Review: 'Annabel's Wedding' by Susan Murphy (2015)

After the breakdown of her marriage and her life, Viv has finally found happiness with Tom. But, can things really stay so perfect?
With the planning for Annabel's wedding underway, Genevieve is distracted by family bickering and an unexpected life-altering discovery. With Annabel threatening to cancel her wedding and Julia hiding a dark secret, her life once again descends into the perfect mix of hilarious chaos. Will the sisters be able to sort everything out and get their happy endings?
Earlier this year, in February to be exact, I reviewed 'They Do, I Don't', the first of Australian author Susan Murphy's 'Confetti Confidential' series (click here to read my review). It was a great read which I really enjoyed and for quite some time now I've had the second part, 'Annabel's Wedding', waiting for me. I remembered I really enjoyed Susan Murphy's writing, so when I was looking for a next read to get stuck into a few weeks ago I decided to finally pick up this one, hoping I'd enjoy it as much, or perhaps even more, as the first part of the series!
Viv has left her old life, in which she was married to her cheating husband Peter and still worked as a wedding celebrant, behind her and is ready to start over with the love of her life and long-term best friend, Tom. However, things are anything but calm for Viv as she's busy helping out her sister Annabel with her upcoming wedding. When Annabel suddenly decides she wants to cancel the wedding and Viv's other sister Julia also appears to be hiding some kind of dark secret from her family, Viv has her hands full making sure nothing crashes down around her and everything goes the way it was planned, guaranteeing all her sisters and herself that happy ending they all want and deserve.
I already really enjoyed Susan Murphy's first novel in the 'Confetti Confidential' series, 'They Do, I Don't', and I have to say 'Annabel's Wedding' is a just as enjoyable and well-written sequel. It was great to once again step into main character Viv's world and see how things were going for her and her new love Tom, while also hearing about Viv's sisters and the troubles they were running into this time around. One of the strengths of this novel for me is the wonderful bond between Viv and her three sisters. They are all dealing with their own problems (Annabel has doubts about her upcoming wedding, Julia is hiding a secret from everyone around her, Viv has a life changing decision to make) but are also there for each other when it's needed and I loved being able to join them and see how they dealt with specific things and supported each other along the way. 
One of the plus sides of a novel focusing on four sisters is that there is enough going on to keep the reader's attention. I loved reading about Viv, but also really liked that all of her sisters were dealing with something and how all of this was brought together in the main storyline. The read is also quite a quick one with roughly 200 pages, and can be read as a stand-alone, even though I recommend starting at the beginning of the series. Susan Murphy managed to come up with the foundations for a thoroughly enjoyable series with 'Confetti Confidential', and I will definitely pick up any other future parts, or any other novel by this author. 'Annabel's Wedding' is a well-written, entertaining and warm rom-com novel that I really enjoyed and I already look forward to Susan Murphy's next release!

Rating:9/10

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

Review: 'They Do, I Don't' by Susan Murphy (2015)

How can you be a part of a couple's big day when your own love life is crumbling? Her once happy life in tatters thanks to a cheating husband, lacklustre career and a wrinkling face, Viv no longer believes in love and happiness. In fact, she hates them both. The problem is that as a marriage celebrant, gleeful love is what she has to deal with every day. With 10 hilarious and tragic weddings (and a funeral) to get through before she can give up being a celebrant, can she prove that love and happiness are the pathetic hopes of the naive, or will fate intervene and show her that what she secretly craves could be right in front of her?
As some of you might have read in some of my previous blogposts, one of my goals for 2016 is to finally get through the big pile of review books I still have waiting for me! I really want to make sure I can keep my promise and review all of them, so that's going to be one 2016 resolution I am definitely sticking to! So, today I've got a review of an Australian author to share with all of you, namely Susan Murphy's 'They Do, I Don't.' The novel was released by HarperCollins Australia in January 2015 and I was lucky enough to receive a review copy through NetGalley. The book is partly based on the author's own experiences working as a civil marriage celebrant, which sounds like quite an amazing job, so I really looked forward to finding out more about it by diving into this next read!
Genevieve, known to her friends and family as Viv, has been a wedding celebrant for several years. However, when her own marriage suddenly falls apart because her husband is cheating on her with one of his much younger female colleagues, Viv decides she no longer believes in marriage and wants to quit her job. She only has 10 weddings left to go, but in that period a lot can happen. When Viv’s best friend Tom decides to leave the country for three whole months and she receives some shocking family news, Viv can’t believe what her life has come to in such a short period. She knows she has to keep on going and believe things will get better, but sometimes that is easier said than done…
‘They Do, I Don’t’ is the first part of Susan Murphy’s ‘Confetti Confidential’ series and quite a promising and enjoyable start! I found it really easy to warm to and relate to main character Viv, whose life is suddenly turned upside down when she discovers her husband Peter has been cheating on her after 19 years of marriage. I really enjoyed how fast-paced this novel was and how the main storyline consisted of several aspects: Viv’s love life (with four serious contenders for her heart), her family (consisting of her three sisters with whom she is very close and her children), and her job as a wedding celebrant. There was no dull moment in the book as the story kept on going, which I personally really liked. I loved reading about the sisterly bond between Viv and her three sisters and was even quite surprised by some of the things that happened (I don’t want to give too much away, so I’m sorry if this sounds a bit cryptic!).
I wish there would have been space in the novel to have focused more on the ten weddings and one funeral Viv attends as a wedding celebrant; I loved this aspect of the novel and would have really liked it if this had played a bigger role. However, the novel was a great read with likeable characters and an entertaining storyline, so I don’t have anything to complain about, really! Susan Murphy is a promising author within the chick lit genre and I already look forward to picking up the second part of the ‘Confetti Confidential’ series, ‘Annabel’s Wedding.’ Overall, ‘They Do, I Don’t’ is a fast-paced, fun, and uplifting story about finding yourself, family, and friendship; a read I thoroughly enjoyed and can recommend to anyone looking for their next read!

Rating:8,5/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.