Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009

Book Review: Nearlyweds

Author:        Beth Kendrick

Publisher:     Downtown Press

                   Pocket Books

Website:      www.bethkendrick.com

ISBN #:        978-0-7434-9960-6
                  978-0-7434-9960-3

Pages:         333 Paperback

Type:          Women’s Fiction

                  Chick Lit
 
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The Review:

My friend, Michelle, lent me this book along with two others for a reading swap.  I finished Hypocrite in a White Pouffy Dress and was really looking forward to Nearlyweds.  Oh, how Michelle was right!  I was not disappointed… no, not at all!

This book is a little over 2 years old as it was released in November 2006.  So, there may be a few of you out there that have already read this book.  If you missed it… what a fun, girly, and enjoyable read.  It’s the perfect book to read after you’ve just suffered through a heavy book, too much studying, kids that are driving you crazy, or you need to just lose yourself in a good “what-if” women’s story.

I think that I’m just lucking out this January because 9.5 out of 10 things that I’ve picked up to read this month, I’ve really enjoyed.  This book is definitely one of them.

Onto the book. This is the story of three couples, told by the viewpoint of the women in these couples, Stella, Casey and Erin.  All three of these couples are married by the same pastor, in the same town, over Labor Day Weekend.  They all soon find out that the pastor did not sign the wedding certificates after the ceremonies as he unfortunately died soon thereafter.  Therefore, the county informed them that, legally, they were not actually married.  The question that jumped out at me… what if I had found out that my marriage wasn’t legal 3 months after the fact?  Would I remarry my husband?  Well, for me the answer is “no”… and, for most of you, I’m sure the answer is “yes.”  The reader got to learn what the answers were for these three leading ladies.

A little bit about each of the ladies:

Stella: Stella is married to a man nearly twice her age (24).  Of course, he’s wealthy, divorced and with two grown daughters, both nearly Stella’s age.  Stella met Mark when she was working as a nanny for one of his friends.  Our lovely groom, Mark, drops a bomb on Stella on in their honeymoon bliss:  he’s had a vasectomy and refuses to have it reversed.  YIKES.  Not so great for a woman who is convinced that her life is all about being a mom.  Things slowly decrease until a crazy blow-up over Thanksgiving.  Stella leaves Mark.

Casey;  Casey is the intelligent, pragmatic, and responsible one (or, at least that is how I interpreted her).  She married Nick, the high-school stud-muffin that she was never quite “good enough for” in high school.  Due to his amazingly great looks and reputation that preceded him, it is my opinion that Casey never really felt as though she was worthy of her husband.  On her wedding day, Nick arrives in plain clothes and shares his “second thoughts” with Casey.  Despite his insecurities, he borrows his best man’s tux and marries her.  Nick abandons Casey for 4 days over their first Thanksgiving together to hit a Detroit Lions game with the buddies.  Oops.  No phone calls equates to Casey kicking him out.  She figures, he never wanted to marry me anyway… here’s his out.

Erin.  Erin is my favorite character in the book.  She’s a Harvard Med doctor who marries David a pharmacologist.  They lived in Boston, but moved to the “burbs” to be closer to David’s mother, Renee.  I can’t figure out who I hate more… Renee or Cruella d’Ville.  Erin’s monster-in-law RUINS their marriage, courtesy of David’s lack of spinal cord.  When Renee moves in, intrudes on dates, and takes over Thanksgiving, Erin has had enough and out she goes.  Renee can have him!

I loved the way that the women connected and yet they were so separate and different.  I also really enjoyed Cash, the dog.  Kendrick is a doggie lover, herself and has two cute doggies.  The ending is good and believable.

On Sher’s “Out of 10 Scale:”

In rating this book in the genre: Women’s Fiction/Chick Lit/Comedy, I would rate this book an 8 out of 10.  It was a really good overall book and I’d definitely lend it out to a girlfriend.  Too bad this copy is going back to Michelle!  I saw on Kendrick’s site that The Prenup was just released.  I’m going to see if I can get my hands on a review copy!

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