Customer Reviews

Three Weddings and a Bar Mitzvah (86 Bloomberg Place Series #4)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've really enjoyed this series and looked forward to this one coming out. The girls are back to finish up their relationships

and go on with their lives. Generally a fun read, but I had a few issues with this one, a few things that struck me personally.


1. Everyone getting saved. In Book 1, it seemed that Megan was the only Christian in the bunch. By the finale, it seems like all

four girls and their boyfriends have become godly-minded people. I mean, shouldn't we want them to all get saved? Sure. But it's

just so untrue to life that I can't buy the idea. Gil and Anna were ambivalent Catholics, Kendall plainly told Megan not to try to

"convert" her, and Edmond's kind of been a religious question mark until book 3. Now everyone is a committed Christian. A happy

ending for sure, but not believable. Christianity is too polarizing to see many outcomes like this.

I hope no one takes offense, but I really disliked the Megan-Marcus storyline. (This is a personal thing because I don't believe

in missionary dating.) In Book 1 Marcus is dating Kendall (and pressuring her for sex), in Book 4 Marcus is a missionary to Zambia?!?

Yes, of course people can change. I just didn't find it to flow naturally and believably. Marcus has always seemed a lot more into

Megan (who is a Christian) than he really is into God.


2. (MINOR SPOILER ALERT)


A minor character passes away, and a new Christian asks a mature Christian if she can pray "in reverse" that the deceased would

be able to "find" God even though she is gone now. The mature Christian decides this is "childlike faith" and does so. I found

this very disturbing theologically. Just my personal belief again.


3. Is it really in Kendall's best interest to rush into a marriage with Killiki? She knew him for what, two months?



Other than this little tidbits, I found it to be a good read. Goodbye, Bloomberg Place. (Mrs. Carlson, a spinoff might be fun!)

I did not know that this was the final book in a series, and I had not read the preceding titles; however, I was able to follow the plot. One of the characters has a small child and the care of the baby takes up a good deal of the storyline. The planning of weddings and showers are another major portion of the plot. The Bar Mitzvah is quickly glossed over.

The characters are somewhat believable, but I wonder at some of the dialogue. There's a sense of being in love with love. Anna dates and works with Edmond, yet days goes by without any communication and a giant misunderstanding ensues. Megan and Marcus have an odd relationship, and I found the conclusion hard to imagine. Kendall's island love is confined to a few phone calls. Lelani and Gil are the most believable couple, but with a domineering mother, neither get disturbed enough to react.

I did not like the twisted theology presented when after a death, one character wants to "pray in reverse" for the deceased. After a prayer, there is a sense of satisfaction that now the deceased is a Christian. I find this strange for a book that is labeled Christian fiction.

I'm sure that those who have read the first three books in the series will enjoy reading how it all ends.

Last book in the series. Wish there was a 5th. good read . amazed this auther can give you this much story with No cursing , foul language and dirty undertone. Nicely done!

I have enjoyed reading this series. The earlier two novels more than this one. I felt that the first two were novels first, and christian novels second. This one seemed a bit heavy handed and "preachy".

Three Weddings & a Bar Mitzvah is the fourth and final book in Melody Carlson's 86 Bloomberg Place series. In this story, the four roommates are busy planning the weddings of Kendall and Lelani. Both of these women want small and simple weddings (on the same day), but their families are making it very difficult to make that a reality. Kendall's mom wants to give her an extravagant wedding and Lelani's future mother-in-law wants to give her a big wedding and has taken over many of the plans. Add to that the complicated love lives of Megan and Anna, and life at 86 Bloomberg Place is hectic and full of drama.

I have to admit, I did myself a huge disservice and did not read the previous three books in this series. I wanted to, but just never got around to it. I have done that before, starting reading a series in the middle or at the end, and did not feel like I missed much. That was not the case with this book. I really felt like I missed a lot, and that was disappointing and it took a lot away from my enjoyment of this book. I have read other books by Melody Carlson and I have already enjoyed her writing. Three Weddings & a Bar Mitzvah is written in classic Melody Carlson fashion, which is a good thing! I liked the characters a lot and their situations were very realistic. I just wish I had read this series from the beginning because this book was very good and I would have liked reading about the roommates from the start. I can recommend this book, but I strongly urge you to start this series with the first book, I Heart Bloomberg.

