Book Review & Giveaway: Married by Christmas

By Becky Gulc

**Giveaway is now closed**

I was delighted to be sent Married by Christmas by Scarlett Bailey for review for two reasons, 1) I LOVE Christmassy books 2) I remember seeing Scarlett Bailey’s previous novel (The Night Before Christmas) everywhere last year and had heard and read great things about it but hadn’t got round to reading it. My excitement increased ten-fold when Rowan Coleman announced in October that she is in fact the writer of these books and used the pseudonym of Scarlett to write a different, lighter, style, with a different publishers (see Rowan’s blog for more details). I am a big fan of Rowan’s novels so once I was very pleased to be reviewing one of her books.

Here is the synopsis:
All she wants is a perfect Christmas Eve wedding...

It’s been on Anna’s wish-list since she was a little girl, dreaming of a far happier family life than she’d ever experienced.

But now – only two weeks before her big day – her perfect husband-to-be drops a bombshell...

Only nothing’s going to stop Anna’s plans – not even the pesky inconvenience of discovering her groom already has a wife! (Synopsis courtesy of Random House UK.)

I was intrigued by the synopsis, it immediately made me want to find out more about Anna’s fiance’s ‘wife’ and the whole scenario, why would Anna still want to go through with the wedding if she didn’t even know about the pre-existing wife situation?!

Anna is a bit of a Monica character (like on Friends), with her life more planned and organised than the queen’s. Once the lovely Tom proposes (which we read about at the start of the novel) she sets about planning her dream wedding to take place a year later, as the title suggests, at Christmas time. When Tom begins to act out of character in the build up to the wedding, a bit of detective work between her and her best friend (Liv) leads Anna to find out Tom is already married following drunken nuptials in the US once. And the wife? Well, she could be anywhere. Unwilling to accept that her carefully laid plans for the perfect wedding are in jeopardy, and with Tom seemingly being a bit too lackadaisical about the situation, Anna does something very much unplanned for, she sets off to New York to track down said wife to get the divorce papers signed before it’s too late, but with just a name and a vocation to go on, will it be a case of searching for a needle in a hay stack? Will Anna‘s dreams and plans come true by Christmas time?

This book was a great adventure, and if you think it’s all going to be about a bridezilla type character it’s really not. The book surpassed my expectations (which were already high); I wasn’t expecting certain things to happen between two friends who are as close as sisters, but also the events and feelings which unfold when Anna heads to New York, when an unexpected travel partner called Miles is thrown into the mix. It was written in such a clever way which made me empathize with each of the characters. Without giving anything away, on paper there are reasons why you might question how you feel about a character and what they deserve in terms of happiness, but it was written so well I empathized with each one and was very satisfied, as a reader, with the outcomes.

I was drawn to the central characters of Anna and Liv straightaway. The bond between these two was so apparent throughout and the reasons for each of them being how they are and respond to certain situations really clear. Anna is a person who sees herself as somewhat damaged following her childhood and a spell in the care system before moving in with Liv and her family. I found it quite refreshing for a ‘chick lit’ type novel to touch on the difficulties relating to abandonment and being in care, it could have been a bit cliché in terms of outcomes but I didn’t find it to be. As for Liv, well she and her family are just lovely.

I thought the chemistry and spark between some of the characters was written so well, so intense, I really felt it, it was never all about one thing either. It was also a genuinely funny novel at times without ever feeling like it was forced, just natural. I could so see this book being turned into a great film.

Although the book is called Married by Christmas, it’s not over the top on the festive front, but there’s just enough of a dose to keep those wanting a Christmassy feel happy. After all, a visit to New York in December cannot be anything but festive can it? It definitely left me with a warm feeling inside at this cold time of year.

My only negative relates to the typos/grammatical errors, I’m by no means a keen proof reader but there were perhaps a few too many in this book that could have been picked up on prior to printing. Still, it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of it.

I loved this book! Hope we see lots more novels from ‘Scarlett’!

Thanks to Ebury Publishing for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Scarlett (a.k.a. Rowan), we have THREE paperbacks of Married by Christmas for some lucky readers anywhere in the world!

How to win Married by Christmas: 
Since Becky envisions this book as a movie, please tell us your favorite holiday themed movie. (One entry per person.) Please include your e-mail address or another way to reach you if you win.

Giveaway ends December 23rd at midnight EST.