Review: 'Perfect Weddings' by Lynda Renham (2016)

Every bride wants a perfect wedding and that includes Georgina Winters. Amy Perfect is the crème de la crème of wedding planners so who best to plan Georgina s wedding... except the man Georgina plans to marry is the same man who jilted Amy three years ago. Will her plan to give Georgina the most imperfect wedding backfire on her? Is this the chance for Amy to win back the love of her life, or will insufferable Ben Garret put a spanner in the works? Arab princes, spoilt brides and wedding catastrophes make Perfect Weddings a page-turning romantic comedy that will keep you guessing until the very last page.
I think I've probably mentioned it before, but over the years I've developed quite a love for 'wedding lit'; chick lit novels in which a wedding (or even better: multiple weddings) takes on a significant role. So, when I was contacted last year about possibly reviewing Lynda Renham's novel 'Perfect Weddings', I straight away knew this was a read I didn't want to miss. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to pick it up until the very end of 2016 due to other review requests, but: better late than never, so I was happy to have 'Perfect Weddings' as my first read of 2017 and hoped I would enjoy it! 
Amy thought she had it all when she was about to marry her lovely boyfriend Greg. Until he got cold feet and decided to never show up on their actual wedding day, without even a note of explanation. Now, several years later, Amy managed to turn her sadness and anger into something positive, namely her own successful wedding planning business 'Perfect Weddings.' When Amy is contacted by Georgina Winters she isn't sure whether there will be enough time to plan Georgina's rather last-minute wedding, until she discovers the groom: her own ex-fiancee, Greg. Amy realises this could be her chance to finally find out what happened and get Greg back. But as Amy's life seems to slowly turn into quite a disaster, she is forced to think twice about what she's doing and whether this is really what she wants.
Lynda Renham's novel 'Perfect Weddings' is a read I am positive every wedding lit fan will thoroughly enjoy, just like I did. I have to admit I was a bit daunted at first since the book is quite a long one, but as soon as I'd read the first few chapters I felt myself warming to main character Amy and just really enjoying the story, wanting to keep on reading. The story consists of relatively short chapters, which fit really well, and is written in a comfortable and well-paced writing style. While the main focus lies on jilted bride Amy who has set up her own popular wedding planning business, there's also room for a collection of fun secondary characters, such as Amy's colleague Lucy, her best friend Rosie, and the several brides she does business with.
This book is a real romantic comedy with some great and funny scenes and situations. Some of them are perhaps a bit over the top, but that also made it a fun read that actually made me laugh out loud multiple times. As I already said, the read is quite a long one and I think the author could have also written it in fewer pages, but on the whole I just really enjoyed checking out this chick lit read and already look forward to reading more of Lynda Renham's work in the future. 'Perfect Weddings' is a delightful, fast-paced and fun read all about the wedding business; a great first read of the year for me!

Rating:9/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Thanks to the publisher and author for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.