Book Review: The Wedding Diary by Margaret James

Title: The Wedding Diary
Published: 5 December 2013
Publisher: Choc Lit

Synopsis

Where’s a Fairy Godmother when you need one? If you won a fairy-tale wedding in a luxury hotel, you’d be delighted – right? But what if you didn’t have anyone to marry? Cat Aston did have a fiance, but now it looks like her Prince Charming has done a runner. Adam Lawley was left devastated when his girlfriend turned down his heartfelt proposal. He’s made a vow never to fall in love again. So – when Cat and Adam meet, they shouldn’t even consider falling in love. After all, they’re both broken hearted. But for some reason they can’t stop thinking about each other. Is this their second chance for happiness, or are some things just too good to be true?

Review 

This book falls under the new(ish) genre of ‘Choc Lit’. Choc Lit is an independent publisher, specialising in women’s romantic fiction, where  the story is always told partially from the hero’s point of view. 

In an interview with lovereading.co.uk, the author, Margaret James, describes the book as “a contemporary romantic comedy starring a feisty Cinderella, a gorgeous Prince Charming and a terrifying Fairy Godmother who seriously frightened me.”  

I really enjoyed this book and read it over the space of about 5 hours today. Despite the difficulties and  misunderstandings encountered by the likeable characters, this was a thoroughly charming and happy read, perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon or a day at the beach.  

I immediately warmed to the characters. The main characters central to the love story are Cat, an immediately likeable heroine with a warm and friendly personality, and Adam, a real gentleman with a caring and generous nature. The burgeoning relationship between them is delightful. The story is prevented from becoming overly saccharine by the eeccentricssecondary cast who add some real humour and character to the story. Fanny is particularly memorable and was possibly my favourite character. 

Even the locations used in this tale are beautiful and romantic settings.

If I were to be critical, it would be that the outcome was predictable and that the reason for the protaganists last big disagreement smacked of hypocracy, a trait which I would not necessarily link to Cat. However, I understand that in order to move the plot forwards, there will sometimes be certain situations which may not be entirely true-to-life. At least in this case, it was not beyond the bounds of what is believable.

Overall, The Wedding Diary is a lovely uplifting tale of love, romance and a little bit of well-placed humour. I would recommend this to any lovers of romances/chick lit.