us more time with the characters when they're together.
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July 18, 2026lmfao this was so chaotic but so good
May 28, 2026
Maddy is suddenly proposed to by her long time boyfriend at her Aunt's 89 birthday. As she hates shows like this she's pissed, but accepts anyway. Now her mom is pushing for a spring wedding....
Eva Givens is a wedding planner, and is hired to make this go right. She meets Maddy and swiftly realizes she's not into weddings and just wants to get this done. And she's beautiful, if way too eager to please.
Adam is kind of a douche. Also, he barely seems to know Maddy, which pisses Eva right off. Plus Maddy's mom is totally supporting everything Adam picks and not listening to her.
Manor as a venue. Dress she doesn't like. And huge numbers of guests. Maddy is pretty much shutting down and nodding as Eva looks on, concerned.
And on to Bachelorette party! Poor woman. But The Maid of Honor invites Eva, who against her best judgement goes. A mix of booze and party games leads to Eva realizing Maddy isn't totally straight and that Eva is into her. She takes off the next morning.
Months later things are still barreling along when Eva gets a call from her alcoholic Mom, who is one year sober. Eva's not sure how to take this, as they had mostly no contact. This also goes nowhere, oddly.
The day before the wedding, Eva runs into Maddy, they talk then kiss. But Eva admits this is a horrible idea. There's a water leak at the venue, that Eva calls a plumber in. She also firmly suggests a good plasterer to cover things up.
Next day the wedding is on, they're ready to do vows... when the roof starts to fall in. Turns out the manager just called a guy, and he fucked up. Then a alternate location falls through.
Eva tracks Maddy down and they talk, Maddy finally admitting she's in love with her. But she still feels she has to go through with this. Third venue, they get to the vows... and Maddy finally says she cant.
Then Mary, a bridesmaid, admits SHE slept with Adam. Oops. He freezes then tries to explain.... which no one's is listening to. Maddy leaves, Eva follows. Wrap up, epilog.
Solid 3.5 stars. Its good, but i spent a lot of time going 'Maddy, GROW A SPINE.'
Eva Givens is a wedding planner, and is hired to make this go right. She meets Maddy and swiftly realizes she's not into weddings and just wants to get this done. And she's beautiful, if way too eager to please.
Adam is kind of a douche. Also, he barely seems to know Maddy, which pisses Eva right off. Plus Maddy's mom is totally supporting everything Adam picks and not listening to her.
Manor as a venue. Dress she doesn't like. And huge numbers of guests. Maddy is pretty much shutting down and nodding as Eva looks on, concerned.
And on to Bachelorette party! Poor woman. But The Maid of Honor invites Eva, who against her best judgement goes. A mix of booze and party games leads to Eva realizing Maddy isn't totally straight and that Eva is into her. She takes off the next morning.
Months later things are still barreling along when Eva gets a call from her alcoholic Mom, who is one year sober. Eva's not sure how to take this, as they had mostly no contact. This also goes nowhere, oddly.
The day before the wedding, Eva runs into Maddy, they talk then kiss. But Eva admits this is a horrible idea. There's a water leak at the venue, that Eva calls a plumber in. She also firmly suggests a good plasterer to cover things up.
Next day the wedding is on, they're ready to do vows... when the roof starts to fall in. Turns out the manager just called a guy, and he fucked up. Then a alternate location falls through.
Eva tracks Maddy down and they talk, Maddy finally admitting she's in love with her. But she still feels she has to go through with this. Third venue, they get to the vows... and Maddy finally says she cant.
Then Mary, a bridesmaid, admits SHE slept with Adam. Oops. He freezes then tries to explain.... which no one's is listening to. Maddy leaves, Eva follows. Wrap up, epilog.
Solid 3.5 stars. Its good, but i spent a lot of time going 'Maddy, GROW A SPINE.'
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2026
Maddy is a quiet mouse of a woman, going along with what is asked of her, from her boyfriend Adam, her mother, and others around her. She prefers to keep the peace rather than ask for her own wants and desires to be met. So when Adam asks her to marry him, her answer is yes, without thinking through what she really wants. And throughout the planning for their wedding, the decisions are made by Adam, Adam’s pushy father and her mother Kelly’s. For the wedding venue, Maddy’s dress, and other important choices, Maddy’s requests are ignored. The only person that really listens to Maddy, and the only one she really trusts now is her wedding planner Eva.
