Book Review: Wedlocked

'Wedlocked'
Author: Bonnie Trachtenberg


Format: Paperback
Published: iUniverse.com; June 2011
Pages: 272
Genre: Chick-lit
Grade: C
Source: Pump Up Your Books 


Synopsis: On what should be the happiest day of her life, Rebecca Ross is panic stricken. Rebecca has just wed Craig Jacobs, but she realizes she put more thought into choosing her florist than she did in choosing the man she's just pledged to love for the rest of her life.
Before Craig, Rebecca, a talented Long Island girl, dreamed of following in her grandmother's footsteps with an acting career. Unfortunately, she was cut down to size by years of disappointment, and by her first love-a Hollywood director. She returned to Long Island a lost and broken woman, and ended up in the last place she ever wanted: her old bedroom at her parents' house.
But Rebecca's mother, an overzealous convert to Judaism, has a long held dream too: marry off her three daughters to Jewish men. So no one is more thrilled than her when Rebecca meets and marries bon vivant Craig Jacobs, the man who has won over the whole family. Too bad they're all about to discover that underneath his charismatic shell, this Prince Charming is anything but!


My Take: It is well known around here that I love a good chick-lit book. They are a great way to decompress after a hard days work and I am always happy to find a new author I love. I will admit though that because I read a lot of them, I am probably a harder critic than most because I know what I want in a good chick-lit and I know what I don't love.


Wedlocked was an interesting mix for me of things that I loved and things that I didn't love. Let's start with the positive. Things that I loved: Rebecca Ross, our heroine was strong-willed and knew what she wanted out of life. I love a leading-lady that isn't simpering and is someone I could relate to. Ross had passion and spirit and that was great. The story started out with a great twist. It's Ross' wedding day and it does not look good! It appears as though her wedding was a gut-reaction to a bad breakup but she is marrying someone that she clearly thought she could make a life with. Sadly on her wedding day it all comes crashing down. Secrets come out, everything that could go wrong does and well, she starts to re-think this whole wedding thing. I liked that. It was different and funny. 


What I didn't like: The 150 pages of Ross' struggling acting career. No love-life, some familial interplay, but mainly just going from job hunt to job hunt. When you sign on for a chick-lit book you want some romance and some fun interplay, not someone bitching about how their acting career isn't taking off. Sorry, to pull out the swear words but once it finally got back to the action I had forgotten what happened at the beginning and I had to reread the intro wedding scene to remember why we were so angry at her new groom. It was all just a little not quite right for me.


However, if you are an actress or have hopes to be one someday, then I do believe you would love this book because you would probably find a soulmate in Rebecca Ross!


Cover Lust: It does make me smile! I believe their are probably a lot of people out there who feel this way about marriage!