Author: Matt Dunn
Publisher: Amazon Publishing UK / Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: September 2018
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon | Audible
Description: Livia’s been planning her wedding to Jed for ages. Now, at the venue in beautiful Barcelona, with her dress pressed and the guests all on their way, she’s only left one tiny detail until the last letting the groom know he’s about to get hitched.
But as far as Jed’s concerned, they’ve been bumping along just fine for ten years and even have a baby on the way, so why spoil things with an ‘I do’? Especially when he’d really rather not.
Meanwhile the guests are arriving with plenty of baggage of their own. Fading reality star Liam’s still on the lookout for a plus-one; Rachel’s has refused to come—and dumped her into the bargain; and divorcee Patrick’s date is more of the ‘mid-life crisis’ variety.
But as the ceremony approaches, and with no sign of Jed, there’s only one thing on all of their will there be a bride and groom at the wedding?
My Thoughts: In At the Wedding by Matt Dunn, the reader is introduced to Jed and Livia who are in Barcelona on their tenth anniversary and a few months away from the birth of their first child. They are there for a wedding, their wedding. Sounds lovely, except Jed isn’t aware that a wedding is on the horizon until Livia proposes to him on the morning of the planned nuptials. Unbeknownst to Jed, Livia has made all of the arrangements and have even roped all their best friends and Jed’s wayward brother into the scheme. To be honest, I really expected Jed to do a runner and the whole thing blow up in Livia’s face and I honestly wouldn’t have blamed him.
Yes, they’ve been together for ten years and have a baby on the way, which they planned, so why now, is there a rush to get married? Jed has never proposed before now and when he finds out that the marriage won’t be legal once they return to England, I found myself asking why the big deal? Saying the vows and cutting the cake does not guarantee a lifetime commitment so I struggled to wrap my head around Livia’s reasons more than Jed’s reaction. Additionally, he doesn’t like wearing jewelry so the whole wedding ring exchange is going to be a bit tricky.
In addition to Jed and Livia’s relationship, the reader gets to meet Patrick and his girlfriend, Izzy. Patrick is coming off of a twenty year marriage himself that ended when his wife was unfaithful. He isn’t sure he will ever feel that way about someone again and certainly not enough to get married again. He’s also old enough to be Izzy’s father and I thought she was a complete bubble head only using him for his money.
Then there’s Livia’s best friend, Rachel, who finds herself attending the wedding suddenly single because her boyfriend, Rich, would rather watch football and get drunk.
Lastly, Jed’s playboy brother, Liam who has been riding his star status for too long after appearing on a season of Big Brother a while back. He has no interest in settling down and he’s finding it more difficult to charm the ladies as easily as he used to.
I really enjoyed this story and the perspective of a male author made it highly entertaining. I was so curious as to whether Jed would show up for his own wedding and the extra drama from the gathered friends made the entire situation very interesting. I was also quite surprised at the Izzy and Liam characters. Throughout the book, I was not impressed by either of them but by the end of the book, I realized I had misjudged them as they turned out not as bad as I originally assumed.
My Final Verdict: Overall, this was a very good story that I highly recommend to readers who enjoy stories where a wedding is the main focus. I think it better that both the bride and groom are aware what is happening and are in full agreement, but it was wonderful to see this play out.
Thank you to the publisher, Amazon Publishing UK / Lake Union Publishing, who provided an advance reader copy of this book via NetGalley.
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