"Contemplative and poignant tale of dealing with pre-marriage jitters."

By: Chris Manby

Genres: Romance Contemporary

Posted: November 17, 2006

Heidi Savage was headhunted away from BBC Radio to produce a radio segment on another station. Now her career is on track and life is good. A year ago, she got engaged to her boyfriend Ed at the top of the Eiffel Tower. The wedding is four months away, the plans are firming up and Heidi is having serious doubts. Ed is working long hours to get his dental surgery practice established and letting off steam on the weekends with the guys on his rugby team. The rugby buddies are part of the problem: Ed comes home one night from a rugby match without his clothes, and on another night without any facial hair, including his eyebrows. To add to her doubts, Heidi's best friend Kate, a single mom with a 6-month-old son, decides it's time to date again and Heidi gets stuck babysitting. Even though Heidi's never changed a diaper, suddenly she's holding an infant, staring at her hairless fiancé, listening to all the other rugby wives talk about starting families and secretly wondering whether she even wants children of her own.

Into Heidi's radio studio saunters Steven Gabriel, the college boyfriend who broke her heart when he left her seven years ago. He's representing the Lone Parents Network, and the radio interviewer quickly draws out that he's been both married and divorced and is raising his young daughter alone. The call-in lines are ringing off the hook, but after the interview, it's obvious to Heidi that Steven is still interested in her. Ed's still devoted to rugby, Kate's got another date, Steven is sending flowers, but no one is prepared for what will happen next, especially not Heidi.

READY OR NOT? is a realistic story about pre-marriage and pre-pregnancy jitters. Who hasn't wondered if a former lover might be a better choice than the one they are about to marry? Or looked at an exhausted new mother and wondered whether a childless marriage isn't a more logical choice? I loved the cheeky British slang, the friends with foibles, the not-perfect but still adorable baby boy and Heidi's hilarious journey as she's confronted with all of the marriage and parenting issues she doesn't feel ready to face yet in this funny and poignant story. READY OR NOT? is highly recommended for anyone who's ready for British chick- lit to start tackling marriage and motherhood.

Book Summary

What happens when "I do" becomes "must I?"

Every bride is entitled to pre-wedding jitters, and what reasonable girl wouldn't think twice about marriage when her fiancé shaves off his eyebrows just in time for the photographs? But what if the bride-to-be is really freaked out by something else? Like, perhaps, the terrifying notion of happily-ever-after? With her ex-boyfriend back in the town, Heidi Savage is wondering whether she can really forsake all others-especially for the man waiting at the end of the aisle with no eyebrows.

Ready or Not? by Chris Manby

Ready or Not?

by: Chris Manby

Berkley
December 1, 2006
On Sale: December 5, 2006
Featuring: Heidi Savage
336 pages
ISBN: 0425213536
EAN: 9780060898564
Trade Size (reprint)

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