Christmas Wedding

Magnolia Mysteries #7

by Ellen Elizabeth Hunter

Wilmington’s social event of the season is about to unfold: Ashley and Melanie’s lavish Christmas-theme double wedding to their princes charming, Jon and Cameron. Vows will be exchanged at St. James Church, out-of-town guests are comfortably ensconced at picturesque B&Bs, and the wedding planner is none other than Colin Cowie himself. What could possibly spoil the nuptials? A hyper-critical mother-in-law known to an older generation as the Sweetheart of the Silver Screen? A Wall Street hunk who has vowed to proclaim his love for one of the brides? A “Queen of the Tarot Cards” bridesmaid who is predicting catastrophe for the wedding day? Or is it the mysterious wedding crasher whose life of lies just might cost the brides their own?

Genres: Mystery, Romance, Cozy Mystery

147 pages, Nook

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short and sweet story. A few harrowing moments prior to the double wedding of Ashley and Jon and Melanie and Cam (who knew how useful a hatpin could be?) In the end the wedding and reception went well. The best moment was Spunky the cat strolling down the aisle.

[Julesy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series, so very cozy, and I love North Carolina! I really did not expect much from this particular book in the Magnolia Mysteries series. It was slated as part of my annual holiday reading list. Christmas-themed mysteries are almost always very light on mystery and more focused on Christmas or the winter festivities. This book had really 2 themes: Christmas and a wedding. Therefore, the mystery was practically non-existent, comprising only a scant 2 or 3 chapters of the entire book. That in itself did not seem to bother me nor should it be a deterrent for anyone who is planning to read this particular book in the series or the series at all.

What I do have issue with is the lack of editing. There were quite a few typos in the book. In one excerpt with a horse-drawn carriage, someone had grabbed the horse by its bridle. In the book it was spelled "bridal". When reading the passage it didn't make sense to me since it is a wedding-themed book, until I realized it was a bad misspelling of a homonym. Using the skills of a good copy editor or even a second pair of eyes would have caught this mistake, other typos and grammatical errors.

Overall, I still enjoy this series. Having read half of the books, I do plan to continue with the remainder. I gave this book a 3.75 star rating, rounded up to 4 stars.

[Meredith (Austenesque Reviews) · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was no mystery or murder in this one. Just a novella to show the main couple's wedding preparations and day. Loved hearing about wedding details, but it didn't make much of a plot. Thought the bit about Scarlett was really interesting and exciting, wish they made a whole story-line out of that.

[Celia B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do indeed enjoy the characters in Hunter's novels and I love reading about the Wilmington, NC area. However this book lacked the intrigue of the preceding mysteries. I was disappointed.

[Gillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this quick read. I look forward to the next one.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

the people in this book are part of a great series that keep you reading and they are well written.