Eva has been a wedding planner for a long time. She is good at it; her sometimes ice queen, sometimes slightly playful attitude is perfect. She knows how to put people at ease, and when necessary put them in their place, and how to get the best from them but without upsetting them. Because of past experiences, especially with her parents, she doesn’t trust easily, and most certainly isn’t looking for a relationship.
This story has a really funny beginning. Just the first sentence is a brilliant hook…
Based in England, this is a hilarious story, if you can cope with a continually stressful, ever moving target as to when (if) Maddy will get married to Adam.
It is not steamy, with only a fade to black sex scene, but it is sweet, warm, funny, and most certainly worth reading.
Eva has been a wedding planner for a long time. She is good at it; her sometimes ice queen, sometimes slightly playful attitude is perfect. She knows how to put people at ease, and when necessary put them in their place, and how to get the best from them but without upsetting them. Because of past experiences, especially with her parents, she doesn’t trust easily, and most certainly isn’t looking for a relationship.
This story has a really funny beginning. Just the first sentence is a brilliant hook…
Based in England, this is a hilarious story, if you can cope with a continually stressful, ever moving target as to when (if) Maddy will get married to Adam.
It is not steamy, with only a fade to black sex scene, but it is sweet, warm, funny, and most certainly worth reading.
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July 17, 2026A delightful unicorn
Thousands. I have read thousands of romance novels. Which means I have read thousands of books with contrived, maddening 2nd Act crises followed by cringe-worthy grand gestures that left me with a vicarious second hand embarrassment. I have read thousands of books where the main plot driver is an inexplicable lapse of common sense - or really any sense at all - by one or more main characters.
This book escapes all of that. Our heroines are not idiots, not even for a moment. The plot is not lazy or tortured - ever, at any point. "Maddy Kind Lifts the Veil" is the unicorn: the HEA forbidden love (or maybe just ill advised love) trope without any of the triteness.
This is a story of two delightful women who know exactly what they want from their first meeting but get lost in denial and expectations on their way there. I devoured this story start to finish without pause. It's witty to the point of being laugh out loud funny, populated by characters with fully formed individual personalities and inner lives, and surprisingly inventive in the number of ways things can go so wrong and, yet, so perfectly right.
Many bouquets and much gratitude to Natasha West for sharing this where I could get my hands on it.
Thousands. I have read thousands of romance novels. Which means I have read thousands of books with contrived, maddening 2nd Act crises followed by cringe-worthy grand gestures that left me with a vicarious second hand embarrassment. I have read thousands of books where the main plot driver is an inexplicable lapse of common sense - or really any sense at all - by one or more main characters.
This book escapes all of that. Our heroines are not idiots, not even for a moment. The plot is not lazy or tortured - ever, at any point. "Maddy Kind Lifts the Veil" is the unicorn: the HEA forbidden love (or maybe just ill advised love) trope without any of the triteness.
This is a story of two delightful women who know exactly what they want from their first meeting but get lost in denial and expectations on their way there. I devoured this story start to finish without pause. It's witty to the point of being laugh out loud funny, populated by characters with fully formed individual personalities and inner lives, and surprisingly inventive in the number of ways things can go so wrong and, yet, so perfectly right.
Many bouquets and much gratitude to Natasha West for sharing this where I could get my hands on it.
May 27, 2026
Oh my goodness! Natasha West delivers us a lovely, funny, improbable, chaotic “bride-falls-for-wedding planner” Sapphic romance that had me cheering for Maddie Kind, the bride, to finally figure out what she was feeling for Eva Givens, the wedding planner, throughout almost the entire book!
I’ve read stories like this where the bride runs from the altar, where the wedding planner finally finds the courage to object before the vows are made, one even where the bride said “I do” then changed her mind and got the wedding annulled.
But never ever have I read a wedding scene as hilariously catastrophically absurdly a disaster as this one.
This is a good read. I recommend it highly. It will make you laugh, it will make you hope for the fated couple, and maybe it will bring you a huge smile, a “yes”, and a quiet fist pump at the third act of a wedding more full of absurdities than any wedding ever should be.
