Chick Lit Review: Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

Title: Wedding Night

Author: Sophie Kinsella
Publisher: The Dial Press

Publication date: April 23, 2013

Genre(s): Adult (Chick Lit)

Source: Edelweiss

Format: eARC

Pages: 464

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Lottie just knows that her boyfriend is going to propose during lunch at one of London’s fanciest restaurants. But when his big question involves a trip abroad, not a trip down the aisle, she’s completely crushed. So when Ben, an old flame, calls her out of the blue and reminds Lottie of their pact to get married if they were both still single at thirty, she jumps at the chance. No formal dates—just a quick march to the altar and a honeymoon on Ikonos, the sun-drenched Greek island where they first met years ago.

Their family and friends are horrified. Fliss, Lottie’s older sister, knows that Lottie can be impulsive—but surely this is her worst decision yet. And Ben’s colleague Lorcan fears that this hasty marriage will ruin his friend’s career. To keep Lottie and Ben from making a terrible mistake, Fliss concocts an elaborate scheme to sabotage their wedding night. As she and Lorcan jet off to Ikonos in pursuit, Lottie and Ben are in for a honeymoon to remember, for better . . . or worse.

Wedding Night is another fabulous addition to Sophie Kinsella's chick lit novels. Before I start this review I just have to point out that I am a huge fan of Sophie Kinsella. She was the one that helped me through my high school years, by her ever hilarious books, from the Shopaholic series, Can You Keep a Secret? to Remember Me? Of course even her recent releases have become some of my favorite chick lits, specifically I've Got Your Number which I actually reviewed on this blog last year. You can imagine how excited I was to find out she has a new novel with her trademark protagonist and a laughter inducing plot. I can tell a Sophie Kinsella female protagonist a mile away. There is this unique trait I find in every one, they are british of course, always are the center of the most embarrassing situations but are still so endearing and very likable. Half of the time I tend to always yell "oh no! can't you see this is a DISASTROUS idea?" I mean if you haven't read her books, I'm pretty sure you at least watched the Shopaholic movie, so you must know what I mean. 

Back to Wedding Night. What is different about this book is that it is actually told from two POVs, something Sophie Kinsella has never done before. I was, to be honest, a bit wary, especially since the second POV belongs to the main protagonist's older sister. I even started reading it back in february but stopped after 40 pages, excitement deflated and actually surrendering a little bit that I might actually end up not liking a Sophie Kinsella book.. something that is still unheard of. However when I picked it up again in March, I must say that I got sucked in after the initial slow start. What was funny is that in the end I enjoyed the POV of the older sister, Fliss, way more than the main protagonist, Lottie. Fliss was the level headed one of the two. Lottie got swept up in the unrealistic romance, getting proposed by a guy she hasn't seen for 15 years. The guy she had a romantic couple of weeks with in Ikonos, a greek island back when she was 18. Fliss tried warning her, and even started creating elaborate schemes to try and stop this sudden and crazy marriage. By this time I was more interested in Fliss and the sudden appearance of Lorcan, Ben's old friend. Lottie and Ben's relationship felt too rushed (obviously! Being married like that). Fliss on the other hand... I have to say Lorcan is the type of guy I crave for in Kinsella's books. The brooding, director of a big shot company with the 10 thousand dollar suits and serious, don't mess with me, face. He reminds me of both men from I've Got Your Number and Shopaholic, but is still his own man. He was a character I wanted to know more about and actually got to do just that. Fliss and Lorcan's scenes, especially with Richard, Lottie's ex-boyfriend, and Fliss's young son, Noah, who starts telling the most convoluted lies to people, such as him getting heart surgery among others that crack any readers up. 

This wouldn't be a Sophie Kinsella novel without the fun and hilarious banter as well as the awkward and embarrassing situations. Fliss trying to keep Lottie and Ben from cashing in on their wedding night as well as trying to teach Noah that it is wrong to tell lies like that, especially when they come back and bite Fliss back in the butt. As for the writing, it was superb, I didn't expect any less from Sophie Kinsella. The ending was actually quite surprising but refreshing. That is what I like about Sophie Kinsella, she takes overused chick lit plots and transforms them into original and fantastic plots. Now I must say I am a bit bummed out and the reason is because I have to wait another full year for the next novel by Sophie Kinsella. I might pick up some of her previous ones to pass the time. I seriously recommend Wedding Night to chick lit lovers as well as YA novel readers who want to branch out their usual reading genres.