Not everyone is into weddings…

Synopsis

It’s the biggest day of their best friends’ lives… and they might just ruin it.

Andi hates weddings. So when her best friend Alex tells her she’s getting married in Italy, and asks her to be her maid of honour, she knows she’s the wrong woman for the job. But Alex won’t take no for an answer, and so begins a week-long trip to a beautiful villa in Italy, full of potential disasters that it’s Andi’s job to avoid. But what if she’s the one causing them?

Enter Owen, fellow wedding-hater, Best Man and also the worst person for the job. Tall, sexy and warm, Andi can’t help but feel the ice around her heart begin to melt when he’s around. But as Andi and Owen grow closer, the disasters begin to multiply, try as they might to keep them at bay. Together, can they put their feelings aside and pull off a successful wedding for those they love most?

My review

After getting her heart broken at her own wedding, Andi absolutely hates them. She doesn’t understand why anyone would want to get married, as it would definitely all end in disaster. But when her best friend announces her wedding in Italy, Andi has to do her best to be happy for her friend. Especially as Andi is going to be maid of honour.
Luckily for Andi, during the week – long trip filled with all kind of preparations, she finds a kindred spirit in Owen, Best Man. Just like Andi, he dislikes anything to do with weddings. But just like her, for the sake of the happy couple, he puts up with it all.
With several disasters taking place, Andi and Owen rely more and more on each other’s help, making them grow closer. Could it be that for love of their friends, this wedding could turn their adversity as both their walls are starting to crumble?

This book was a bit one with mixed feelings…

It starts with a bang, or rather a heartbreak, as we see how Andi finds her fiancée in a compromising position, moments before the ‘I Do’s’.
Of course that is a terrible thing to be happening, not only just moments before your vows, but just any time to make that discovery…
And obviously, I could understand Andi, being heart – broken and despising everything related with weddings, as that event will always be linked to her own heartbreak.

But I found it a bit difficult to agree with her behaviour when she learns that her best friend is engaged. Yes, it is hard and difficult, but if your best friend in the whole world is happy, and you even like her partner, why can’t you just put your own feelings aside for a moment? So that’s why initially I didn’t really like Andi. Dislike is also word, but at moments, she just got me frustrated with her rather selfish behaviour.

Yet it was good to see Andi’s evolution, growth in this book. Because she knows that she has to fake it until she has made it. Obviously things don’t go without any hiccups, but having an ally in Owen for sure helps!

Owen has his own reasons for his dislike, but it was also crystal-clear that he was in the next phase, as he knew that he had to put his own feelings aside.
And he is the perfect medicine for Andi. He is rather laidback, but he is also very resourceful when any kind of disaster is looming around the corner.

Perhaps it was a bit annoying seeing how the soon – to – get – married couple were giving constant teasing nudges towards Andi and Owen, but that also means that the sparks are very obvious to be seen, for everyone.
Andi and Owen seek each other out, not only because of their mutual dislike, but also because all the so many other things they in common. And it was sweet to see how Andi slowly starts to believe in the power of love, but mainly also in the good of people.

So having me initially dislike Andi and slowly liking her, is the reason for my mixed feelings. But in the end I found myself completely rooting for this woman, who has been through a lot. And all those things have scarred her on top of the doubts she perhaps already had.

The journey in Italy is a metaphor for the journey that Andi is going through. Because it’s a rocky journey, with fails and errors. But it’s during that journey that we learn the most and make changes for the better.