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A review by bananatricky
The Accidental Honeymoon by Portia MacIntosh
4.0
Three and a half stars.
So, this is a 'Married in Vegas after too much alcohol' novel, except it isn't. Yes Georgie and Jack get married after drowning each other's sorrows a little too well. But they don't wake up naked surrounded by foil packets. Georgie wakes up alone and fully dressed - yes, they didn't consummate the marriage. The next morning Georgie has to rush to catch a flight home to the UK, she doesn't even realise/ remember that she got married the night before until Jack rushes onto the plane at the last minute. He wants her to get off the plane and get an annulment but she has her cousin's wedding in Lancashire to get to.
Georgie and Jack agree a plan, Jack will pretend to be Georgie's fiancé John, who she left after she found him cheating on her, at her cousin's wedding and in return Georgie will give him half of her substantial gambling winnings. But things are never as simple as they seem. Georgie has reinvented herself several times: as a teenager; when she met John; and in Vegas but does she really know who she really is? And going back home puts her back in contact with her former boyfriend, does she want him or is he just familiar and safe.
This is very much a fish out of water novel. First, Jack as an American has his first trip to England, being introduced to an English Sunday lunch, skinheads and Blackpool. Second, Georgie coming back from a life in LA as the fiancé of a concert pianist to a lower middle class home, nouveau riche cousins and her school friends from the local council estate. This is not the England of Hugh Grant and Downtown Abbey. This is the England of sticky pub carpets, belligerent youths and Hyacinth Bucket.
I enjoyed this novel, although I felt that Portia Macintosh didn't really commit to Georgie's character, or maybe that was a symptom of Georgie changing her own identity. At the start of the novel in Vegas Georgie is a bit of a clutz but that isn't continued, similarly she has a makeover in Vegas and becomes a platinum blonde with hair extensions and buys a new, sluttier wardrobe, but although lots of people mention her appearance in the book I never really 'believed' she was walking around wearing short, tight bodycon dresses a size too small (if that makes ANY sense).
Overall, this was a lighthearted easy reading which made me smile and had a few laugh out loud moments. I enjoyed the interesting twists on what is a well established genre of drunken Vegas weddings. I haven't read any books by Portia Macintosh before but I will definitely look out for more.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
So, this is a 'Married in Vegas after too much alcohol' novel, except it isn't. Yes Georgie and Jack get married after drowning each other's sorrows a little too well. But they don't wake up naked surrounded by foil packets. Georgie wakes up alone and fully dressed - yes, they didn't consummate the marriage. The next morning Georgie has to rush to catch a flight home to the UK, she doesn't even realise/ remember that she got married the night before until Jack rushes onto the plane at the last minute. He wants her to get off the plane and get an annulment but she has her cousin's wedding in Lancashire to get to.
Georgie and Jack agree a plan, Jack will pretend to be Georgie's fiancé John, who she left after she found him cheating on her, at her cousin's wedding and in return Georgie will give him half of her substantial gambling winnings. But things are never as simple as they seem. Georgie has reinvented herself several times: as a teenager; when she met John; and in Vegas but does she really know who she really is? And going back home puts her back in contact with her former boyfriend, does she want him or is he just familiar and safe.
This is very much a fish out of water novel. First, Jack as an American has his first trip to England, being introduced to an English Sunday lunch, skinheads and Blackpool. Second, Georgie coming back from a life in LA as the fiancé of a concert pianist to a lower middle class home, nouveau riche cousins and her school friends from the local council estate. This is not the England of Hugh Grant and Downtown Abbey. This is the England of sticky pub carpets, belligerent youths and Hyacinth Bucket.
I enjoyed this novel, although I felt that Portia Macintosh didn't really commit to Georgie's character, or maybe that was a symptom of Georgie changing her own identity. At the start of the novel in Vegas Georgie is a bit of a clutz but that isn't continued, similarly she has a makeover in Vegas and becomes a platinum blonde with hair extensions and buys a new, sluttier wardrobe, but although lots of people mention her appearance in the book I never really 'believed' she was walking around wearing short, tight bodycon dresses a size too small (if that makes ANY sense).
Overall, this was a lighthearted easy reading which made me smile and had a few laugh out loud moments. I enjoyed the interesting twists on what is a well established genre of drunken Vegas weddings. I haven't read any books by Portia Macintosh before but I will definitely look out for more.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.