Tuesday, January 31, 2012

What I've been reading lately...Wedding Season


Sarah Stratford is a wedding planner hiding a rather inconvenient truth - she doesn't believe in love.  Or not for herself, anyway.  But as the confetti flutters away on the June breeze of yet another successful wedding she somehow finds herself agreeing to organise two more, on the same day and only two months away.  And whilst her celebrity bride is all sweetness and light, her own sister soon starts driving her mad with her high expectations but very limited budget.  
 Luckily Sarah has two tried and tested friends on hand to help her.  Elsa, an accomplished dress designer who likes to keep a very low profile and Bron, a multi-talented hairdresser who lives with her unreconstructed boyfriend and who'd like to go solo in more ways than one.  They may be very good at their work but romance doesn't feature very highly in any of their lives.
 As the big day draws near all three women find that patience is definitely a virtue in the marriage game.  And as all their working hours are spent preparing for the wedding of the year plus one, they certainly haven't got any time to even think about love.  Or have they?
Taken from book jacket



I wanted to like this book so much more than what I did.  I'm a big fan of Katie Fforde's other books, but this one seemed a little lacklustre.  I couldn't get solid images in my mind in regards to the characters and I think this was what made it harder for me to enjoy.  Also, I may be wrong here, but I think this is the first time she's written a book with three main protagonists, alternating them through the chapters.  The books I've read previously usually feature one character and maybe this allows the characters to be explored fully?  Each girl seemed to have their fair share of self doubt and zaniness and maybe having three of them this way was too much?  I feel so disloyal!

What I do want to say however, is if you're a Katie Fforde fan than by all means read it.  You don't want a hole in your read list of an author you like.  If you haven't read Katie Fforde, and you enjoy chicklit, particularly Marion Keyes or Lisa Jewell then I would recommend starting with a different title, such as Thyme out or Practically perfect.  In fact looking at the page that lists her other novels I can see that really I've enjoyed all of them immensely.  She's the type of writer that is akin to draping a really cosy blanket or doona over you.

Sarah stood by the lych-gate and surveyed the perfection of the summer morning.  It was June and the sun was shining with the promise of a perfect day.  The church was an early English gem, surrounded by closely mown, dew spangled grass, ancient lichen-covered gravestones and clipped yews.  She'd already seen Sukie, the florist, who'd been there since dawn, and now some of her anxiety left her.  Two years of work had come to fruition.  It was all going to be all right.  Then she screamed as someone appeared from behind a tombstone.

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