The Bridesmaid by Julia London – a Review

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Description:
Getting her to the wedding on time is the least of his worries…

Kate Preston just moved to New York, but she has to get back to Seattle in time for her best friend’s wedding. Joe Firretti is moving to Seattle, and has to get there in time or risk losing his new job. But fate’s got a sense of humor.

Kate goes from rubbing elbows on a plane with a gorgeous but irritating strange (doggone armrest hog) to sharing one travel disaster after another with him on four wheels. Joe thought he had his future figured out, but sometimes fates has to knock you over the head pretty hard before you see what opportunity is standing in front of you…in a really god-awful poufy bridesmaid dress.

Review:
The Bridesmaid by Julia London is a pure romance novella that turned out to be a fun and cute story.  Our heroine is Kate, who lives in New York, doing her dream job of being an assistant book editor.  She has to fly to her hometown of Seattle for her cousin’s wedding, as she is the Maid of Honor. 

On the plane, Kate meets our hero Joe, who is also flying to Seattle for a new exciting job.  The two do not hit it off right away, as he thinks of her as annoying, especially with her hogging the armrest, and carry around a huge puffy wedding dress that annoys everyone she passes.  She of course thought of him as a jerk, being very irritating & cold.  But with both having important deadlines to meet, they are thrown together when the flight is cut short by a blizzard.  Desperate to find anyway to get to Seattle, Joe shows some of his good nature by renting a car, and asking Kate if she wants to go with him to the next airport. 

What follows is a budding romance as they embark on an adventure that will take them through car, trains and planes to get to the destination in time. Besides the Blizzard, they are also faced with an air controller strike.   Will they make it to Seattle on time?

The interaction between the two is at times hysterical, and totally fun.  I loved the part where Kate devises a plan to push them ahead of the long line for a ride to the next destination to be able to board a plane.  It was so funny, and Joe was smart to enough to figure out what Kate was up to.  Kate’s phone calls from her hysterical cousin, and her mother add on to the humor.  When they managed to get a flight to Seattle, Joe gave Kate the one seat left for her to get to the Wedding, since he did not have to be at his new job until Monday, and they said goodbye.  Of course, Kate later changes it to the following morning, and shows up at Joe’s hotel room.  At this point, this romance is full blown, and both of them feel that fate brought them together.  Is this a one night stand or will it turn out to  truly be fate?

With her mothers prodding, Kate invites Joe to her cousins wedding and the whole family takes to him, treating him like a member of the family, which he eats up.  But when it’s time for Kate to go back to N.Y., they both sorrowfully say they will keep in touch, and move on to their lives.   Will Joe and Kate find each other again?  Is it possible to have a relationship living cross country?

This was a cute, fun romance, with some really good characters.  I really did enjoy this book. If you are in the mood for a fast fun romance to read, look no further then The Bridemaid by Julia London.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher