Once Upon a Bride [Mass Market Paperback]

Jean Stone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 2005

Can love, romance, and marriage really be better the second time around? That’s what four best friends are about to find out in Jean Stone’s sexy, smart, and poignantly funny new novel about saying “I do” all over again.
It’s an idea just crazy enough to work–a wedding-planning business tailored for second weddings run by four single best friends who’ve loved, who’ve lost, and who are ready to start again. A successful Boston publicist, Jo Lyons has returned to West Hope after a devastating breakup left her career and her heart broken. Now she’ll try to pick up the pieces among the three women she knows best. Lily, the fun-loving, free-spirited eternal optimist. Sarah, the strong-willed unconventional artist. Elaine, the would-be domestic diva. It’s Elaine’s upcoming second marriage that will be the inspiration and test model for their new business, Second Chances. For Jo it just may be an unexpected second chance of a different, far more romantic kind, but only if she’s willing to give love–and life–another try.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Unconvincing plot twists and unnecessary deception sabotage what starts as a promising tale of romance. When they gather in the Berkshires to help plan their friend Elaine's wedding, old pals Jo, Sarah and Lily—savvy middle-aged women all—are inspired to start Second Chances, a wedding planning business specializing in second marriages. Meanwhile, writer and single dad Andrew Kennedy is having trouble finding material for his magazine column about women. He answers Second Chances' ad for a receptionist under an assumed name, passing himself off as gay to encourage the women to confide honestly in him. Not surprisingly, his deception has problematic consequences: he's attracted to Jo, and the business's media forays threaten to expose his real identity. Many of the women have secrets as well; when the business hits a snag and the stakes, both personal and professional, rise, each is forced to decide how—and whether—to come clean. Though Stone (Beach Roses) plays both to a national obsession and a baby-boomer audience, everyone in the book is either a blatant liar or a dupe or both. The lack of real development in Andrew and Jo's relationship is also likely to leave readers feeling unsatisfied.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Jean Stone ran her own award-winning advertising agency for fifteen years before becoming a full-time writer. She lives in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (January 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553586858
• ISBN-13: 978-0553586855
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.9 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,347,767 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jean Stone writes about the dynamics of friendships between women - the good, the bad, and the tastefully unfortunate. She also writes under the name Abby Drake. Check out her Website: http://www.jeanstone.com for details, updates, and a fun video about her latest book, PERFECT LITTLE LADIES.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars delightful middle age women's fiction, January 25, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Once Upon a Bride (Mass Market Paperback)

The four women are getting together because Elaine is marrying for the second time and wants her college pals (Jo, Sarah, and Lily) as her bridesmaids. The trio detests the wedding dress that might look great on a teen bride, but horrendous on a forty-three year old mom. As they continue to discuss the woeful selections for a mature second time bride, the quartet form a wedding planner partnership Second Chances to insure that older brides obtain a first class reception.

At the same time that the four women meet, Buzz magazine editor John Benson assigns writer turned Professor Arthur Kennedy to do a column called Real Women. Arthur reluctantly agrees only because his friend John needs his help to save the magazine.

As Second Chances gets off the ground, the intelligent Jo struggles to hide her hurt and embarrassment from the deception of her lover Brian, who cost her the upper crust Boston lifestyle she had grown accustomed to living. Arthur meets Jo and is immediately attracted to her. As they fall in love, Arthur realizes hiding his column from her could prove costly since male deceit haunts Jo.

ONCE UPON A BRIDE is a delightful middle age women's fiction story that stars a fabulous cast that insist life is still exciting in your forties. The story line contains several subplots involving the four female friends, but mostly centers on Jo, a deep and hurting protagonist with trust troubles following her father's desertion as a child and her lover's betrayal as an adult. Jean Stone provides a wonderful contemporary tale starring mature characters looking to regain the magic.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Major Disappointment, August 17, 2006

By 

BASILEAVES "BASILEAVES" (Marshfield, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Once Upon a Bride (Mass Market Paperback)

I was intrigued with the possibility of this book, and its series. The idea of four women in their forties starting a company to plan second weddings coupled with the location of the Berkshires of Massachusets, in my backyard, drew me to the books and author. I have NEVER been so disappointed in not only a book, but the possibility of a book. None of the characters were really even likable. You are not really given the chance to understand who they are before you are asked to care about them. The main character is described as a successful woman in her early forties who allows herself to fall back into a relationship with a man she hasn't seen in over twenty years who abandoned her at a vulnerable point in her life. We are led to believe that this 'successful, stong' woman would not only fully let him back into her life, but trust him to the point where in less than six months time he has bankrupted her and left her again. Then there is another man who insinuates himself into these women's lives based on a lie so that he can reveal what 'real' women think as part of a column in a national men's magazine who only compounds his lie, and the women's vulnerability, with his actions. In addtion, we are asked to believe that he has a huge attraction to one of the women, but it is rarely played upon, or described with any detail or reality and in one jarring chapter there is a rather graphic sexual scene that is essentially on it's own with nothing leading to it or from it. Finally, the last few chapters 'tie' up the loose ends in an unconvincing manner that not only doesn't make sense in some aspects, some of it is predicated on lies told from the beginning! I am afraid that after purchasing the entire series initially, I returned the last three unread.

4.0 out of 5 stars curiosity, January 3, 2007

By 

Anita Rohn "Reader" (HUGHSON, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Once Upon a Bride (Mass Market Paperback)

I had to read to complete the trilogy. Author captured my attention and allowed a couple of hours of carefree reading for pleasure