Book Review and Giveaway: Confetti Confidential

By Melissa Amster


**Giveaway is now closed**

The topic of weddings seems so far off for me these days, as I've been married almost seven years and have been focusing on raising children since then. There are times when I go back to watch my wedding DVD and reminisce about how special the day was though. Those times make me glad that I had a competent wedding planner who made sure things went smoothly, every step of the way. Even given all the insanity that Isabel Bookbinder had to deal with when planning weddings in Holly McQueen's latest novel, "Confetti Confidential," I still think I would have trusted her to plan my wedding if she existed in real life.

In the third installment of Ms. McQueen's Isabel Bookbinder series, we find Isabel working as an assistant to a well known wedding planner. However, when she takes on a family friend's wedding at the same time and some mix-ups occur, she loses her job in the process. However, she still goes on to plan weddings on her own and ends up with even more headaches between trying to do something special for her best friend (and soon-to-be sister-in-law) and trying to manage a celebrity bride engaged to a millionaire. Isabel tries to work around the obstacles in her career and personal life at the same time, which all builds up to her biting off more than she can chew.

I had a lot of fun reading "Confetti Confidential." It was an enjoyable story that kept me guessing at every twist and turn. Isabel is a sympathetic character with whom I was able to easily relate. Even though I didn't read the first two stories about her, I still was able to understand her personality and there was enough background from the previous stories that it didn't feel confusing. (I would be interested to read the other stories to see what other crazy situations Isabel landed herself into.) The supporting characters were all well-defined and added a nice balance of comedy and drama to the story. Another thing I enjoyed was all the letters and scenes that showed up at the end of certain chapters. I wasn't sure if they were part of the story or just Isabel's own imaginings, but I love how certain lines were crossed out and others put in their place.

The only criticism I had was that one part of the story didn't seem as neatly tied up as the others. I felt like I was left hanging at the end of her last conversation that related to that situation. I'm thinking that Ms. McQueen is leaving things open for another story, in that sense. It would be fun to see Isabel come back in future books and have her make another dramatic career change, at the same time.

Overall, I recommend this to anyone who wants a humorous and entertaining story. Isabel has been compared to Becky Bloomwood of the "Shopaholic" series, and I can see why.

Thanks to Mellony Torres of Simon and Schuster for the review copy, as well as for offering to give away five books to some lucky readers in the US and Canada.

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US/Canada only. Giveaway ends Tuesday, March 1st, at midnight EST.