I think I’ll be buying this one because stories this fun, this happy, that make me smile like I’m smiling right now, deserve to be read again and again.
I’ve read stories like this where the bride runs from the altar, where the wedding planner finally finds the courage to object before the vows are made, one even where the bride said “I do” then changed her mind and got the wedding annulled.
But never ever have I read a wedding scene as hilariously catastrophically absurdly a disaster as this one.
This is a good read. I recommend it highly. It will make you laugh, it will make you hope for the fated couple, and maybe it will bring you a huge smile, a “yes”, and a quiet fist pump at the third act of a wedding more full of absurdities than any wedding ever should be.
I think I’ll be buying this one because stories this fun, this happy, that make me smile like I’m smiling right now, deserve to be read again and again.
August 30, 2026
Maddy Kind Lifts the Veil brings hesitant bride-to-be Maddy together with wedding planner Eva. Their story arc follows the expected path. The dialog is amusing and many scenes are just hilarious. There is an extensive supporting cast, most with minor roles. While the main characters express some of their inner thoughts to themselves, neither woman appears to have a best friend with whom they can discuss their developing relationship. This does limit the reader’s ability to better understand them.
When it finally arrives, the denouement is a drawn-out affair with multiple attempts to complete the ceremony. Given the less-than-happy couple’s actual feelings, this shows unusually stubborn persistence by all parties. After a great deal of fussing around, and an all-too brief epilogue, this tale comes to a very satisfying conclusion. Overall, a wonderful journey with many good laughs.
When it finally arrives, the denouement is a drawn-out affair with multiple attempts to complete the ceremony. Given the less-than-happy couple’s actual feelings, this shows unusually stubborn persistence by all parties. After a great deal of fussing around, and an all-too brief epilogue, this tale comes to a very satisfying conclusion. Overall, a wonderful journey with many good laughs.
August 19, 2026
🎂 Una comedia romántica donde el destino hizo de las suyas para evitar que la novia se casara, y si que le puso esfuerzo.
Lindo, divertido y sencillo de leer, un cliché de encontrar la persona que te hace ser tú mismo en el año de tu planificación de bodas, con una protagonista tímida con tendencia a complacer a los demás y la organizadora de bodas que termina enamorándose de ella.
La parte más divertida y llena de tensión (la autora se lució en generarla aunque ya sabíamos el resultado) fue el día de la boda, donde el destino se puso manos a la obra para evitarlo:
— Hoy no te casas (primera cachetada, desastre) —
— ¡No entiendes que es no! (segunda cachetada, 2do. desastre) —
— ¡He dicho que no! (tercera cachetada, es la vencida, los borrachos dicen la verdad) —.
PD: hace años no leía a la autora y noté una mejora en su pluma considerando los otros que he leído de ella.
Lindo, divertido y sencillo de leer, un cliché de encontrar la persona que te hace ser tú mismo en el año de tu planificación de bodas, con una protagonista tímida con tendencia a complacer a los demás y la organizadora de bodas que termina enamorándose de ella.
La parte más divertida y llena de tensión (la autora se lució en generarla aunque ya sabíamos el resultado) fue el día de la boda, donde el destino se puso manos a la obra para evitarlo:
— Hoy no te casas (primera cachetada, desastre) —
— ¡No entiendes que es no! (segunda cachetada, 2do. desastre) —
— ¡He dicho que no! (tercera cachetada, es la vencida, los borrachos dicen la verdad) —.
PD: hace años no leía a la autora y noté una mejora en su pluma considerando los otros que he leído de ella.
May 26, 2026
when you just go along.
You’re marrying the wrong person for all the wrong reasons. Maddy went along with everything didn’t speak up and if she did and Adam or her mother disagreed she’d back down. Venue, dress, cake, invitees, horse drawn carriage everything Adam thought was perfect none of what Maddy wanted. When the day arrived it was one catastrophe after another the ceiling collapsed, 2nd attempt arch and minister notes flew off, finally the last attempt Maddy hesitated and her coworker spoke up and said she didn’t mean to sleep with Adam at Maddy’s engagement party. In the mean time Eva the wedding planner had fallen for Maddy and it seemed mutual.
The scenes were hilarious, well done characters, the story just flowed. You wanted to shake Maddy.
