The Guest List by Melissa Hill

Hmm.. I could never make up my mind about Melissa Hill. Her books are not that chick-lit enough that helps you to relax and unwind while you enjoy a good laugh or two.. nor are they serious life-changing slash deep thinking stories that makes you questions morals and all that stuff. Her books also do not have magic sprinkled here and there that makes you believe that fairytales are real. I’m always left feeling a bit unsure about her every time I read her books YET, I keep coming back for more..

..I guess thats the attraction then, huh?

The Guest List was recommended by a book seller I usually buy books from. Since she told me this book is her favourite of all Melissa Hill’s books, I quickly placed an order for this book to see how great it was.

Turned out, it isn’t something I’d say great. But it isn’t something I’d tell people to avoid either.

The story is about Cara, who’s been waiting for her boyfriend to propose to her after many years of relationship. She wasn’t the bossy type and she didn’t push Shane into it. It was more like she wanted to make sure there was a ‘them’ in the future.

The books starts with two over-the-top weddings they had just and were about to attend. One was her younger sister’s wedding whom their parents were still paying for even after a year.. and the other her college friend who had sent a ridiculous ‘gimme-money-for-my-wedding’ invitation to her. Because of these two weddings, they had (playfully?) agreed that when it was their turn, they were NEVEr going to overspend like that, and that they would prefer a personal and intimate wedding instead.

And then Shane proposes!

..then all hell breaks loose!

Her younger sister, Heidi, who had just wanted to announce her pregnancy (Ohhh, you get the spoilt-brat feel right away when she first appears in the book) was furious that Cara ‘stole the spotlight’ from her with her engagement announcement and throughout the book you’d be so annoyed at Heidi, you’d wanna smack her bottom for being so selfish and all.

Her mother was more of the bridezilla than Cara herself was entitled to be, pushing them to have a great big wedding, wanting her to wear the big poofy kind of dress her mother preferred and wanting to invite 300++ people that would dash Cara’s hope for an intimate wedding.

It didn’t help that Shane’s parents also wanted kind of the same thing, a big affair to show off their son and daughter-in-law AND to save their failing business. It came to a point where they weren’t talking to each other and that gave, even me, a headache.

The only one supporting Cara and telling her to plant her feet firm on what she wanted was her glamorous sister-in-law, Kim. At times, she had to be the peacemaker between Cara and her family, while fending off the morning sickness she, too, was having (making Heidi even more mad about the whole thing).

Another sort-of supporting pillar for Cara was her estranged oldest sister, Danielle. Danielle had left home when Cara was small so she never really got to know her sister. They’d meet once in a few years but it wasn’t enough to make them close. Cara always wondered what happened to Danielle and her family (particularly her mother) that made her run away hundreds of miles from home. Though Danielle did not really want Cara to have her wedding near her now-home, she still helped with organizing it, even though she knew it meant she had to face her mother again.

Ohh, and she also had her boss, Conor, a classic rich bachelor, in her corner to support her.

After a bit of a drama from Shane’s parents, the whole lot finally agreed with Cara and Shane’s wishes so a Caribbean wedding was finally in order.

You’d think that was the end of the drama eh.. but there was another twist coming. A twist I would’ve love if I hadn’t read about it in a Chicken Soup book a few years ago.. and thats the only reason it didn’t spark as much as it should have for me. It felt a bit stale..

I also felt like the story was a bit rushed. The wedding drama took too much space in the tale while the 'twist' drama which I'm sure is more interesting, only took a few chapters towards the end. It would've been nice if both main dramas in this tale were better entwined.

The book as whole is.. well, ok. Won’t be my first choice if I wanted something simple yet entertaining but I guess one day, I might give it another try, just to see if I have a different opinion of it =)