Monday, July 29, 2013

Book Review: Beautiful Day

By Amy Bromberg

A girl's wedding day is one of the most important and special days in her life. She wants everything to be perfect, beautiful and for all of her loved ones to be with her. I know I felt this way. Of course one of the most important people involved would be her mother. But what if her mother passed away and left a notebook with specific instructions on how her wedding day should pan out? This is the story behind Elin Hilderbrand's latest novel, Beautiful Day.

A summer wedding stirs up trouble on both sides of the family in this new novel from bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand.

The Carmichaels and Grahams have gathered on Nantucket for a wedding. Plans are being made according to the wishes of the bride's late mother, who left behind The Notebook: specific instructions for every detail of her youngest daughter's future nuptials. Everything should be falling into place for the beautiful event--but in reality, things are far from perfect.

While the couple-to-be are quite happy, their loved ones find their own lives crumbling. In the days leading up to the wedding, love will be questioned, scandals will arise, and hearts will be broken and healed. (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)

You know most weddings are filled with some form of drama, right? Right. Well this is definitely the case for Jenna and Stuart's wedding, but the drama doesn't come from them. In the final days leading up to the wedding, the reader is introduced to and immersed into the lives of the bride's sister (who is also the maid of honor), the bride's father, the groom's parents and a few additional characters whose lives are spinning out of control and scandals that they're involved with are all coming to the surface.

As always, Elin writes her novels with such detailed description and beauty. The characters are extremely well developed and relatable. As the pages turn, the reader gets to dig deeper and deeper into the layers of each character. I really enjoyed how the story was written from various points of view, which flowed beautifully I might add.

One of the many things I look forward to every summer is an Elin Hilderbrand novel. All of her novels take place in Nantucket (where she lives) and she comes out with one every summer. I've wanted to go to Nantucket since the first one I read. Somehow with each book she brings out the beauty of the island, without repeating anything from the previous novel. With Hilderbrand's wonderful way with words the island seems like a work of art.

To say this would make an excellent beach read is an understatement. You'll definitely want to sit back either on your beach towel, lounge chair at the pool or on your blanket at the park and dive into another Nantucket masterpiece from Ms. Hilderbrand.

Thanks to Reagan Arthur Books for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by Elin Hilderbrand:

3 comments:

Unknown said...

This was such a good read! I really enjoyed it.

Janine said...

I've been trying to decide what to start reading today. I think this will be it.

Unknown said...

I have this book on my to read list, your review makes me want to bump it up and read it sooner!