You’re marrying the wrong person for all the wrong reasons. Maddy went along with everything didn’t speak up and if she did and Adam or her mother disagreed she’d back down. Venue, dress, cake, invitees, horse drawn carriage everything Adam thought was perfect none of what Maddy wanted. When the day arrived it was one catastrophe after another the ceiling collapsed, 2nd attempt arch and minister notes flew off, finally the last attempt Maddy hesitated and her coworker spoke up and said she didn’t mean to sleep with Adam at Maddy’s engagement party. In the mean time Eva the wedding planner had fallen for Maddy and it seemed mutual.
The scenes were hilarious, well done characters, the story just flowed. You wanted to shake Maddy.
June 9, 2026
Vanilla
I read a treasure trove of WLW books and sometimes I forget why I don’t read books from certain authors. It really just is a preference but I can’t stand the WLW books that have no love scenes; like people literally write about a romance between two women and then take out the love scene, which somehow to me reinforces the concept of shame around lovemaking between two women. I can certainly accept that it is in the authors choice to write in this fashion, but I just it’s not my preference to read it.
I read a treasure trove of WLW books and sometimes I forget why I don’t read books from certain authors. It really just is a preference but I can’t stand the WLW books that have no love scenes; like people literally write about a romance between two women and then take out the love scene, which somehow to me reinforces the concept of shame around lovemaking between two women. I can certainly accept that it is in the authors choice to write in this fashion, but I just it’s not my preference to read it.
August 17, 2026
A ton of anxiety leading head first into strong desires!
Natasha West manages to bring a wall flower into her own strength and a micromanager into one who learns how romance is supposed to be! It is a great romp in romance, dragging the reader through uneasy queasy feelings into whole hearted love. A sweet read for a summer’s day.
Natasha West manages to bring a wall flower into her own strength and a micromanager into one who learns how romance is supposed to be! It is a great romp in romance, dragging the reader through uneasy queasy feelings into whole hearted love. A sweet read for a summer’s day.
August 19, 2026
Loved it.
A bride and her wedding planner realise they're perfect for each other.
Quite funny too. I found a lot of Ms West's books are really, really good.
I'm happy I picked this one up.
No steamy scenes at all - but despite that, it was a very, very entertaining read.
If you like the road to romance, not the getting down and dirty part, this is the right book.
A bride and her wedding planner realise they're perfect for each other.
Quite funny too. I found a lot of Ms West's books are really, really good.
I'm happy I picked this one up.
No steamy scenes at all - but despite that, it was a very, very entertaining read.
If you like the road to romance, not the getting down and dirty part, this is the right book.
June 6, 2026
Maddy Kind Lifts the Veil
Cute love story. I really liked the characters and storyline. I was very happy to see that she finally did what she wanted in the end. You should always be with someone who see you for you. Support this author's books and leave your reviews.
Cute love story. I really liked the characters and storyline. I was very happy to see that she finally did what she wanted in the end. You should always be with someone who see you for you. Support this author's books and leave your reviews.
June 13, 2026
if you see my fiancée and our wedding planner at pride, DO NOT INBOX ME... i already know
im kinda disappointed bc i really liked the way it was written but the characters and the relationship didnt really make an impact… i do think this could make for a good movie tho
im kinda disappointed bc i really liked the way it was written but the characters and the relationship didnt really make an impact… i do think this could make for a good movie tho
September 29, 2026
Unputdownable. Seriously. I read it in 1 sitting and it was very distracting from my other plans for the day! An easy quick read, albeit at times frustrating - mainly because you will be screaming at Maddy to stop being such a pushover!
May 28, 2026
Loved it!!!
I love everything by this author. It's laugh out loud funny, heartfelt, and relatable. The characters are amazing. Can't wait to read all of her books.
I love everything by this author. It's laugh out loud funny, heartfelt, and relatable. The characters are amazing. Can't wait to read all of her books.
June 21, 2026
Fun, light-hearted read. Able to finish quickly.
July 5, 2026
cute story
A nice fun, silly read. Lots of crazy things going on here. Tons of fun though. I’m glad Maddy found herself.
A nice fun, silly read. Lots of crazy things going on here. Tons of fun though. I’m glad Maddy found herself.
August 20, 2026
Oh I do love a slow burn
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews