Customer Reviews

The Bridesmaid Chronicles: First Love (Bridesmaids Chronicles)

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I struggled with this book for the most part. It read as if I had stepped into a story mid-stream trying to catch up as I went along. Background information was offered to the reader in flashbacks but the problem with this, the background information was basically how our hero and heroine met. We are offered a completed romance with just walking down the aisle the last box to be checked. Enter the storyline.

Julia Spinelli is trying to put together her dream wedding in less than a week after firing a wedding consultant that seems to be working Kiki's issues rather than Julia's. On top of that she has to deal with the fact that her sister is there to put a stop to the fast nuptials, and her father is on the way to have a fit since there is bad blood between Julia's dad and Roman's dad (Roman is our hero). Julia has no idea that her groom to be is having business issues and when the store that her wedding dress is coming from files for bankruptcy and won't deliver her dress that's the final straw. Or at least she thought it would be the final straw. Actually when her father starts questioning Roman's love for her, and she finds out that Roman needs help but not hers she wonders if they really know each other as well as they thought they did. Will Julia and Roman have that happy ending or will life get in the way?

What saved this story from being a dud is the ending. Yes, the ending, totally worth reading the book in order to get to it. I realize that this book is part of a series, and you obviously need to read all of the stories in order to appreciate the story. Characters are plenty in this read but if you are new to the series, it will be left up to the reader to put to together the various relationships. Julia's dad was obnoxious and overbearing and her mother was less than inspiring. Kiki, Vivien, J.B. and Alex are all alluded to at one point or another in the story, but again the relationships are vague and this was frustrating. I would have liked to have had the romance between Roman and Julia more fleshed out, less use of flashbacks to tell their story, and more context when characters were introduced. I'm sure that this is a fulfilling read if you've been reading this series from the beginning. That's what I would suggest doing before picking up this read right off the bat. Otherwise be prepared to feeling as if you have missed the boat in one-way or another. In any event the read will be less than satisfying.

Official Reviewer for Romance Designs

I have read all four books in this series, and I have to say that I could have done without reading this book. If you are the type of person who must finish the series then go ahead and read it, but don't expect anything wonderful from this one.

NOBODY has had a tougher time planning her wedding than Julia Spinelli. NOBODY!

There are only five days until Julia walks down the aisle with Roman Sonntag in the fanciest wedding celebration that Fredericksburg, Texas, has ever witnessed! Now it is all falling apart. Julia has just been informed that the perfect wedding dress she ordered will not be arriving. Her Jersey parents have arrived early. (Every Red Neck joke ever created describes her parents. They're rich, but still act like hicks.) And due to a business deal gone sour, fifteen years ago, between Julia's dad and Roman's, it is bound to become even worse.

Marv, Julia's pop, is out to sabotage the wedding. He will use every below-the-belt tactic and every manipulative trick in his arsenal to keep his Princess from marrying the enemy. Believe it or not, Marv not only has a surprise guest show up, but he also travels around in a pink stretch limo with longhorns on it and a horn that gives out a sharp "Ah-OOO-Ga" blast!

Julia has to convince her parents that her fiancée is in love with her and not her trust account. A feat that is looking more impossible by the hour.

**** By putting myself in poor Julia's designer shoes, I felt as though she should either tell everyone to take a flying leap and then go elope OR she should just give up and postpone the wedding ... a few decades. Anything that could go wrong did. Yet when all looked in total ruin, help comes from some surprising sources.

Author Julie Kenner has the ability to bring her characters to life. I felt every hart ache, as well as, every joy. I also learned that no matter how embarrassing your family seems to be, they will always stand beside you. Fabulous novel! ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

The plan seemed doable just three weeks ago when New jersey nouveau riche Julia Spinelli and Texas Brahmin Roman Sonntag met, fell in love, and agreed to marry in the month. Neither of the lovers anticipated the bridesmaids. Her sister (see FIRST DATE), his sister (see FIRST KISS) and her best friend (FIRST DANCE) have caused absolute havoc with the wedding plans and male participants in the upcoming nuptials. Still they cling to the hope that they can throw the greatest wedding ever seen in the state of Texas.

With nothing going right and the parents have not even met, Julia wonders what else could go wrong. She quickly learns why her sibling considers Murphy an optimist because her parents have left South River, New Jersey for Fredericksburg a few days early. Her crass dad Marv, owner of Marvs Motor Inn chain, believes her beloved is after her money. He alienates everyone with his tackiness making the wedding of the century look like it will be called off. Even the groom is having second thoughts heeding a maelstrom of Texans warning him not to marry a Jersey daughter of the tactless.

FIRST LOVE is a wild ending to the amusing wacky The Bridesmaid Chronicles. The story line continues the tale of the tapes between New jersey and Texas, but this time raised to new levels of craziness as Marv invades the Lone Star State, which will never recover. Though capable of being enjoyed by itself, fans of contemporary wedding romances will want to devour the entire series in order to fully savor the war between the states (see FIRST DATE by Karen Kendall; FIRST KISS by Kylie Adams; and FIRST DANCE by Karen Kendall).

Harriet Klausner