This was a fun read about friends, relationships and chaos! My favorite scene in the book is when Kendall takes her somewhat senile Nana on an outing to "Paris"! They don't really go to Paris, but they pretend to. They go out for espresso and pastries and Nana speaks French to the waiters. Then they go window shopping before time for Nana to go back to the nursing home. What a fun idea!

Three Weddings and a Bar Mitzvah by Melody Carlson is the fourth and final book in the 86 Bloomberg Place series. Lelani and Gil are trying to put their wedding together around the interference of his mother. Kendall's surprise proposal from Killiki inspires her to get married on the same day, which puts all four housemates into a whirl of excitement, especially when you throw in relationship troubles for Anna and Meghan! Carlson has really developed these four young women throughout the course of the series from selfish and immature to generous and faithful. Kendall's growth has been exceptional; in the first couple of books, I could barely read her scenes, but by this volume, I couldn't wait to read more about her. Carlson portrays real friendships and family relationships with all of their ups and downs, insecurities, loyalties, and sacrifices. I'm so glad that I spent time at 86 Bloomberg Place!

With Three Weddings & a Bar Mitzvah, Melody Carson has outdone herself! I have truly enjoyed the 86 Bloomberg Place series, and anxiously awaited this final installment of the series. I have grown to know and love Lelani, Kendall, Anna and Megan, and while I hate to not have a peek into their lives any more, this book was a great way to end the run.

Wedding bells are ringing at 86 Bloomberg Place as Lelani begins to prepare for her wedding to Gil. As someone who's recently finished with her own wedding, I totally understand the importance and struggle of trying to have a small wedding. To me, weddings are supposed to be a celebration of a marriage and the union of two people who love each other. They are NOT supposed to be a party where you invite anyone and everyone just so they don't feel left out. For that reason, I just kept getting irritated with Gil's mother for trying to go against every one of Lelani's and Gil's wishes. On the other hand, I was really proud of the couple of standing up to her. I hate seeing people become doormats during wedding season! The girls were run to read as everyone's trying to prepare for the celebration. I really like seeing how they've grown since their arrival at house 86. Each one of them has matured and has found their niche in life and has taken full advantage of it. Once again there's lots of humor in this book, and for the most part I can really relate to these girls. They are my age and do things that I would do and like things I like. As I've said before I would have loved to share a house with them.

The only thing I didn't really like was that I felt Kendall's marriage is extremely rushed. I know that she had matured a bit since the beginning of the series, especially due to the baby. However, she's still not really that responsible to me and her rushing into marriage like this doesn't seem very wise at all. It doesn't help that her parents are very good people to turn to in times like this and don't have that much advice to give her. Her roommates try to advise when they can but even still, it feels like this might end up being a mistake. There's also the fact that this seems to be a long distance relationship that hasn't taken time to fully grow and it's not even really mentioned how often the couple has seen each other. One off beat note is that the bar mitzvah is not really a big factor in the story as the title seems to imply.

Other than this, I have really enjoyed reading this entire series. I have felt that I have gotten to know the girls really well and I shall miss reading about them and their adventures. This is probably the chick lit-tiest of all of Melody's books and I think that it has appeal to the general market as well. I hope that she'll be writing another series in this same fashion again.

This fun series of chick lit romance was like Melody Carlson's other books, her characters have many flaws and struggle with things. The characters in here are no exception! They all have many problems, Kendall is finally trying to overcome her problems and growing up a bit, (we hope at least). I appreciated the levity among the struggles of the story of girls living together in a house that needs alot of work! I think it addressed some of the issues that you may have with your parents even though you love them alot, sometimes there can be misunderstandings. I did think the marriage for Kendall went a little fast, but because of her "delicate" condition, I guess, I understand. Good work, Melody......