Love, friendship and secrets revealed as the sun beats down on dazzling blue Cornish seas . . .
It's set to be a perfect day - until the chauffeur is asked to keep driving the bride around the church. This wedding definitely isn't going as planned.
Lottie is a guest at the wedding when she sees Max. No kiss has ever matched the last one they shared fifteen years ago. They were on the brink of a beautiful love story, until a shocking event tore them apart. Now here he is, still ridiculously good-looking, teasing Lottie in the old way - and that overwhelming electric attraction is back. But Max is way out of bounds.
Freya owes Cameron everything. But she doesn't love him. Which is a shame, because they're about to be married.
Ruby has been the perfect wife. When she discovers the truth about her husband, her response is reckless and delicious. But after that, nothing will ever be the same again.
Many thanks to Headline via NetGalley for my copy of The Wedding of the Year to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
I can’t fathom why it’s been so long since I have read a book by the wonderful author that is Jill Mansell. When I first discovered her books many years ago in the library having exhausted the books from the Irish authors that I loved so much I remember devouring her books one after the other. If I couldn’t find her books on the library bookshelves, orders had to be placed on Amazon for several books as I had that feeling that rarely comes along whilst reading. That being I need to read everything in this authors back catalogue as soon as possible. That feeling is hard to beat and I envy anyone who is discovering Jill’s writing for the very first time.
I literally couldn’t get enough of her books as they were relaxing, enjoyable stories with a varied range of characters and of course there was lots of romance too. Finally, I have come back to her writing and The Wedding of the Year couldn’t have been a more perfect reintroduction to her writing for me. As I bounce a lot between women’s fiction and historical fiction this was a complete breath of fresh air as reading a huge amount of historical fiction there can be a lot of dark themes to process. This was the perfect anecdote to this and right from the brilliant opening I can safely say I thoroughly enjoyed this book from the beginning to end.
With a strong opening that is packed full of drama and humour. I mean it really could have been like something from a romance/comedy series, The Wedding of the Year follows three women and the fallout from a wedding that never was. Set in the Cornish village of Lanrock, it’s the day of Freya’s wedding to local doctor Cameron and as she arrives at the church chaos erupts. I know I shouldn’t have laughed at the scenes that followed given the serious nature of some of the events but it’s just the way it was written there was a brilliant mixture of fun, humour and exasperation and confrontation. The way everything unfolded was perfectly captured and it was like something from the Vicar of Dibley. This event sets the tone for the remainder of the book as each of the three women that the story focuses on have to deal with their own personal fallouts from the events at the wedding. It was such a pleasure to follow their journeys and none of it wouldn’t have happened unless Iris, the vicar’s cleaner, hadn’t discovered that he had been up to things he shouldn’t have.
Iris was a brilliant character, packed full of personality and with a mouth on her which meant she was never afraid to tell a few home truths or say things straight as they were. She did get her own story although it took on a more minor role compared to the other three women. But she played a pivotal part in getting the ball rolling for the remainder of the story and if she had kept schtum then Freya, Lottie and Ruby would never have undergone the journeys they went through. Iris is quirky, outspoken and a gossip but with never any malice behind it. I’d love for her to feature in a book centred solely on herself in the future because whether Jill intended for her to capture readers hearts as much as she did I don’t know but she was amazing and definitely deserves to share more with us. Iris being Iris can’t keep quiet and she rushes to the wedding to confront the vicar with a mixture of positive and negative consequences.
As Freya is forced to drive around for a bit as utter mayhem is unleashed with the vicar abandoning the ceremony it gives her the opportunity to think about the doubts that have been niggling away at her. As the ceremony is abandoned due to the vicar literally being stopped in his tracks, Freya is relieved. Is Cam the one for her? The after party goes ahead as planned and the wedding can take place later. Freya is delighted as this gives her plenty of breathing time. But the more time she has the more she is convinced that Cameron is a bit too much all about himself, his fitness and his heroic fundraising efforts. Yet, there is something that binds her to him which she sees a stumbling block to finally facing the truth. When we learn what this is I could see where she was coming from but at the same time surely putting your own needs, wants and life desires first is far more important that remaining stuck in a relationship that is not making you fulfilled?
Lottie is a guest at the wedding and as she sits in the pews waiting for Freya to arrive she is completely oblivious to the pandemonium that is about to be released. She sees someone that has been absent from her life for many years.That person is Max. They had known each other growing up and they had a strong friendship with serious potential for it to develop into something much bigger and for Lottie this was much wanted. They had been on the brink of something with a world of possibilities when something had caused life to spiral and change beyond all recognition and then Max was gone. Now he is back with the same twinkle in his eye and the feelings are stirring within Lottie. Can the world of possibilities be reopened or are the same barriers still there? As Max rents a cottage in the village it seems to Lottie that he doesn’t plan on going anywhere imminently and perhaps they can become reacquainted?
There is a lot of game playing that ensues between the pair and I just wanted them to get together as they seemed ideal for each other. So I questioned what had happened to prevent this in the first place? When we get to know Lottie and Max that little bit more a very tangled web is revealed, and my heart broke for them as I could see no possible way forward to a bright and loving future for them. Too much water had flown under the bridge and resentment and anger lingered in a much bigger picture and I could see everyone’s viewpoint. It was awful that they were very much caught between a rock and a hard place. Will anything be able to be resolved or will Lottie and Max have to put others before themselves?
When I first started reading this book, I didn’t think come the end that the vicar’s wife Ruby would be the standout character for me and the one that I was eager to get to her chapters to read more about her. But that turned out to be the case, she was my favourite character by far. She was the scorned wife who learned the truth thanks to a good friend and although she was upset and angry in equal measure the events that unfolded at the beginning of the book turned out to be the makings of her. Ruby is a children’s author who has written a very successful series but the words aren’t flowing at the moment and they refuse to come when her life falls apart and she is left a single woman. But deep down Ruby is strong and the journey she goes on was remarkable and a pure joy to read. I’d compare it to the lifecycle of the butterfly as she was the character who I felt changed the most and become so empowered.
I just loved everything about her and the manner in which she was written. Her old life had been taken away from her and she knew her marriage wasn’t perfect by any means but really how could Peter have done that to her. She takes a brief few hours away from everything and in this time things change in a major way which will set her off on a very different trajectory to the one she was on prior to Iris doing what she does best. Ruby came into her own once she threw Peter to the curb and at times I just wanted the entire book to follow her as I just couldn’t get enough of the new and exciting things that were happening for her. She become bold and forthright and knew what she wanted and would go about this next step solo if need be although someone strong and supportive by her side would also have been very welcome. I was desperate for things to work out for her but given the complexities of the situation she found herself in I had my doubts that this could happen. Yet, I still rooted for her all the way.
So as to the title The Wedding of the Year, well given the opening is a wedding that never was what exactly does the title refer to. Well to discover the answers I have no hesitation in recommending that you pick up a copy of this fabulous story that is trademark Jill Mansell and packed full of twists and turns and surprises which above all else is uplifting and an absolute pleasure to read.
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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