My Big Fat Fake Wedding
By Lauren Landish
ISBN# 9781693238550
Author’s Website: http://www.laurenlandish.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
Violet’s grandfather, or Papa as he’s known, is the only father figure she’s ever had. His heart is failing and the doctor doesn’t give him long to live. Papa has always wanted to walk Violet down the aisle at her wedding and she’s determined to make that wish a reality!
So, when Violet reconnects with an old boyfriend, Colin, she feels the timing couldn’t be more perfect! They get engaged and have the whole wedding planned. Everything is going well until Colin breaks it off with her just weeks before the wedding!
Not to fear! Violet’s devious best friend, Abi, has a plan! Violet can have a fake wedding with Abi’s brother, Ross, who just got served an ultimatum from his dad to settle down. The only problem is that Ross is the kid that made her life hell growing up. Can they get past their differences to make a dying man’s dream come true or will it all blow up in their faces?
The synopsis of this book didn’t impress me, but I do enjoy Landish’s writing, so I decided to give this novel a try. I did struggle with this story, in the beginning. It had a very slow start as the background was being built for us. I also couldn’t get past the unlikeliness of someone replacing the groom in their wedding TWO WEEKS before the big day! Violet also kept the dates and venues the same as they had been with Colin. They did get called out on this, but they stuck to their plan anyway.
After getting past the things mentioned above, I did end up really enjoying this book. I absolutely loved Ross and he ended up being pretty sweet, and had a great playful personality (Nerf wars and all). He definitely wasn’t afraid to let his fists fly when needed either!
“What would’ve happened if Dad had told Abi or me to ‘settle down with a good boy’?”
I scoff. “Well, first off, Abi would’ve told him to fuck off, and you would’ve probably said you’re too young. And then I would’ve killed him.”
She laughs. “But when he told you to, you marched right out there and got yourself a bride. Fucking overachiever.”
The secondary characters of this story were great, as well. I adored Violet’s outspoken Italian family and her gay best friend was quite the hoot! Everybody needs an Archie in their lives! I would love to read more from these characters and hope there are more books in the works!
This storyline was a bit predictable. A fake wedding with feelings that become real and a meddling ex to mess things up. Despite the predictability, the story flowed well once Abi’s plan was set into motion and I didn’t want to put the book down! This was another great story from Lauren Landish and I look forward to the next one!
And, I will leave you with Delicate by Taylor Swift because I think it’s the perfect song to go with this book! “I pretend you’re mine, all the damn time.”
