Save the Secret Date: A Romantic Comedy

Cordially Invited #3

by Ellie Cahill

Secrets can be sweet. Secrets can be dirty. Secrets can change everything.

Mary’s always been the kind of person you can trust with a secret. Her lips are guaranteed sealed. Unfortunately, she’s just as good at keeping her own secrets. Like the one about her crush on her former roommate, Jake who moved 2,000 miles away without knowing how she felt about him.

Thanks to their friends’ destination wedding in Mexico, however, Mary is about to be face-to-face with Jake—and the rest of her friends—for the first time in two years. Will she be able to find the courage to tell him how she feels? And even if she does, what happens when they all go home again?

Every guest at this wedding seems to have a secret of their own. When all the truth comes out, will it lead to a broken heart or a happily ever after?

Save the Secret Date is a Stand-Alone Romantic Comedy. Each book in the Cordially Invited Series can be read as a stand-alone.

Genres: Romance, Audiobook, Contemporary, Fiction, Friends To Lovers, Contemporary Romance, College

Paperback

First published September 27, 2019

About the author

Want to be the first to know the latest releases and giveaways from Ellie? Sign up for Ellie's newsletter to get a free epilogue to CALL ME, MAYBE! HERE

Ellie Cahill is the author of the Cordially Invited series, including I Temporarily Do, as well as stand-alone romantic comedies like When Joss Met Matt, Call Me Maybe, and Just a Girl. Ellie is also the not-at-all secret pen name of Young Adult author Liz Czukas (Ask Again Later, and Top Ten Clues You're Clueless). Liz's books are often compared to John Hughes movies, while Ellie usually gets compared to Nora Ephron. Either way, if you like a good 80s rom-com, you've found the right place. When they're not writing fun, funny romances full of shenanigans and awkward kisses, Liz and Ellie are at home with their family and a golden retriever with different ideas about the definition of "dog bed."

You'll find Ellie on Facebook and Twitter (@ellie_cahill) but you'll more easily find Liz in those same places as well as Instagram and Tumblr. You'll find either one of them parked in front of the TV every Sunday night getting their fill of Zombies, Westeros, The Doctor, or any other place where cute English guys fight evil.

Speed round: sweet tea, Hufflepuff, dark chocolate, cheese is the perfect food, Go Badgers, and Han shot first.


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Reviews

[Jacob Proffitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is third in a series and I don't care what the author claims, it is nowhere near "stand-alone". Characters and events from the first two books are strongly present and you really don't want to come into this one cold. So read the other two first.

And I wish I could go back to past-me and tell me not to bother with this one. Mary and Jake are both in love with each other from the start and the only thing keeping them apart is cowardice. All of the relationship tension would disappear with a single honest conversation. And while the gymnastics Cahill had to pull to keep it from happening were certainly creative, that doesn't make them actually interesting. And it particularly doesn't help that the bulk of the contrivance was Mary being weak, avoidy, and so confusing that she regularly confused herself. I seriously wanted to shake her out of the stupids on more than one occasion.

And normally, I hang onto an attachment to the guy when I'm that frustrated with the girl but Jake is a wishy-washy flake, too. So he's all stutter-stopping while she's all hesitating and I very nearly gave up at the midway point. And really wish that I had in retrospect.

So I'm giving it two stars and it probably doesn't deserve that much. It was fun to spend some time with old friends and to see them happy, though, so I think I'll stick with that. Heaven knows that Mary and Jake don't merit so much on their own account.

A note about Production: Another dimension of fail for this book is that the copy editing was worse than the other two put together. It was shockingly bad. Cahill thanks an agent in the afterword and I have no idea why she'd have one. This is obviously a self-pub and I'd think one of the first things an agent would do is put Cahill in touch with a decent editor...

A note about Steamy: As with the rest of the series, there's a single explicit sex scene so it, too, is on the low end of my steam tolerance. I wish I could say it was better than the rest of the story, but it was pretty pro forma, really, so not so much.

