ALWAYS THE BRIDESMAID
by Sarah Webb
About to turn 30 and still single? Here are all your favorite chick-lit stereotypes once again, complete with heaps of exclamation points! Brace yourself for lots of trite dialogue and complaining about clothes! Laugh at standardized mishaps! The Dublin setting may be the only new wrinkle here, though this sanitized and prissy Ireland seems not even remotely real. Amy’s well-groomed mum is a retired Aer Lingus hostess, and her dad runs an architectural salvage business. Naïve but nice Amy works in a children’s bookstore—Winnie the Pooh always makes her smile—and she often dons a pointed hat to read fairytales aloud to adorable little customers. Other than that, her life is ordinary, lacking only a Prince Charming. Hmm—any likely candidates? Amy wouldn’t mind meeting Stevie J. It could happen. But maybe not. After all, he’s “one of the most famous children’s book personalities in the world. His books, based on the adventures of a young wizard called Henry, had sold in the millions and Spielberg was filming the first one.” How amazing! He just popped in and he wants to talk to her! Stevie couldn’t possibly be serious, of course. Besides, Amy is preoccupied with wedding plans for her baby sister Suzi and gorgeous, rugby-playing Matt, who’s from Australia and is so, so tanned. Life just isn’t fair. But brave Amy soldiers on through minor plot complications toward her very own, very special happy ending: she becomes the star of a children’s TV show and gets engaged to—oops! That’s a secret!
Cloying tone, unoriginal story, published previously (2001) in England.