Customer Reviews

She Woke Up Married

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

"She Woke Up Married" is an absolutely fantastic book. It takes an absolutely insane and laugh out loud funny storyline about a fashion model who has too much to drink and ends up Vegas married to her former high school friend turned Elvis Impersonator, but then adds in real human issues about relationships. I enjoyed this book like few others. [...]

I was hoping for a new author to enjoy, and I read the jacket thinking this would be pretty funny. I started reading, thinking Anton would be a fun character to know... how does a preacher decide to start imitating Elvis? Instead, Anton kind of faded away, Paris sulked a lot, Pruitt was too good to be true.. and not necessarily in a good way. I found I did not like the characters and I found myself disappointed with the development of the story. I would almost like to ask that Ms. MacPhearson revisit the premise and rewrite this tale in the light she set it up in rather then delving into such murky waters. I sadly cannot review how this tale ends as I was not able to make it that far and dropped the book into the donate pile.

The beginning was both enjoyable and humorous when Paris, the main character wakes up married to "Elvis." It goes downhill from there, however, because Paris appears selfish and does everything she can to make us not like her. The humor is lost and the ending is predictable, though anticlimactic. The writer should have stayed with the humor and let Paris work out her insecurities in a less dark way.

Aging model Paris awakens in her hotel room the morning after her 30th birthday with a massive hangover and a stud in her bed. She soon discovers that she has eloped with an Elvis-impersonating preacher, who is also a friend from high school. She immediately asks for an annulment and flees to New York.

After a couple weeks to calm down, Turner seeks out his new wife in the Big Apple, just in time to discover that she is pregnant. Paris does not want the child - her own childhood was stolen from her when her mother became severely depressed after the birth of her sister and after a series of tragedies, she ended up alone in a Catholic orphanage. She makes a bargain to carry his baby in exchange for a divorce.

Turner agrees then sets about changing her mind. Returning to Vegas, she moves into his already crowded apartment, which gets a little more crowded when a friend from his parent's island colony comes to stay with them while she finishes up school.

MacPherson's romance novels are usually light fare. This was is a little more dark, as Paris wallows in self-pit as she comes to grips with her past and fears that the sins of the mother will transfer to her. Turner is just too good to be true, considering what a shrew Paris is most of the time. A lesser man would have kicked her out on her Manolo's!

With a hangover, thirty year old model Paris James awakens in a strange hotel room in Vegas. She notices the diamond on her finger and is stunned when Elvis the younger greets her with a good morning Mrs. Pruitt. Apparently during the night of overindulging she married Elvis.

Reverend Turner Pruitt is as stunned to realize he married Paris whom he knew as Patricia Jamison thirteen years ago and dubbed her Paris as in Bogart's Casablanca. He runs the local Graceland Chapel trying to reach sinners. While Paris plans to annul their marriage before running back to New York, Turn plans to stay wedded to Paris as he realizes he loved her back then and apparently never stopped loving her or why would a conservative person like him lose control. All he needs to do is persuade his bride that they belong together in and out of bed forever.

SHE WOKE UP MARRIED is an amusing contemporary romance starring two likable protagonists with differing opinions on their sudden marital status. Paris is an interesting kooky lead while Turner knows that she is the one as she gets him to do things he would never do. Somewhat inane, fans will enjoy this humorous tale of love between Reverend Elvis the younger and the over the hill model.

Harriet Klausner

This is a new author for me and a book I just randomly came across. As I started reading I was a little skeptical and found myself thinking I was going to have a hard time getting into this story. I'm the type who starts a book and will have to see it through to the end regardless if I like it or not. I'm happy I stuck with this story. Where I was at first a little annoyed, I later found myself thinking of the hero and heroine as endearing and lovable and really getting into the story. Paris James had a personality that jumped off the page. You either loved her or you hated her and some of her choices seemed really harsh. It's not every day you come across a romance that uses some real to life situations that some women really struggle with. The post partum psychosis is a very real situation, and having that be a part of the story and something Paris herself delt with while growing up and watching her mother struggle and have it destroy her family, gave Paris some very real heart felt moments with me that I thought were missing at first. Paris seems like a very selfish person with a mouth you may want to smack. As the story progresses, I was able to find myself giving her sympathy and was even able to relate with her. Turner Pruitt, I fell in love with his character in the first few pages. What a hunk of burning love LOL :) and a reverend to boot. He was a very patient, loving man. He put up with a lot from Paris and it was really endearing how he didn't give up on her. Turner was sure that Paris came back into his life for a reason and believed in fate and how everything was happening to them for a reason. It was fun to see all this pan out. I really enjoyed the secondary characters, Andre was a lot of fun and I loved Millies character. Sarah was questionable, when she first stepped onto the pages I knew she was there to stand in the way and make things harder for Paris and Turner and I quiet enjoyed that twist, but just when I started to hate her, she changed her tune. I would of liked to have seen her cause more problems and maybe put a little more struggle into the story. I know Paris needed to overcome a lot, but just when I thought I saw some jealousy in her, it was gone and I really wanted her to see a little earlier the potential in her loosing Turner. One other thing that bothered me was early in the story it was mentioned that Paris met Turner at boarding school when she was 17 and he was 18. It was also said that he took a trip with her to visit her mom in the mental hospital. Towards the end it was mentioned that Paris's mom left the mental hospital when she was 15 and was told her mom died. That threw some confusion in there for me and I re-read a few parts just in case I was reading something wrong or just missing something, so if anyone has read this book and can explain that for me or please tell me I am missing something, I would appreciate it. I don't like having questions floating in my head :)

I've had this book forever and it took me awhile to finally pick it up. First I can tell you that the book is shoved with to much of... everything. You have the couple to deal with. You have the wedding. You have the fact that he's an Elvis... not the real one but you get it. And you have to deal with the fact that Paris has a whole lot of issues. Not to mention a little mystery on what happened to her mother and Sarah, a long lost "friend" of "Elvis" whose in love with him. Honestly there was so much going on in the book that I didn't even realize that I didn't like that main characters until I started to like them more.... don't know if that made any sense or not.
The book has romance and yet you don't really see the romance. A lot of it is covered up over everything else the characters have to do. It's just not a good book. The author tried to make it creative and in the end she just made it to creative, with to much going on.

I fell in love with Turner, what a sexy man of God. I thought this story was sweet. I loved the well developed characters. Millie made me laugh out loud more than once. If I had to say something negative it would be about Paris. I was so not digging Paris's stubbornness and shallowness in the beginning. But as her character grew I developed a fondness for her. This story demonstrates unconditional love, for better or for worse in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. This is the stuff great marriages are made of. This is a light easy read that will keep you turning the pages.

I have to agree with other reviewers, I expected a light hearted read. The main character just came across as bitchy, self-centered. The hero was just to syrupy sweet and patient to be real. Post-partum depression is no laughing matter and in this book just made me feel glum, just having to read over and over how bad her childhood was. I was very disappointed in this book.

I picked up this book hoping for some delightful romantic comedy to read before bed. However, after the opening scene where she wakes up married to her childhood friend & pregnant, I got a never ending tale of how tragic Paris's childhood was and how she was terrified of hurting her child like her Mother's Post partum depression hurt Paris & her baby sister. Post partum is bad & I'm gonna have it so I have to walk away from my husband and child so I can save them. Are you getting the idea? It was such a good idea & it just plops on the floor. Seriously, how many pages can a woman read about how horrifying Post partum depression is & how the heroine doesn't want to keep her kid because she might get it too.... (Please pardon the run on sentences, but I really needed to vent--I feel much better now.)