[Sam I AMNreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are cute, quick reads.

[zilan · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’m going to miss this lovable series like crazy 😭

[embear · Rating 4 out of 5]

i don’t know why i didn’t do a review before but i just reread it and this little novella was so perfect

we got to see everyone reunited like they were still best friends, we got to see emmybeckett’s wedding, and willhadley, my personal favorites 😭😭 the pregnancy and proposal was so cute and it was so them i think i might have cried a little bit

the fact that everyone was meeting every characters from the previous novella felt like home and brought so much joy

4,75/5

[iara ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,25/5

[Rochelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book that I have read from this author and I really enjoyed it. It was a friends to lovers’ romance and that is my favorite type. I love watching friends fall in love and just don’t realize that they one that they have been looking for is standing right in front of them the whole time. Sometimes you don’t see what is right in front of you. Jake and Mary were no exception. They were such a great couple. The push and pull of them was great. They were comfortable around each other but at times they were stumbling around not sure what to do around each other. This made them more real. Their group of friends was a fun addition to this story and I loved how they all interacted with each other. I can’t wait to read more of her work.

I received an ARC of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Zen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to enjoy this one more than I did. I believe this is my least favorite in the series. The heroine was a tad too nosey for nosey sake and chalked it up to "everyone tells me everything. Its frustrating when a whole book feels like it could have been avoided if people expressed themselves teuthfully.

[Elizabeth Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

another super cute addition to this series! the ongoing reunion between all the roommates was the best part!

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely romance story. Lots of secrets and sometimes they’re helpful and other times not. Mary has a crush on an old roommate but she never told him. A book you won’t want to put down.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my least favorite of the series but it was still cute! Predictable but cute!

[carli ✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5★)

mary and jake were the perfect end to the cutest little series, friends to lovers will always do it for me istg

i love them all so so so much 🥹 seeing the couple from the first book get married (again) and the couple from the second book get engaged was everything i needed and more

now i kinda need an epilogue with mary and jake’s wedding and all of them attending 😭

highly recommend reading this series, if only the books were longer 🥲

[Elizabeth]

Some of the people I follow suggested this book isn’t worth reading and I have other books I’d like to read so I’ll put this off. Maybe someday.

[h · Rating 5 out of 5]

“i know you don't like uncertainty, and that's all i
have to offer you right now, mary. but what's mine is yours.
til the end of the world."

[carrie thackston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sweet friends to lovers romance! Jake and Mary were friends and roommates in college. They shared a place with several other people and were all very close friends. Two of the group are getting married in Mexico and the gang is getting together for it. Jake and Mary have crushed in each other for a while now, they just didn't know it. What I loved about this book is the hero and heroine. They were so loveable! They were so sure of themselves until it came to their relationship with each other. I don't know how the author did it, but she conveyed their complete comfort with each other one minute and their complete awkwardness the next. That mix is hard to get across the page, but the author did it flawlessly! There was a little indecision, but not the throw your kindle kind! The banter between Jake, Mary, and the whole group was hilarious! The friends were great and the sense of family they had was what all friends should aspire to be. Sweet, heartwarming, friends to lovers romance!

[jenaiya ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

AW THIS WAS SO CUTE the ending was so 🥹🥹🥹

[Night Runner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is this a multi-part story? Yes
Does it end in a cliffhanger? No
Genre(s) : Romantic Comedy
Do the MCs act like: HS, YA, NA or Adult? YA
Instalove? No
Was cheating involved? No
Any major triggers to be aware of?No
Listening Speed? 1.25

3 Stars for me!
My rating range of this story... 2.25 - 3.25 Stars
If significant, why? n/a
Biggest deduction? n/a

Main Character Ratings...
H () = 6/10
h () = 6/10
TSTL Moment(s)? No

Narrator Rating(s)
M () =
F (Stacey Glemboski) = 7/10
If below 5/10, why?

