Our Ex’s Wedding is a delight. It’s queer and contains a most gorgeous representation of the Armenian-American diaspora in California. Author Taleen Voskuni obviously knows this culture well, and she’s created a charming and vivid multicultural community setting for a gentle slow-burn romance.

Ani Avakian is a wedding planner and she has just received the contract for a dream wedding – the one between up-and-coming actress Grace and it-girl Kami, which is going to be extravagant and lucrative. But Ani is torn about taking it on because Kami was her first big love and she’d thought they would be together forever. Grace and Kami want to hold the wedding at Ō – a new winery in the Napa Valley run by Raffi Garabedian, who has quite the reputation as a heartbreaker and as “Northern California’s most eligible Armenian bachelor” – more than that, as “a total playboy skeeze”, as well as being another of Kami’s exes.

When Ani and Raffi meet, they feel a mutual attraction but Ani spills a drink on Raffi, whose reaction is a bit precious, confirming Ani’s impression that he is a spoilt rich-boy. As if that isn’t awkward enough, they will have to work together for some months to nail this wedding.

Ani has other troubles. She recently planned a wedding for a couple who skipped off without paying and she’s very much in debt, juggling credit cards to stay in business and pay her staff.

Kami is a bridezilla who is entitled, demanding, and difficult, and she’s too familiar with both Ani and Raffi. Kami wants a fountain to be built at the winery, and in organising that, Ani and Raffi meet again, but the layers of assumption make it difficult for them to connect. Ani is juggling a ton of her own inadequacies around her family relationships, the debt and residual feelings for Kami, and while Raffi’s history with Kami is much less recent, it matters because Kami let him down just when Raffi’s adored brother was killed in an accident. Raffi has his own insecurities around not only his brother’s death, but also his complicated and difficult relationship with his parents. He hides it all so well that Ani constantly misreads him.

The countdown to the wedding continues, with fun meet ups followed by disasters with the dress, the flowers, and of course, the winery. Raffi and Ani are drawn to each other, and Raffi definitely wants to try for something with her, but Ani is super-cautious. The reader can see how torn she is – believing all the stories about Raffi, protecting herself and trying to get out of debt without the family or community finding out. As the wedding date gets closer, these two spend time together in comical ways – Ani falls into a fountain on a scouting visit, Raffi pours a glass of red wine over Ani at a party, and so on. It’s light and fun, but with a heart to it. These two are hurting and vulnerable and desperately hoping for a romantic connection that will give them both a partner to love, and make them feel less alone.

The Armenian cultural representation is terrific. We get a smattering of the language, especially their casual idioms – and these are not over-translated or explained. There is plenty of food and music, and a delightful insight into what seems to be a close-knit and vibrant migrant community – even if it is gossipy and conservative.

I enjoyed almost everything about Our Ex’s Wedding, especially the push and pull between Raffi and Ani, their vulnerabilities, and the Armenian cultural touchstones. There were a few moments where the pacing lags and I just wanted everyone to get on with things, but overall, this is a delightful slow-burn romance between a wonderful couple.