Bridesmaid For Hire
Y’all, this was such fun.
Event planner Maggie has one vacation goal: get it on with a handsome stranger in a Speedo. Unfortunately, the resort is packed with couples, except for one guy who is definitely not a stranger – her brother’s best friend, Brody, a “dead ringer” for Henry Cavill who gave her an epic kiss a few years back . . . before abruptly pulling away.
The head of Hopper Industries, the company that Brody works for, is having his daughter’s wedding at the resort (which the family also owns) and Brody’s aim is for the festivities to lead to Mr. Hopper warming to him and his business proposals. He’s the odd man out before Maggie barges in and introduces herself as his girlfriend. She wants her own professional connection with the family, and when she discovers Hopper’s daughter needs a bridesmaid, she volunteers.
This book’s style is Vince-Vaughn-movie-meets-romance. It’s a little bit crass (almost abrasively so, especially in the first chapters – Maggie’s jocular texts to her best friend about hypothetically motorboating said bestie’s brother took me a moment to process) and it’s heavy on the slapstick. Bright and lively, Bridesmaid for Hire is so packed with energy that everything I read from now on is going to feel lethargic in its shadow. This book is as hard-working as small-business owners like Maggie and earns your attention. I laughed until my eyes watered and had such a good time I was late for appointments.
The dual-first person PoV is killer. It’s got a natural rhythm and is so directly conversational it’s easy to forget it was actually written intentionally by an author.
Though Maggie and Brody split the chapters, it feels slightly more his book than hers. The man is, to play on a Taylor Swift line, an anti-hero in the body of a sexy baby; he’s buff and gorgeous and an absolute lightning rod for calamity.
There are some unusual things about this book. First, it’s over four-hundred pages. Minus the illustrations! But don’t be scared, they’re excellent pages for the most part. Only the last ten-percent drags when characters run around everywhere and bring each other up to speed on the final act drama (which, for the record, is weighty and believable). The illustrations were a fun little surprise slipped in every so often.
Bottom line: This book threw me over its shoulder and carried me off. I’d let it do it again.
Recent Comments
The beginning of this novel was promising, the enemies vibe quite remarkable but I got bored very quickly. It was repetitive and I didn’t find it funny at all. I have to recognize that this is one of the most perplexing DIK A+ reviews I have read. I have to be honest I haven’t read each page, as I started skimming around 25 % and stopped in the middle, as I saw that things did not improve. Then I jumped to the last chapter, and that’s it. I did not find it funny at all. It’s one of those books that make me think that humour is a cultural trait, so this book was not for me.
“Event planner Maggie has one vacation goal: get it on with a handsome stranger in a Speedo.” Right there, that opening line of the review, told me that this was not for me. I dislike artificially funny heroines with such shallow intentions; makes me want to grind my teeth. The A+ grade intrigued and excited me but after reading the review closely here and those elsewhere, it won’t be on my list.
The only piece there that doesn’t work for me is the Speedo! ;)
I did not like it at all, though it is well written – perfect poolside style.
It is on KU, so I gave it a try immediately yesterday, for a lazy afternoon.
Humor is hard – super individual. So this did not work for me, but might be thoroughly funny to someone else, who might hear every joke as sweet that I found mean.
I found the humor vulgar, totally objectifying people – a bit would be funny, but it was constant – very YA student-type banter.
I disliked the heroine who was constantly demeaning the hero, saying things that were deeply unkind, feeling superior in everything and never offering an honest apology.
The interaction among the women (I like women friendships, and they are important in this book) was strong, but again, not my style. Women Friends talking about sex with the boyfriend on the phone while one of them is starting/doing it to is icky to me. Constant man bashing and man objectifying is not solid women power to me.
In all, I really disliked the book, there was a lot of meanness in the conversations and a lot of unkindness to each other among characters.
YMMV.
I read another book by this author (Boss Man Bridegroom) and had very similar complaints. The humour grated on me (vulgar and mean), the characters had no boundaries on discussing sex in deeply inappropriate contexts which made suspension of disbelief impossible for me. Some characters behaved horribly and the story glossed over it.
I can easily believe your experience of this book. This author is really not for me.
I tried the excerpt, but didn’t get very far because of the style.
I suspect the staccato, one-sentence-paragraph style common to a lot of contemporaries is not for me.
It feels jerky.
And kind of predictable.
Because now I’m looking for the next single-sentence paragraph instead of getting caught up in the story. #donotwant
Oh well.
Maybe it’s a trend that will fade away.
I can but hope.
This sounds like so much fun! I’m going on a vacation next week and will add it to my poolside TBR!
On my TBR!