The bride’s side, or the groom’s side? The choice could be complicated. You’ve known the bride since forever; you used to babysit for the groom’s little siblings. You know a lot about both of them but at the same time, you know nothing. So, you can sit on the bride’s side of the church. You can sit on the groom’s side. Or as in the new novel, “The Wedding People” by Alison Espach, you can turn these nuptials upside down.
Phoebe Stone brought no luggage. Everything she needed for her short stay at the Cornwall Inn in Rhode Island was either in her handbag or on her body: the green silk dress she loved but never wore. Golden shoes to go with it. Pearls her ex-husband had given her once. And the cat tranquilizers that she would use for the overdose that would kill her.
She had it all planned: She’d check in, drink gin and tonics with the window open so she could hear the ocean, swallow the pills, and she’d drift off, just like that. No more heartache, no more missing a marriage that dissolved unnoticed, no more hurt.
What she didn’t plan on was the resort being full of people attending a wedding — nor did she plan on meeting the bride, who’d control every single minute of her wedding week. A dead woman in the hotel’s best suite didn’t fit in with the bride’s itinerary.
As Phoebe saw it, one of her own biggest problems was complacency. The other was that she always felt unneeded but suddenly, Lila, the bride, needed her. Lila needed Phoebe to say everything would be OK — though Lila didn’t love her husband-to-be — and to serve as a last-minute maid of honor, even though Phoebe was a stranger to everyone in the hotel. Eventually, it seemed nearly everyone in at the wedding needed Phoebe for something.
And after a twilight encounter with a mysterious wedding stranger in the hotel’s hot tub, it turned out that Phoebe needed to stay far, far away from the groom …
So how many wedding gifts did you buy this summer? And isn’t it time to buy yourself a gift, too? Time, maybe, for “The Wedding People”?
You’ll be sashaying down the bookstore aisle, once you find it because it’s the kind of book you want for summertime: light, funny, breezy, somewhat but not overly thought-provoking, a bit empowering and just contrived enough to make you happy. There’s amour in here and though it’s not the kind you expect, you’ll offer a toast anyhow. Those who’ve known a Bridezilla will enjoy meeting one who’s not so terrible after all. And if you’re a fan of romance novels or rom-coms in general, you’ll love this novel of reinvention, new expectations, and five days of Happily Never After.
Better than dancing (again!) with somebody’s random uncle and almost as good as butter-creme frosting, this book is for summer-novel fans and romantics at heart. Find “The Wedding People.” This season, it’s a book you’ll want by your side.
— The Bookworm Sez