If Comedy... Type? Mixed and some cringe
Funny, Cute, Cringe Inducing, Mixed or Just No!

Angst Level? Please Stop
Light, Moderate, Heavy or Please Stop

Internal Monolog/Dialog? Please Stop
Light, Moderate, Heavy or Please Stop

Scenes with heat... Yes
When does it start? 75%
How much of the story? 1%
Anything beyond M/F? No
If yes, explained

Heat Rating... 3/10
Clean or Fade to Black - 1 or 2
Normal to Descriptive 3-5
Detailed Descriptive Sex - 6-7
Um, Wow, Beyond Descriptive Sex - 8 or above

Was there so much sex or unrealistic sex that you rolled your eyes and/or skipped forward? No

The back story... The h was in love with the H while in school but didn't say anything until she was puke drunk during the last few days in college. 2 years later, the are both traveling to Mexico for the MCs wedding from Book 1. They hem and haw until the end and realize that they love each other... Immediately then, The End!

Romance or Gist: They both hem and hawed through the entire story and finally, at the end, acknowledged their feelings.

The drama explosion... Will they or won't they?
Did it feel Real, OK or contrived? Ugh
Was it OTT? Yes
Separation involved? Not really
Was it resolved properly or rushed? Abrupt

Final Notes... If you did not read the first two stories, you would miss much of what made the supporting cast in this story. Also iceberg slow in movement.

I had to skip forward quite a bit as the story seemed to drag on with almost nothing happening.

HEA or HFN? HFN
Book Source: Scribd

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the heroine. Felt real.

Save the Secret Date by Ellie Cahill

The book was very good, but the ending was surprisingly abrupt. It was fun that the characters from the previous two books were brought together in a kind of reunion in this story. Note that you don't have to read those stories first in order to understand and enjoy this one.

Mary is a nurse who does on-demand IV infusions (that's a thing - I learned something new). She's had a major crush on her good friend Jake since college, BUT he now lives 2,000 miles away. They're both going to a destination wedding in Cancun along with their college friends. She has insecurity issues about: does he feel the same way about me; I don't want to lose our friendship. I liked Mary's warring Departments in her brain. An example: "The Rationality Department of my brain knew that, and it was sending out memos to that effect, but the much larger and better-staffed Jake Crush Department was too busy having an office pity party to read such reasonable advice."
Ending was entirely too rushed.
Seems like there should be a fourth story about Ashley.

[raquel · Rating 4 out of 5]

(still with the ugly covers ugh) Best out of the three NO DOUBT, not because of the couple yes Jake and Mary were cute Emmy and Beckett still are number 1 in my heart. But we got to see all of them together!! AT EMMY AND BECKETT’S WEDDING. And it was so much fun knowing that they were already married, it was like an inside joke between the reader and the author because the character that was actually narrating didn’t know idk, i liked it.

I liked the dynamic between the characters and I wished we could’ve seen it more in the other two books. And again: cute, fun, easy read.

BUT !!!!! i’m very mad that we didn’t see emmy and beckett’s vows like !!!!!!! wtf what is the point of writing a wedding without vows.

Also what is with this people getting married and having babies by 25 for god’s sake. It’s already something that bugged me in the second one like why are their friends WHO ARE 25/26 EVEN 23 GETTING MARRIED? Why was Hadley ashamed of living with her parents at 23? IM 23!!! the fuck. US culture is so weird

[Sarahlynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet, light. I learned a lot about Mary but didn’t love her. And there was way too little of Jake on the page. Who was he? Why was he so ok with Mary’s constant crying and pontificating about how she wants to be married and having babies at 25? I wanted to see more of his personality and feelings. (Mary’s family sounds and acts Irish American but is apparently LDS and military? Except no one talks about religion, premarital sex is fine, immodest dress is fine, and everyone drinks a lot. I guess the LDS influence is limited to early marriage and lots of babies.) This novel was less story + character development and more lightly pre-drawn characters put through the paces of a destination wedding week.

