Book Review: A Simple Wedding

One little white lie. It seems so simple. Until it snowballs into something bigger and bigger that you end up having no control over how it tramples on everything and everyone because of it. That is the dilemma that Jenny has when she travels to the popular wedding destination Heart’s Landing to plan her movie star cousin’s secret nuptials in the book A Simple Wedding by Leigh Duncan.

Credit: Hallmark Publishing

The first in a series of books based on the Heart’s Landing location, A Simple Wedding is about Jenny’s trip to the town that specializes in weddings.  Working for her paparazzi-favorite cousin Kay as an assistant, she was tasked to go to Heart’s Landing to plan her wedding in secret by pretending to be the bride herself. 

At first, things seem simple enough for Jenny but things get complicated as the people of Heart’s Landing embrace her with open arms as a “true Heart’s Landing bride.” Even with the continuously changing plans because of her cousin, everyone seems to rally behind Jenny until the very end when things all fall apart after Kay decides (without telling Jenny) to simply elope after all the stress and all the planning that was done.

Things are also complicated by the attraction that she has with the baker Nick, who also feels the same way. How can she pretend to be the bride when she is falling in love at the same time? How can she work things out in the end when she was lying to his face the entire time?

I found this book to be a good read. I enjoyed reading about this fictional town that specializes in weddings and could not help but imagine what it must be like to visit it and to be based in that town. If by reading this you imagine it as a Hallmark Movie, it should come as no surprise that it is produced by Hallmark Publishing. I would love to see this have a movie version someday because the visuals that I am imagining from it are really good. It is a place that just seems too good to be true. It seems so beautiful, so scenic...with people who all know each other and are always willing to give a helping hand to someone in need.

Another thing that I like about this book is that it was not just about romance, but it was also a story of self-discovery and personal growth for Jenny. After she was taken in by her Aunt and practically grew up with her cousin, she had always felt indebted to them. She had felt so obligated to her relatives that even when her cousin was being unreasonable she kept on working for her and helping her with her wedding, even if it meant compromising her personal integrity in the process. Finally being able to find the courage to stand up for herself and go after what she wants in life without feeling guilty that she is turning her back on her family became part of her journey in Heart’s Landing.

As a book that featured a baker and his seemingly mouth-watering creations, it was a nice touch that the end of the book had a recipe for Lemon Bars. Personally, it would have been nice if it were one of the cupcakes featured in the book, but it was still a good bonus for the readers.

A Simple Wedding is the first in a series of three books. You do not need to read one book to enjoy the others as they are mostly tied together by the fact that the stories are based on the location (Heart’s Landing). It is worth the read if you are after Hallmark Movie-type stories like me.

A Simple Wedding is available on Amazon’s Kindle Books store, along with the rest of the Heart’s Landing books. Check them out if you enjoyed this review!