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Release date: July 12, 2016
Publisher: HQN
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Chick Lit
Goodreads blurb:
With Joy, Love and a Little Trepidation, Courtney, Sienna and Rachel Invite You to the Most Emotional Wedding of the Year… Their Mother’s
Courtney
~ The Misfit ~
As the awkward one, Courtney Watson may not be as together as her sisters, but she excels at one thing—keeping secrets, including her white-hot affair with a sexy music producer. Planning Mom’s wedding exposes her startling hidden life, changing her family’s view of her—and how she views herself—forever.
Sienna
~ The Free Spirit ~
When Sienna’s boyfriend proposes—in front of her mom and sisters, for crying out loud—he takes her by surprise. She already has two broken engagements under her belt. Should she say “I do” even if she’s not sure she does?
Rachel
~ The Cynic ~
Rachel thought love would last forever…right up until her divorce. As Mom’s wedding day draws near and her ex begs for a second chance, she’s forced to acknowledge some uncomfortable truths about why her marriage failed, and decide if she’ll let pride stand in the way of her own happily-ever-after.
Review:
I’ve never read one of Susan Mallery’s books before though I’ve seen them everywhere. They usually seem too romancey for me, I like my romances to have more humor and fun. But when I saw Daughters of the Bride on Netgalley it caught my eye. I liked the concept of three grown women helping their mother with her wedding and I love a good story about sisters. This one was just ok for me, there wasn’t enough substance for me to really enjoy it.
Maggie is the mother and at first I assumed that she would have a larger presence in the story, but I’m really glad she didn’t. Her husband died when they were young and left her in a bad way financially. While her story is sad, she wasn’t a very good mother to the girls, especially Courtney. On top of that, she’s a total bridezilla which is just never a good look for anyone. Rachel is the oldest and has been divorced for two years. Her character was alright but she loved to play the role of the martyr too much for my liking. Sienna is the middle child and she gets engaged to her boyfriend, David. It’s clear the two aren’t meant to be and I grew bored waiting for her to realize this. I did really like her job, she fundraises for a thrift shop that supports abused women trying to leave their awful situations. Seeing her at work brought a warmth to an otherwise cold character. My favorite hands down was Courtney. She suffered the most under her mothers neglectful manner when they were kids as she had a learning disability that was undiagnosed for far too long. Her family treats her like crap and I really wanted her to succeed to prove them wrong in thinking she’s a loser.
The love stories were all predicable and formulaic, there just wasn’t enough going on to make me enthusiastic about this book. It started off really slow too and took me awhile to even muster up a vague interest in the characters lives. Thank god for Courtney, she’s the only one who kept me reading. It was a cute enough book and if you want something really light and fluffy then this is for you. I was just too annoyed by the majority of the characters to fully immerse myself in the story.
Overall rating: 2.5/5
Thanks to HQN for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
That is too bad about the predictability. It can certainly make for a difficult read. Especially if you cannot connect with the characters.
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Yeah it was just a bit flat for me.
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Ouch…. not the one to choose to go back to this genre then XD haha I’ll keep searching! Loved your honesty though!
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Haha nope! For fun contemporary chick lit I like Lauren Layne way more. Her books are so much fun.
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Love your honesty in this review! Have you read Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie? It’s one of her older ones but I just read it on vacation in August as I was looking for a well-written fun romance and I loved it.
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Thank you! I know I’ve read Jennifer Crusie in the past but I can’t remember which one, I’ll have to check that one out.
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Sorry about the letdown. 😫😭
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Eh it’s ok they can’t all be great!
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