The Wedding Sisters by Jamie Brenner Published by St. Martin's Griffin Publication Date: June 7th 2016
Pages: 320
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Meryl Becker is living a mother's dream. The oldest of her three beautiful daughters, Meg, is engaged to a wonderful man from one of the country's most prominent families. Of course, Meryl wants to give Meg the perfect wedding. Who wouldn't? But when her two younger daughters, Amy and Jo, also become engaged to celebrated bachelors, Meryl has to admit that three weddings is more than she and her husband, Hugh, can realistically afford.
The solution? A triple wedding! At first, it's a tough sell to the girls, and juggling three sets of future in-laws is a logistical nightmare. But when Hugh loses his teaching job, and Meryl's aging mother suddenly moves in with them, a triple wedding is the only way to get all three sisters down the aisle. When the grand plan becomes public, the onslaught of media attention adds to Meryl's mounting pressure. Suddenly, appearances are everything - and she will do whatever it takes to keep the wedding on track as money gets tight, her mother starts acting nutty, and her own thirty year marriage starts to unravel.
In the weeks leading up to the nuptials, secrets are revealed, passions ignite, and surprising revelations show Meryl and her daughters the true meaning of love, marriage and family. Jamie Brenner's The Wedding Sisters invites readers to the most unpredictable wedding of the year.
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
I enjoyed The Wedding Sisters more than I expected to. This is not a typical romcom wedding story. There are many layers to this tale that is humorous at times, but it is much more than that. Brenner does a wonderful job of slowly revealing her characters’ personalities and complexities to weave all of their stories together into a well-developed story to which readers will be drawn.
The biggest appeal for me were the characters in this story (although the backdrop of NYC drew me in too). Meryl, mother of the brides, was the one I most identified with. Her struggle to keep it together while planning a wedding and simultaneously dealing with all other aspects of her world falling apart evokes sympathy, especially being a mother myself. Her daughters all have distinct personalities leading to a battle to maintain their individuality and still maintain a sisterly bond. When all three are engaged at the same time to high profile fiancees, their struggle for individuality is put to the test.
Meryl not only has to deal with wedding planning for three, but also the other complications of life- specifically mid-life. In the midst of being in mother-of-the-bride mode, Meryl is struggling with the care of her “elderly” mom- who is a hoot, by the way- and her marriage of thirty years. She has to do some soul-searching along the way, but I am happy to say that all’s well that ends well!
If you have ever read any of my other reviews, you know I like a happy ending–or at the very least, closure. I was very satisfied with the way this book ended. I truly felt like everybody was going to be ok, and I was happy about that. I hope you read this one and come to care about these characters as much as I did!
