Wedding Season

December 7, 2009
Fforde (Practically Perfect
) disappoints with the predictable, formulaic, and unrealistic story of three unlucky-in-love women who work in the wedding industry: Sarah, a wedding planner; Elsa, a dressmaker; and Bron, a hairdresser. Sarah is still jaded years after she caught her college boyfriend cheating on her, but hot and charming wedding photographer Hugo seems determined to break down her resistance. Elsa, shy and proper, would prefer to fade into the background, until she meets Laurence, who encourages her to take the spotlight more often. Bron lives with a controlling man and is desperate to strike out on her own path. A plot lands on the three unfailingly polite, sweet, and near-perfect women in the form of a celebrity wedding they must throw together in less than three months. The catch? Sarah's pregnant sister is getting married the same day and wants Sarah to plan hers as well. Tiresome, twistless plots and two-dimensional characters make this a snore.

February 15, 2010
Best-selling novelist Fforde, of the lighthearted British chick-lit variety ("Wild Designs"), doesn't stray from her niche in this wedding-themed romantic romp. Sarah is a powerhouse wedding planner, though cynical to the core about love after her first serious boyfriend hurt her, and she refuses to yield to her obvious attraction to Hugo, photographer extraordinaire. Elsa is a dressmaker soon enlisted as part of Sarah's planning team, along with Bron, a hairstylist and budding cake maker. Each woman comes to the new friendship with romantic woes to sort through and a new life to create. Caught in a frenzy between arranging a celebrity wedding (recommended by the mysterious Hugo, thus throwing them together for greater amounts of time) and her own pregnant sister's on the same day, Sarah needs to learn to rely on others for help and to let down her guard. VERDICT At times a bit trite but otherwise solidly written for its genre, this light, amusing happily-ever-after will appeal to fans of "Bridget Jones's Diary" and other British chick lit.Julie Kane, Sweet Briar Coll. Lib., VA

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2010
Sarah, Bron, and Elsa are best friends, and they all get equal attention in Ffordes latest romantic comedy. Sarah is a wedding planner responsible for two weddings on the same day: one for her pregnant and demanding sister, and the other for a major movie star. Bron is a successful hairstylist, and Elsa is a gifted, in-demand dressmaker. While the three work together, as they often do, to pull off the impossible task of planning two simultaneously perfect weddings, they also help each other as they fall in and out of love and test the boundaries of dependence and reliance. Wedding Season is truly delightful and fun to read because of the way the three protagonists interact, helping each other with wit, wisdom, and brutal honesty. Ffordes lively and romantic tale of three friends will ring true to readers familiar with friendships that border on dysfunction but thrive on love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)