Minor note. The copy editor missed a few weird things: comma of direct address, I vs. me, and something else I was sure I’d remember. Oops.

[Fernanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 estrelas
Um final consistente para uma série de livros consistente. Gostei bastante que esse livro reuniu todos os protagonistas da série, foi nostálgico e divertido. Agora, uma coisa que eu deveria ter falado em todos os outros mas acabei fazendo reviews bem superficiais, é que a grande falha dessa série é a completa falta de representatividade. Extremamente heteronormativa e branca. Acho que se eu conhecesse os personagens na vida real, especialmente os homens, eu provavelmente odiaria todos. Mas foi legal de ler os casais e foi só pra isso que eu me inscrevi mesmo, por isso uma média consistente de 4 estrelas para a série: era exatamente o que eu esperava do que ela se propôs.

[Jennifer Epling · Rating 5 out of 5]

*book 3 in the cordially invited series* but can be read as a stand alone.

Secrets can be sweet or dirty, and they can change everything.


I really like this "series" as it can be read as a true standalone. A lot of times they say that a novel can be read as a stand alone, there is a lot of details from the other books and it can get confusing and isnt very much of a stand alone.

This one, however, was great as a stand alone. This one was more connected to the first two books by having the first couple- Emmy and Beckett- destination wedding in Mexica. All the "couples" are friends, and that’s the only connection between the novels. But the characters being friends isn't enough to throw you off the storyline, confuse or overwhelm you.

This one was my favorite of the series. Because I read all three, with this one connecting all 3 couples from each books, I love the interactions between them all. It was really sweet how it comes together if you have read each novel.

Seeing Mary and Jake's relationship bloom into something more was super sweet.

Do yourself a favor and pick this one up. If you want more steam and comedy read the entire cordially invited series, and thank me later.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third in the Cordially Invited series, Save the Secret Date is as conclusionary as it gets. While books 1 and 2 can be read as standalones, the third you will want to have read 1 & 2 in order to understand all of the relationship dynamics and secrets at play. It was just OK. Drawn out in some areas, rushed in others, and although loose ends were all pretty well tied up, it didn't feel as satisfying as I would have hoped for the finale. Still, it's a quick read like the others, which I did enjoy enough to recommend, so naturally I would also recommend you read this one if you enjoy the first two, simply to get that finality. 3 stars

[Brittany S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read Completed 2/16/22 | 3.75 - 4 stars
Another very cute story in this companion series! I didn't love it quite as much as the others but I love Ellie Cahill's writing and the adorable romances she creates. The appearance from the previous couples is also really fun! I liked how this one was set up in the first book and we finally get to see things come together two years later. There are still more friends in the group left but I don't know if this is the final book? But either way, I've really enjoyed these.

[Elspeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book through the "February Bonus Borrows" on Hoopla (I think once a year they offer specific books that don't count toward your monthly allotment) I had already read I Temporarily Do and really enjoyed it but for some reason I didn't plan on reading any of the sequels. In this book Emmy and Beckett "get married" officially with their friends and family in Mexico. The focus of this story was on Mary and Jake, who had been found in bed together in the first book. I liked going back to some of the history of Emmy and Beckett having already been married and the underlying "everyone tells Mary their secrets" storyline was okay. But I felt like the book spent way too much time on other characters rather than Mary and Jake's story. It started out well, but then by the end it was almost like "Oh yeah, we need to wrap up Mary and Jake". I was hovering between 3 and 4 stars until the end when Cahill pulled it off and the ending was more satisfying than expected. I highly recommend I Temporarily Do, and if you like the characters, check out the 2 sequels. I'm going to go back and read book #2 now.

[Tayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely adore this entire series. All three of these books are so much fun, but especially this one.

It was so nice to see all six roommates together in this one, and to see the couples from the other book. That said, I definitely think that the main romance took a little less precedence in this book.

