Edith

This book was a free e-book on the B&N website and the summary intrigued me. I read this book in about 3 days, mainly while commuting back and forth to work and really enjoyed it. This is the story of Edith, a lively and adventurous 22 year old, preparing for her sister, Delaney's wedding. She decides to head to the hotel where the wedding will take place a week before everyone else, so she can have some time to relax, as her sister is a bit of a nightmare (Delaney gives a whole new meaning to the term Bridezilla). While at the hotel, Edith runs into a good friend Mac, who is there for a conference and meets his co-worker, Jake, who is overwhelmed by Edith's beauty and strength. Through the scheming of Edith's mother, Elaine, and Mac (and Mac's mother) Edith ends up taking Jake as her date to her sister's wedding. Things heat up between Edith and Jake, resulting an ending that made me smile and do a little cheer.

This is a very short e-book and moves along quickly. It takes place over a short period of time, the week leading upto Delaney's wedding. Edith's family, mainly her sister and mother, are overwhelming in many ways, especially Delaney. I have seen some episodes of the TLC show, Bridezillas, and even many of those women at their worse werent' as bad as Delaney, and the main thing that makes Delaney so horrible is the way she treats Edith. She is degrading, insulting and belittling to her younger sister, which made my heart break for Edith. At one point, Jake has to step in to protect Edith from Delaney as she verbally destroys her younger sister. Delaney is an extremely ungrateful character.

Jake and Edith have a relationship that develops very quickly, but it doesn't seem forced or unrealistic. The phrase “when you know, you know” rolled through my head as things played out between Jake and Edith. Jake is sincere, sensitive and completely inlove with Edith, which was remarkable. If there are men like Jake out there, I'd certainly like to know where they are hiding.

Being that this was a quick read, I felt the ending was very good. It didn't seem forced or hurried to me, but it did seem inevitable. I thought “well, of course that's how it ends, duh”, so it wasn't any kind of big surprise at all (but it did make me smile). Edith was a likeable character and it was very easy for me to relate to her. Elaine, Edith's mother, seemed to me to be the stereotypical mother of the bride, in that she wants everything to go well for her daughter on her big day, but I also thought Elaine was a bit spineless when it came to Delaney's actions and treatment of Edith. Delaney – well, there's nothing good to say about this character. Mac was very funny and a good friend to both Jake and Edith. As I said above, if there are men out there like Jake, I'd love to meet them. He was almost too good to be true, but I do have friends who would say Jake is very much like their own significant others.

I'd recommend this book if you want something quick, girly and has a happy ending.