Thirty-Four Going on Bride

AudioBook Review: Stars: Overall: 2 Narration 3 Story 2 Not having read any of the earlier books in this series, but finding the synopsis delightfully entertaining and promised something lighthearted and laugh worthy, I jumped right in. The heroine, Julia, is due to be married soon – and if that’s not enough, she’s also trying to find time to sort out all those little ‘issues’ that pop up with her bakery. And with a wedding that she didn’t plan (her sister did), both families vying for their own ‘say’ in her special day, and when the ex-girlfriend shows up (because you can’t have enough piling on for keystone-cop-like issues to occur. You guessed it – too much going on, not enough development of relationships or character, no backbone whatsoever for Julia, and no let off from her over the top family. It was exhausting just getting through the first hour of this audio – and I had over 5 to go. Frequent breaks as there was so much action as to slow my interest to a crawl, it took a concussion (seriously!) for Julia to find ANY backbone – and, quite frankly, it was too little far too late. There was little romance, and even less progression with characters and their relationships – I was overwhelmed with the stress juggle that Julia lived with – never quite dealing with anything but simply moving it from one hand to another for ‘dealing with’ another time – if ever. I never saw, even with some backbone growth, any real development for Julia – I arrived in the story with Welcome stamped on her forehead, and we left with the same feeling. It’s sad – but this story felt young and unrealistic, missing an editor to sharpen the points and remove the candy floss fluff that simply piled on without any real foundation. Narration for this story is provided by Ann Marie Gideon and her performance was solid. She embodied Julia and managed to provide enough distinction to give me clear understanding that another character was speaking – but I was so uninterested and disengaged from the actual words being said I truly can’t expound on her performance of the story – certainly I would listen to another title from this narrator. I think, if you are a fan of ‘young and immature’ thirty somethings and a story that is based (and gleans humor) from the negative – this is a series and book you’d enjoy. Fans of earlier titles in the series may appreciate this as the ‘wrap up’ to the series, but I’ll not be actively seeking other titles from this author. I received an AudioBook from Tantor Audio for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.