The Bridesmaid Blues by Tracey Sinclair
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 383 KB
Print Length: 234 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1502714051
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
Language: English
Luce knows she should be thrilled when Jenna asks her to be bridesmaid – after all, they’ve known each other since childhood and Jenna is the best friend any girl could have. But it’s hard to get excited about weddings when you’re terminally single and the best man is the boy who broke your heart: Jamie, the groom’s dashing and irresistible brother. How can she face the man who dumped her when she’s still so hopelessly in love? Then again, maybe this is the perfect opportunity – after all, where better to get back together than at a wedding?
So Luce has six months to figure out how to win back her ex, but she has plenty else on her plate – from an old friend returned to Newcastle with an announcement of her own, to a youthful colleague who may or may not have a crush on her and a mother who is acting very strangely indeed… and that’s all before a mysterious, handsome American walks into her life.
Sometimes being a bridesmaid isn’t all confetti and champagne…
‘A smarter, funnier Bridget Jones’ Diary for the 2010s - great pithy writing and instantly likeable characters' Cass Green, Sunday Times/USA Today bestselling author of In a Cottage in a Wood'
So Luce has six months to figure out how to win back her ex, but she has plenty else on her plate – from an old friend returned to Newcastle with an announcement of her own, to a youthful colleague who may or may not have a crush on her and a mother who is acting very strangely indeed… and that’s all before a mysterious, handsome American walks into her life.
Sometimes being a bridesmaid isn’t all confetti and champagne…
‘A smarter, funnier Bridget Jones’ Diary for the 2010s - great pithy writing and instantly likeable characters' Cass Green, Sunday Times/USA Today bestselling author of In a Cottage in a Wood'
A romantic comedy set in North East England, I was chuckling to myself right from the off, as I dived into The Bridesmaid Blues.
Luce is a Geordie, a Bridget Jones kind of lass. She's single, carrying a few extra pounds thanks to her lack of exercise and bad diet. When her friend Jenna announces her wedding to Michael, she's happy until she finds out his brother Jamie will be his best man...her ex. Still, she has six months to win him back or find a new man...no problem. Until, Hali, a long lost friend from her time in London asks her to be a bridesmaid too!
Some of the references to years gone by had me laughing out loud and cringing simultaneously...after all, I was partying during the Eighties!
Luce is a Geordie, a Bridget Jones kind of lass. She's single, carrying a few extra pounds thanks to her lack of exercise and bad diet. When her friend Jenna announces her wedding to Michael, she's happy until she finds out his brother Jamie will be his best man...her ex. Still, she has six months to win him back or find a new man...no problem. Until, Hali, a long lost friend from her time in London asks her to be a bridesmaid too!
Some of the references to years gone by had me laughing out loud and cringing simultaneously...after all, I was partying during the Eighties!
...a man in a jumper so hideous Noel Edmonds would have burnt it, a spiky mullet hairdo (with the white-blonde highlights which were known at the time as 'tips'...)
Coming from a northern English city, I related easily to the settings and the pace of daily life as long-hidden memories to my own past exploits suddenly re-emerge from a dark corner of my memory. Ms Sinclair's writing flows, injected her heart-felt descriptions of Newcastle and topped off with humorous dialogue kept me flipping the pages as fast as I could read.
“I thought they had a northerner ration going on in here, one per office or we'd gang up and nick the stationary supplies! Go on then, pull up a chair, stick a stapler in your handbag and make yourself at home.”
Luce is a heroine you easily empathise with. A young woman, not as confident as you think who is single and suddenly surrounded by friends pursuing their Happy Ever After, when she has no significant other. It's the beginning of the end of life as she knows it when talking weddings and preparations take priority. With no airs and graces, what you see is what you get with Luce and it's refreshing if a little sad sometimes.
Set in the present time, the narrative manages to inspire nostalgia. I don't usually choose to read books set in and around my own neck of the woods; where I lived and grew up. However, I'll definitely seek out more such titles as their familiarity adds an unexpected sentimentality I heartily enjoyed and didn't know I missed. However, this novel has broad appeal and it is a must-have holiday read wherever you choose to relax...you won't regret it!
Luce is a heroine you easily empathise with. A young woman, not as confident as you think who is single and suddenly surrounded by friends pursuing their Happy Ever After, when she has no significant other. It's the beginning of the end of life as she knows it when talking weddings and preparations take priority. With no airs and graces, what you see is what you get with Luce and it's refreshing if a little sad sometimes.
Set in the present time, the narrative manages to inspire nostalgia. I don't usually choose to read books set in and around my own neck of the woods; where I lived and grew up. However, I'll definitely seek out more such titles as their familiarity adds an unexpected sentimentality I heartily enjoyed and didn't know I missed. However, this novel has broad appeal and it is a must-have holiday read wherever you choose to relax...you won't regret it!
***arc generously received courtesy of the publisher***
Tracey Sinclair works as a freelance writer and editor.
Her novel and collection of short stories (Doll and No Love Is This, respectively) were published by independent publisher Kennedy & Boyd, and Dark Dates is her second novel and the first in the Cassandra Bick series.
Her work has appeared online and in print in magazines as diverse as Sky, Printer's Devil, Yours and Woman's Weekly, and has been performed on the radio. Her first play, Bystanders, was premiered as part of the New Writing Season at Baron's Court Theatre in 2011 and later staged at both the White Bear and Tristan Bates Theatre.
She is theatre lover and regular contributor to online theatre magazine Exeunt (www.exeuntmagazine.com).
Her novel and collection of short stories (Doll and No Love Is This, respectively) were published by independent publisher Kennedy & Boyd, and Dark Dates is her second novel and the first in the Cassandra Bick series.
Her work has appeared online and in print in magazines as diverse as Sky, Printer's Devil, Yours and Woman's Weekly, and has been performed on the radio. Her first play, Bystanders, was premiered as part of the New Writing Season at Baron's Court Theatre in 2011 and later staged at both the White Bear and Tristan Bates Theatre.
She is theatre lover and regular contributor to online theatre magazine Exeunt (www.exeuntmagazine.com).
Twitter: @Thriftygal
