The Wedding Girl - Madeleine Wickham

When she was eighteen, Milly was quite adventurous and free spirited.  One of her adventures led her down the altar, when she married Allan, a gay friend that needed her help to stay in the country.  After that whirlwind summer, Milly and Allan went their separate ways and didn't keep in touch.  Ten  years later, Milly is engaged to the wealthy and conservative Simon Pinnacle.  Simon believes Milly to be just as conservative and serious.  With her free spirit put safely away in the back of her closet with her more daring and eccentric wardrobe, Milly is ready to marry Simon in a ceremony fit for royalty.  However, days before the wedding Milly meets the photographer, who started taking pictures of brides ten years ago, outside of city hall.  Will Millie's past catch up with her just before her wedding and spoil her present and her future?

I enjoyed The Wedding Girl.  It was a sweet girly story worthy of a beach blanket.  However, I would have enjoyed the book more if I didn't know that Sophie Kinsella wrote it.  Wedding Girl, lacked the quickness, wit and charm of the Kinsella novels.  The story was a little sloppier and a little slower than I expected.  Madeleine Wickhham writing as herself was still developing a style and exploring the art of story telling.  Madeleine Wickham as Sophie Kinsella has it figured out and tells stories that are impossible to put down.  So I think that if you're a die hard Kinsella fan, you will be disappointed with Wedding Girl.  However, this does not mean that it was a bad book.  I did enjoy it.  Wedding Girl was, for lack of a better word, cute.  It's lives up to its cover.  And yes, I do choose books based on their covers - and lately I've been enjoying the cartoony cover genre.  So, if you are looking for an easy breezy summer read, then Wedding Girl is for you.