The Wedding of the Year by Jill Mansell #libraryloan @JillMansell @HeadlineFiction #WeddingOfTheYear #bookreview

 

The Wedding of the Year by Jill Mansell

Published by Headline Review

Publication Date: 18th January 2024

Book Description:

Love, friendship and secrets revealed as the sun beats down on dazzling blue Cornish seas . . .

It's set to be a perfect day - until the chauffeur is asked to keep driving the bride around the church. This wedding definitely isn't going as planned.

Lottie is a guest at the wedding when she sees Max. No kiss has ever matched the last one they shared fifteen years ago. They were on the brink of a beautiful love story, until a shocking event tore them apart. Now here he is, still ridiculously good-looking, teasing Lottie in the old way - and that overwhelming electric attraction is back. But Max is way out of bounds.

Freya owes Cameron everything. But she doesn't love him. Which is a shame, because they're about to be married.

Ruby has been the perfect wife. When she discovers the truth about her husband, her response is reckless and delicious. But after that, nothing will ever be the same again.

My Thoughts:

There's nobody better to pull you back into the world of fictional characters than Jill Mansell. I had just finished a 700+ page novel and was feeling particularly overwhelmed by the enormity of that book when I stumbled rather fortuitously on this recent publication at the library. It sat proudly on top of the returned items shelf and its jauntily coloured cover waved at me as I scanned my previously borrowed items back into the system.

The story begins with Freya and her mum Tess approaching the church in the beautiful wedding car, everything going smoothly until they are waved on, with the instruction to go around again. Oh no, I thought, another tale of the bride being jilted at the altar. But this time, it's not the bride or groom who have gone AWOL, but the vicar. The news quickly filters back to the congregation that sadly the service cannot go ahead today, so rather than the couple waste the whole day, everyone makes their way to the reception and celebrates Freya and Cameron, the soon-to-be-weds. Nobody breathes a bigger sigh of relief that the wedding didn't happen than the bride herself, who soon confesses her feelings to her best friend Lottie. But how can she let down lovely Cameron without breaking his heart and coming across as totally heartless?

Jill Mansell never fails to write heart-warming characters who are totally credible but not too twee. There are real-life situations presented throughout the book and some fabulous individuals who I absolutely loved. I was cheerleading Ruby throughout the book, loved the banter between Max and Lottie and was really pleased that the whole thing didn't focus just on the bride and groom's story. There seemed a nice even weighting of the tale across several characters and not all of them get an easy ride through to the conclusion of the book.

Yet another resounding success from Jill Mansell, who never fails to tick all of the boxes I want from a lighter read in between my go-to choices of psychological and serial killer thrillers.

About the Author:

Jill Mansell’s books are full of love, life and friendship and have been bringing joy to readers for twenty-five years. She started writing fiction while working in the NHS, after joining a local creative writing class. She has since written over twenty Sunday Times bestsellers, including MAYBE THIS TIME, THIS COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING and YOU AND ME, ALWAYS, and her books have sold over 11 million copies around the world.

Jill's hobbies include buying stationery, particularly magical new colours of ink for the fountain pen she uses to write all her books – Jill is one of the few authors who still write their books by hand. Jill also loves people-watching and finding new characters to put in her novels. So when you’re out, make sure to always be on your best behaviour. And beware of beady-eyed authors carrying notebooks . . .

Jill keeps in touch with her readers on Twitter - @JillMansell - and Facebook - /OfficialJillMansell.