Saturday 15 November 2014

REVIEW - GOING TO THE CHAPEL BY RITA HERRON

 
Title: Going To The Chapel
Series: Montlake
Author: Rita Herron
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Release Date: 11th November 2014

BLURB from Goodreads
If there’s a naughty list, Izzy Sassafras is on it—but she’s ready to make a new start this Christmas. Especially after leaving her lying, cheating, no-good husband and fleeing to her old hometown of Matrimony, Georgia. Izzy’s made herself a promise: no more men. All she wants to do is get her wedding business up and running—and mend fences with her estranged sisters. But Izzy knows she’s in trouble when her very first client, a smooth-talking Texan, makes her light up like a Christmas tree.

Desperate for business, private investigator Levi Fox reluctantly takes a case involving a runaway wife in a town called Matrimony. When he meets sweet, sexy Izzy, he decides she can’t possibly be as innocent as she seems. At first, posing as her client is the perfect cover; but he soon imagines himself as a groom—with Izzy as his Christmas bride! Will this case end with a trip to the chapel…or the jailhouse?

INITIAL THOUGHTS
After already having read a Christmas themed tale, I fancied another one, so thought I'd give this a try.

MY REVIEW
I downloaded and e-copy of this one from Netgalley.
The cover is quite attractive, with a snowy, Christmas themed landscape. The couple are a bit overly posed for me but it does work for the possibility of a scene from within the book.
Would the cover make me pick it up in a bookstore? Maybe if I was specifically looking for a Christmas themed title.
So the main characters of this book are Izzy, Daisy and Caroline Sassafras. When they were young their mother killed their father and was sent to jail. The girls Aunt Dottie took them in and brought them up. As youngsters the girls used to love playing with Barbie & Ken, dressing them in wedding outfits and performing ceremonies. As the girls grow older they kind of get their selves a reputation as being rowdy and unladylike which is ironic as Aunt Dottie was well known for instructing how to be ladylike!
So the three sisters have grown apart, centred on their own lives, so they are somewhat surprised to all end up at Aunt Dotties together, when she has hurt her leg. It seems the girls all have their secrets that they would rather not share. Aunt Dottie has the girls open a shop and become wedding planners. It's whilst doing so that Izzy is tracked down by a Private Investigator hired by her fraudster husband. The PI, Levi Fox knows that Ray LaPone, Izzys husband is a fraudster but he needs to find out how much Izzy knows about the crime her husband has committed. So Levi goes undercover as a potential groom to be and hires the Sassafras girls to organise his wedding. What Levi doesn't plan on is falling for Izzy himself.
I enjoyed the comedy within the book, the way Aunt Dottie really hoodwinks the Sassafras girls into thinking she is frail and needs them to stick around and help. I also found it funny that the women were still acting like girls around each other with petty arguments and keeping secrets from each other. The character of Aunt Dottie was believable and a heart warming character, she is conniving, secretive and not adverse to using her age to get the sisters to stay with her, yet all she does is for the good of the sisters too.
So did I enjoy the novella? Yes, I enjoyed reading this novella, it reminded me a little of Sharon Sala's Curl Up And Dye Series, which I also really enjoyed.
Would I recommend the novella? It's a perfect curl up by the fireside read. I am recommending it to my mum.
Would I want to read more about these characters in another book/novella? I think I would, I mean there could be more stories around the Wedding Planner business.
Would I want to read more by Rita Herron? I did enjoy the comedy and writing style so yes I think I would.

1 comment:

  1. I have been thinking that a nice holiday read will help me start to get in the mood for Christmas and the winter holidays. This novella sounds great. Thanks for sharing!
    ~Jess

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