Book Review: The Week Before The Wedding

Author: Beth Kendrick
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: NAL Trade

Beth Kendrick sweeps you off your feet with a captivating tale of how even the best-laid plans can falter at the altar.

After enduring a chaotic childhood, Emily McKellips yearns for a drama-free life, complete with a white picket fence. Her dreams are about to come true: She has a stellar career, a gorgeous house, and a fiancé any woman would die for. But as friends and family arrive in picturesque Valentine, Vermont, for her wedding, an uninvited guest shows up.

Ryan is Emily’s first husband from a disastrous starter marriage. They wed on a whim, only to discover that combustible chemistry couldn’t ensure a happily ever after. But Ryan is no longer the headstrong boy she left behind. He’s now a successful film producer who just happens to be scouting a resort in Valentine with his adorable retriever in tow.

As the bridesmaids revolt and the mothers of the bride and groom do battle, Emily is surprised to discover new sides of both her ex and her fiancé. She thought she had life and love all figured out, but the next seven days might change her mind—and her heart.

“Summer? Where are you? Yes, I know the bridesmaids’ tea isn’t for four more hours, but I need you right now…Screw the speed limit. And no bathroom breaks, either…I’ll tell you what’s up. We’ve got a code-red, man-down, what’s-the-number-for-nine-one-one-ex-husband emergency happening in Valentine, Vermont.”

 

“You’re the one who always said fortune favors the bold.”

 

The world’s most perfect man had one hand on the steering wheel and the other on Emily’s thigh.

 

“I like to know things no one else does.”

From the perspective of someone who is getting married within the coming year, this book was outrageously funny, sweet, and completely unputdownable! I have always reading stories about weddings, and especially by authors who can write them so well. Weddings are a beautiful time in a couple’s life and are nothing short of chaotic, fast-paced, and very stressful. But when it is all said and done I think every mostly every bride felt special and loved on her big day. Emily McKellips is about to walk down the aisle for the second time, but this time she is older and wiser. With only a week before the wedding she and her fiancé, Grant, head up to Valentine, Vermont to prepare for the wedding when Emily runs into the last person on Earth she wants to see in the days before her wedding…her ex-husband!

 

The relationship between Emily and her ex-husband, Ryan was something that I was curious about from the very start. She had his name tattooed on her left ring finger, and she would often have flashbacks from their time in college together. I instantly liked Ryan even though he was snarky and very sarcastic. I knew that Emily, deep down, still had feelings for him as well, and Kendrick does a nice job of changing Emily’s character whenever she is around Ryan just enough to let readers know just what Emily REALLY feels. They are two characters that you might not necessarily pick to be together, but after you read about them you will see what attracted them to one another in the first place.

 

The whole idea of a wedding sends chills up my spine. My favorite movie as a little girl was The Wedding Planner. I used to dream of being a wedding planner myself, so you can imagine the nostalgia that washed over me when I received this book. The wedding details are sweet and charming and I loved the setting. Valentine, Vermont. Well I mean who wouldn’t want to get married there? And of course with all weddings there comes a bit of family feuding, and I loved when Emily’s mother, Georgia, and Grant’s mother, Bev, were in the same room together arguing over wedding details. This book was crazy, cute, and super easy to read! And guess what? You’re invited to the wedding!

 

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at NAL Trade in exchange for my honest review***