A Wedding on Bluebird Way

April 16, 2018
When small-town society bride Savannah Loving jumps on her uncle Tom’s Ducati to bolt from her wedding at the bucolic Bluebird Inn, it sets the stage for Wilde’s “The Wedding That Wasn’t,” the first of the four linked romance stories collected here. As other brides cancel their events, Bluebird Inn owner Felicity wonders how she’ll stay afloat, but her luck changes when Tom decides to stay around. Charles takes up Savannah’s story, slowing her escape from town when she gets pulled over by police officer Hank Evans, who first taught her to ride a motorcycle as a preteen. Meanwhile, Dailey switches back to Savannah’s stood-up groom, Chance Worthington, a pediatrician who doesn’t know how to interact with children, and connects him with single-mom wedding planner Harper. In Keith’s installment, Savannah’s college-age brother reunites with his high school sweetheart, a waitress who was supposed to work the reception. These easily resolved love stories are perfect for a lazy Sunday read on a sun-drenched porch with a glass of sweet tea.

Listeners will feel at home in Serendipity, Texas, as narrator Susan Bennett brings a dash of cozy Southern flair to four stories suggesting that love is better the second time around. It all starts at a wedding on Bluebird Lane, which goes awry when the bride, Savannah Loving, runs away. Bennett's upbeat tone and accent perfectly match Savannah's spitfire nature as she speeds away on a motorcycle and finds refuge with a small-town cop. Meanwhile, things heat up between the ex-groom and the wedding planner, while an unlucky innkeeper partners up with a stranded wedding guest and Savannah's brother wins back the one who got away. Bennett excels at balancing her performance by creating unique voices and tempering her accent to capture eight wildly different heroes and heroines. J.E.C. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine