BOOK REVIEW: Thirteen Weddings by Paige Toon

Sometimes you just have to step out of the light to see clearly again...
Bronte never expected to see Alex after their one night together, but she never stopped thinking of him. So when she arrives at work one day to find that Alex is a new colleague, she is secretly thrilled. The only problem is that Alex is now engaged to the girl he was on a break from the night they met.
Determined to move on, Bronte becomes a part-time wedding photographer, alongside her day job. Surrounded by loving couples, tearful bridesmaids, mischievous  pageboys and interfering mother-in-laws, she struggles through wedding after wedding whilst he heart is slowly torn apart.
As Alex's own wedding day draws ever nearer, their chemistry becomes harder to ignore. Bronte must decide whether to fight for the man she loves, or to let him go forever. 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Pages: 422

Thirteen Weddings is a brilliant read and my favourite of the Paige Toon books that I have read so far. Sadly, I've not had any weddings to attend this year but after reading this I feel like I've been to so many! I read this book over two days as I just couldn't put it down which I always find with this author's books.
Thirteen Weddings revolves around Bronte, she has a one night stand with Alex when she is visiting the UK from Australia for a friend's wedding. She thinks she won't see Alex again  but she never stops thinking about him. A year and a half later, Bronte finds herself back in the UK for a year long work placement. She cannot believe her eyes when Alex turns up in her office as the new Art Director. Alex who she has not stopped thinking of, Alex who is now engaged to be married in three months time. Bronte tries to keep her distance but she cannot ignore her feelings and neither can Alex. Bronte starts to spend a lot of time with Lachie, a fellow Australian living in the UK. She tries to occupy her spare time by becoming an assistant to a wedding photographer at the weekends. She has vowed never to get married due to her parents miserable relationship but watching several couples declaring their love for each other and making a life time commitment raises some questions in Bronte's mind.
Will Alex really marry his fiance and should Bronte give up her chance of happiness with another man? Can she truly love two men at the same time?
I was completely in love with Alex and Lachie by the end of the book and I was so unsure of who I wanted Bronte to end up with. Paige Toon has created two very appealing and believable male leads, I could see why Bronte loved them both. There were subtle differences in her relationships and this made it very difficult to decide who she was the most suited to.
Bronte's dislike of marriage added an extra element to the story. Her parent's marriage breakdown has greatly affected Bronte and I thought that Paige Toon dealt with this very well; it added real intrigue to the story as we don't find out exactly what happened until the very end.
Thirteen Weddings is the perfect summer read, it is full of love, friendship, passion and weddings! Read it, you won't be disappointed!

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for sending me a copy of the book to review.

BLOG TOUR: Idea Behind Thirteen Weddings by Paige Toon

I am very excited to be taking part in the blog tour for Paige Toon's latest book, Thirteen Weddings. I adored this book and shall be posting my review later in the week. To whet your appetite though, the lovely Paige Toon herself has shared the idea behind this brilliant book: 

I first got the idea for Thirteen Weddings after attending four weddings in one summer. I watched the various wedding photographers at work and thought, imagine what it would be like to do wedding after wedding. Maybe it feels a little like Groundhog Day, but it must also feel very surreal to be such an important part of two complete strangers’ Best Day Of Their Lives. Then, as it tends to do, my overactive imagination ran away with me and I imagined what it would be like to photograph a groom if you were in love with him.

No one knows better than my readers how much I like writing about characters who pine for people they can’t have. Of course, pining for a soon-to-be-married man seems like one step too far, so there had to be a reason for my heroine to find herself in this awkward position.

Thirteen Weddings sees Bronte meet Alex during the London-based hen night for one of her friends. They talk, they flirt, they end up having a night of incredible passion, and in the morning, Alex is contacted by his ex girlfriend. She claims to have made a mistake in breaking up with him, and as Bronte is heading back to Australia where she lives, so they say a difficult farewell before letting each other go forever.

Or not for forever, as it turns out. Eighteen months later, Bronte finds herself back in London with a job on the picture desk of a magazine (to find out how Bronte in linked to my other books, check out iheart-chicklit.blogspot.com tomorrow). Alex is her co-worker, and at first, things are awkward. Then Bronte gets a one-off gig helping out a wedding photographer called Rachel, and Alex and Bronte bond over tea and their mutual affection for photography.

On Bronte’s recommendation, Alex lines up Rachel to do his wedding, but then Rachel enlists Bronte’s help again, and again, until suddenly she finds herself working as a part-time wedding photographer. As Alex’s wedding draws ever nearer, it’s clear that Bronte’s feelings for him – which she tries to control – are not unrequited.

I had to write about a number of weddings for Thirteen Weddings, but the fated thirteenth was based on my own. Mainly because I could picture it so clearly. I got married in St Paul’s Church in Covent Garden and we could hear the sound of buskers in the plaza behind the church. The memory of the church is so clear, that I can easily imagine Bronte standing at the back with her camera, waiting for Alex to come in – or not come in. I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t read it.

I also had an enormous amount of help from a couple of real wedding photographers, one of whom won a charity bid to win her name in my next book – she had no idea it was about a wedding photographer (read about this in loveofagoodbook.wordpress.com on 6 August). But what really warmed the cockles of my heart was the feedback I got from my readers when I asked for them to share their wedding stories. I included some in the book, like Sarah Abbott’s “fireman” moment. A couple were too shocking to print – one father-in-law’s awful speech made my jaw hit the floor! But all of the stories had me gripped. I hope Thirteen Weddings grips my readers, too.

A note from Paige: Sign up to my book club, ‘The Hidden Paige’, at www.paigetoon.com for free short stories, competitions and the chance to find out more about me and my characters and what we’re all up to.

Follow me on Twitter @PaigeToonAuthor or visit me at www.Facebook.com/PaigeToonAuthor

Many thanks to Paige Toon for taking the time to take part in the tour and also to Dawn at Simon & Schuster for organising it. Please check out the tour banner at the top of my page to see where this blog tour is going next!