While I absolutely loved Jake and Mary, there were so many subplots surrounding other people (and their respective secrets) that I feel like their relationship really sat on the backburner. I don’t think that's an entirely bad thing, if you're looking for a more "women's fiction" type book, but I was just hoping for a little more from Jake and Mary.

That said, I liked how their relationship played out overall. Sometimes, with friends-to-lovers where they've both been in love with each other for years, it can get incredibly annoying to see them dancing around the subject. I thought I was going to be annoyed with these two, but I wasn't. I think part of the reason why their drawn out "will they, won't they?" didn’t absolutely piss me off was because there was so much going on when they weren't together. Communication wasn't really their issue so much as constantly being interrupted was. And although I don't think their conversation about what they wanted out of their (potential) relationship was great (the first one, I mean; at the beach), I'm happy they at least had it.

I really resonated with Mary as a character. She was a bit on the timid side and she was pretty type-A, which I completely understood. Add that to the fact that she only wanted a relationship if she knew it could possibly lead to the "real thing," I felt like I was reading a book about some iteration of myself. Is it selfish, then, to say that I loved her?

And the second that I learned that Jake was a psych major in college (and was doing a Masters in psych) I liked him (this coming from a fellow psych student). That said, I do think his overall character was a little bland. He was such a sweetheart in the beginning of the book (not that he wasn't in the end), I just feel like he never really did anything. I can't remember his personality every really popping off the page to me, at least not like how Will and Beck's did. I still liked him, though.

Another thing I loved was seeing how awkward they were with each other after they… started dating? Said "yes" to whatever they said "yes" to? Again, I feel like Mary reacted in a way I would probably have reacted (i.e., was incredibly awkward and didn’t know how to act), and I thought Jake was sweet about trying to make her feel comfortable.

All-in-all, this book didn't feel like much of a romance to me. It felt like an episode of Friends, or something. A lot of the characters had their own side-plots that, in my opinion, overshadowed the main romance from time to time. But still, I liked the main couple and I had so much fun with everything else that was going on. 3.75/5.

[Stital · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome book that any Ellie (Liz) fan would love.

Do you remember Emmy and Beckett from I temporarily do? Well, 2 years later they're getting married! (again, but shhh). Alongside our favorite wedding attendees Will and Hadley, are Mary and Jake.
As is expected from all free-booze destination weddings in Mexico, shenanigans ensue!

This is a sweet and easy to read, friends to lovers story, that will leave you with a smile on your face.

5 stars and a faded yellow shirt.

[미셸 (Undeniably Book Nerdy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly this book was my least favorite out of the three in the series. I thought I was going to like it more because I was most interested in the couple after meeting them in book 1. But, I think this book was so busy giving us an update on the first 2 couples in the series that it lost its way when it came to the main couple (Mary and Jake) in this book. Their romance wasn't as developed as the couples in the first 2 books.

Rating: 3.75 stars

[Kari Napier · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHATTTTT.....my word did she hit this one out of the park! I LOVE her romantic comedies. I originally found this looking for Valentine themed love stories and boy did I get lucky with this series.

I was hooked from the beginning of book one and read all three within 3 days. I love how they all tied together and the details were great.

[let · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so cute. I'm just so happy to have seen the roommates all together again.
they're so cute.
Emmy and Beckett, you have my heart
will and hadley= your family is gonna be such a beautiful family🥺🥺 (plus their 2 dogs)
Mary and jake= AAAAA CUTEST friends-to-lovers

kdjdkskxksjcidk idk I'm just flooding with joy rn. these books are such quick and fun reads. I'm glad I got to read'em.

[Eden Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing great, but another cute easy romance without excess dramatics. You can read it as a standalone, but I'd recommend you read the other two books in the series first. There are a good amount of subplots in this one, and they're more fun when you have context of the couples from the first two books.