Customer Reviews

Everything But a Wedding (Thorndike Gentle Romance)

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Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

Two Salo Family weddings have occurred but the curse has yet to be broken. Now it's Dori's turn...

Dori Salo has no intentions of getting married, especially after recently being dumped by her boyfriend. Now she is dedicating herself to a new housing project she's immersed in. Here she can show her true talent. However when the new interior designer hoping to win the account shows up, all Dori's plans go out the window.

Bill Hastings is helping his cousin CeCe who's on bed rest in the final stages of her pregnancy. Landing the contract for the promising Erie Hazard Hills Development can be just what she needs to have her interior design company take off. Bill has his doubts that posing as high and mighty Carter Hastings IV is the right idea but he'll do anything to help CeCe.

As soon as Bill meets Dori, he knows she is something special but now that he's trapped in this grand scheme of CeCe's, he can't do anything about it. After all, can Dori fall for someone who has deceived her from the start? If Nana Vancy has her way, anything can happen!

Holly Jacobs has written another rollicking good romantic comedy with Everything but a Wedding. Once more she takes unlikely circumstances and finds the funny in the middle of it all. That is one of the best aspects of a Holly Jacobs novel. Her humorous take on family relationships always makes for a heartwarming story. How can anyone not adore Nana Vancy and her desperation to break the curse she unwittingly placed on her family?

Bill and Dori are perfect for each other but secrets almost ruin their chances. Dori is down to earth, content in her life and loves her work. Her family my drive her crazy sometimes but she wouldn't trade them for anything. Bill has that same dedication to what matters to him, especially his beloved cousin. He's in his element in faded jeans and a fishing vest and feels completely out of sorts in the designer duds CeCe insists he wear to play his role. Dori is drawn to the glimpses of the man she sees when the disguise slips but is afraid that she's making a mistake.

In Everything but a Wedding we have the added pleasure of seeing not one but two couples find their happiness. I can't reveal who the second one is however since it doesn't really come into play until close to the end of the book. I also loved a chance to catch up with the rest of the Salo siblings and see how their own marriages are working out. Of course, Nana Vancy is present and accounted for, stealing the show each time we see her. I love the way the Salo Wedding Curse pans out in the end and finding out what was necessary to break the curse and bring happiness to the future Salo generations.

I'm sorry to say good bye to the Salo family and I will miss them all. Lucky for me, rumor has it we may get to visit them again in the future.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, December 2008. All rights reserved.

Elderly Hungarian matriarch Nana Vancy still regrets the "curse" she issued when she was young and in love with Bela Salo who failed to show up their wedding on time due to an accident. Now decades later her misgivings turn to fear as she worries about bad things happening at Salo family weddings since she angrily cursed big weddings, Bela and his relatives especially since she has proof with two of her grandchildren (see EVERYTHING BUT A BRIDE and EVERYTHING BUT A GROOM).

Her last hope to see the curse defeated in her lifetime resides with her last grandchild Pennsylvania developer Dori Salo. However, Dori shows no interest in men ever since her former boyfriend ended their relationship. Instead perhaps as a mental defense mechanism Dori puts all her energies on the Erie Hazard Hills housing development. Also on the project is architect Carter Hastings IV who pretends to be Bill the interior designer as he wants Dori to hire his cousin CeCe's firm to design the interior of the model homes. However as they fall in love he must admit his deception and she must challenge the curse.

Returning to Erie, site of her WLVH Radio Romance saga (see LAUGH LINES, NIGHT CALLS, LOVE HANDLES and PICKUP LINES) as well as the prime locale of the Everything But saga, Holly Jacobs provides a charming contemporary romance. The enjoyable story line is fun starting with the likable lead characters although he appears to have committed a professional ethics violation. They in turn are supported by a strong cast of returning characters and the "curse". Readers will enjoy Holly Jacobs' fine lighthearted tale that contains everything to warm the heart over the holidays.

Harriet Klausner

STORY BRIEF:
Hungarian Grandma (Nana) believes she caused a curse upon all her husband's offspring. Accidents and disasters take place during their weddings. Dori is the last single grandchild. Nana hopes Dori will break the curse and not have a disaster at her wedding. Dori works in the family's home construction business. She is a tomboy. She lives in jeans and works with a hard hat. She believes she will never marry. Cece is an interior designer who wants to do the design work for the model home in one of Dori's real estate developments. Because Cece is pregnant and confined to bed, she talks her cousin Bill into pretending to be a designer who works with her. She wants Bill to make the design presentation to Dori (which Cece had previously prepared). Cece also insists Bill dress as a metrosexual, with Cece buying and picking out exactly what he is to wear. Although Bill is an architect, he pretends to be an interior designer temporarily to help Cece. Odd circumstances cause Bill to be in Dori's presence and with her family on a few occasions. For these events, he is overdressed due to Cece's urging, and it makes for some funny moments.

This is the third book in the "Everything But" trilogy. It was ok as a stand alone book, but I think I would have preferred reading them in order. I had some curiosity about the other couples that wasn't answered here. The first two books are "Everything But A Groom" and "Everything But A Bride."

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
There were a lot of funny lines. I was frequently chuckling. I enjoyed Dori's tomboy nature and carpentry skills. She made things for her nephews that her brother in law couldn't, like a tree house and wooden window seats. I usually don't like conflict based on lies, but in this case, it was acceptable. Bill blamed Cece's irrational thinking and requests on her pregnancy state. I was happy to go along with it for the sake of a silly story with a few laughs. This is a pleasant, sweet and charming story about Bill and Dori falling for each other. It's a short story. I read it in about half the time I spend reading other romance books.

DATA:
Story length: 183 pages large print. There is no swearing or sexual content which makes it appropriate for young adults. Setting: current day Erie, Pennsylvania. Copyright: 2008. Genre: contemporary romance and young adult.