Mating Rituals of the North American WASP [Paperback]

Lauren Lipton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 29, 2009

After arguing with her live-in boyfriend about his inability to commit, Peggy Adams flies to a friend's bachelorette party in Las Vegas, and wakes up next to a man she can't remember. Hung-over and miserable, she sneaks out of the sleeping man's hotel room and returns home to New York, where her boyfriend apologizes for the fight and gives her a Tiffany box containing a pre-engagement ring. Not what she expected, but close enough! The next day she receives a phone call from the Las Vegas one-night stand, Luke, claiming she's already married to him¬-and he faxes her the license for proof! Both are ready for an annulment, until Peggy arrives in quaint New Nineveh, CT, where Luke cares for his Great Aunt, and the old woman makes Peggy an offer she can't refuse.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lipton's second effort (after It's About Your Husband) is a feast of standard genre fare redeemed by the author's wit. After a night of partying in Vegas, Peggy Adams wakes up married to a stranger. Her new husband is Luke Sedgwick, scion of an old Connecticut family who manages the dwindling family fortune and cares for his elderly aunt Abigail in the crumbling ancestral manse. When Peggy arrives in Connecticut to sign the annulment papers, Abigail intervenes, unwilling to let the last living Sedgwick get divorced on her watch. She poses a deal: if they stay married for a year, Abigail will allow them to sell the Sedgwick estate and split the proceeds. Since Peggy needs a windfall to save her faltering business and Luke wants to pursue his dream of becoming a writer, they agree, but married life brings plenty of familiar obstacles and a foregone romantic conclusion. Lipton's skewering of WASPy culture is reliably entertaining, and her perfectly mismatched leads are sturdier than most. It won't change your life, but it'll help kill a couple hours at the beach. (May)
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From Booklist

Like many outlandish stories, this one begins in Vegas. At a friend’s bachelorette weekend, Peggy wakes up with a stranger. She considers it a one-time failing and guiltily returns to New York and her long-term boyfriend. Soon after, though, she hears from Luke, her mystery man, who reveals that they were married. Rather than annul the marriage, Luke and Peggy strike a deal. If they stay together one year, Luke’s great-aunt will allow him to sell the family estate—and they’ll split the proceeds. Peggy can save her struggling shop, and Luke can break free from his obligation to his family’s dwindling assets. What begins as a marriage of convenience becomes much more as Peggy and Luke’s lives intertwine and she becomes close to his great-aunt. Lipton, the author of It’s about Your Husband (2006), writes a predictable yet appealing romantic comedy. --Aleksandra Walker

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Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: 5 Spot (May 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446197971
• ISBN-13: 978-0446197977
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #711,430 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly enjoyable tale of love and marriage, May 27, 2009

By 

C. Quinn (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mating Rituals of the North American WASP (Paperback)

After waking up together in a hotel room in Vegas, Peggy and Luke discover they are now man and wife. Since Peggy has a pre-engagement agreement with her boyfriend, and Luke is caring for his elderly great-aunt while trying to write, they agree an annullment is in order. Once Great Aunt Abigail learns of the marriage, their separation plans are thwarted by her offer to sign over the family estate to them if they stay married for one year.

OK, so the plot falls nicely into the realm of "only in a chick lit book", and most of the confusion and conflict in the book could have been eliminated if the Luke and Peggy simply had an open and honest conversation about anything at all- I enjoyed this book regardless. Great-Aunt Abigail was a wonderful character, one whose poignant characterization helped carry this book to a four star rating. Lipton's writing is wonderful and at times the book is laugh-out-loud funny. A great escapist fantasy about why what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas, this book should be a must-read for your summer vacation.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Beach Read, July 27, 2009

By 

wrathobetty (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mating Rituals of the North American WASP (Paperback)

This isn't the sort of thing I usually read, but it was a fun summer beach read and kept me laughing. I liked the characters, the New England setting, and who can't relate to that awful feeling you had the day after, waking up and thinking, "Did I really do that? Or was it just a dream?" If you're looking for a good romantic comedy, this would be a great choice.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Break free, Have fun., May 27, 2009

By 

S. Agusto-Cox "Savvy Verse & Wit" (Germantown, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mating Rituals of the North American WASP (Paperback)

What happens when a cautious, anxious New Yorker, Peggy Adams, spends time in Las Vegas for a friend's last hoorah and sends caution to the wind, gets drunk, and meets a stranger? A quickie wedding and a huge hangover, followed by a deal of a lifetime for herself and her new husband, Luke Sedgwick.

Luke is a WASP and the last of the old world Sedgwicks of Connecticut, and the last hope for an heir to the not-so-large family fortune. Luke is a writer. . . a struggling poet, with an on-again, off-again girlfriend, Nicole, that his great-aunt, Abigail, despises. Peggy is mistaken by Abigail for the relative of an old Connecticut family, though hers is from out west, and she scrambles to please her new family, while keeping her live-in boyfriend, Brock, who is afraid to commit, in the dark about her marriage.

Lipton has a gift for chicklit/women's fiction that is witty, fun, and vivacious. Both of these characters are anxious to break free from their current lives, but unable to make the move. Mating Rituals of the North American WASP will keep readers turning pages and will make the summer fly by. Lipton's prose paints a clear picture of small-town Connecticut and its unique characters and sets the stage for a comedic plot steeped in romance, drama, and much more.