A Nantucket Wedding: A Novel

Title: A Nantucket Wedding
Author: Nancy Thayer
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:

"A Nantucket Wedding by Nancy Thayer

My Thoughts...

I love the trip that this author took the reader...to Nantucket to "A Nantucket Wedding." This will definitely be a good story of a union to two families coming together and oh my god what all else they will bring [some of it a little predictable! I loved how there would be 'compromises to make things work.' I also liked the story of two widowers, Alison and David add their children and families along with all the twist and turns dilemmas that could be had as the wedding day approaches and you will have a heck of a good read as in a 'family show more symphony.' I will say that I thought some of the children got on my nerves with all of the stuff that was going on in their own life's. One can definitely sense from the read that the 'talk of the wedding made them question their own marriage and love.'

The scenes of Nantucket were absolutely beautifully described making you think you are there in the midst of it all. Be ready for a fast paced read where the story will touch of a little of it all from 'relationships, parents, siblings, spouses and step parents. By the end 'while everyone who had experienced their own up and downs, all will be nicely resolved and we get a wonderful Nantucket Wedding!' To get all of how it gets to this point you will just have to pick up "A Nantucket Wedding" to see how this author creates another fabulous read for the reader. show less

Alison is planning her first real wedding. She’s been married twice before, divorced once and once widowed. But she’s never had a real wedding, now she’s in her 50’s and she’s met a man she loves. David is a wealthy widower, both Alison and her fiancée have grown children and grandchildren.
Alison dreams of them all being a big, happy family. She pictures holidays spent together in the family beach house.
But there are many different personalities here and of course it doesn’t go perfectly smoothly.

I’ll just do a little quick run through of the “kids”.
Alison has two grown daughters, Jane and Felicity. We hear early on that they have drama but I am happy the drama between these two was practically non existent in this show more story.
Jane is the oldest. She’s a lawyer and her husband is a lawyer. They are creatures of habit. Jane wants to make a major life change and her husband isn’t onboard.
Felicity is pretty, happy go lucky, a stay at home mom to two kids and married to Noah. Noah is having an affair. I mention that because it’s on the book cover but you have to read a good chunk of the book before Felicity finds out.

David has two adult children.
Poppy works at his company and is planning to take over when he retires. She kind of sees his entire relationship with Alison only in how it affects her personally.
Ethan is a flirt and starts hitting on Jane within hours of meeting her.

I liked the change in perspective here, that it was the mom getting married rather than the daughter. I found Alison to be a likable character who kept trying her best to make everyone happy.

As for what I liked less, jeese the guys in this book. Ugh Noah. Noah is the worst. Ethan doesn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities either. I’m not mad at Scott, in the Jane/Scott storyline I was more frustrated with Jane.

I also wasn’t a huge fan of the ending. I don’t want to risk any spoilers by being too specific but I felt some characters got an unrealistically, abruptly happy ending while one got a depressing ending.
If we’re going to give one of them an unrealistically, abruptly happy ending can’t we just do that for all of them?

I got to read an early copy of this e book through NetGalley. Nancy Thayer is one of my favorites to read and I appreciated the chance to read this early. show less

Life is messy. And in its messiness, we can yearn for a fairy tale. Nancy Thayer's "A Nantucket Wedding" is a fairy tale in which there are bumps leading up to the wedding of Alison and David, an older couple each bringing adult married children and grandchildren into the blend. The family has money, an expansive beach house, and disagreements that appear to melt away or lessen with just the right words spoken. Even frosty Poppy, concerned about the soon-to-be stepmother becoming a part of the new family will and her ability to influence her father not to relinquish the CEO position to her in the family business as quickly as previously planned, swiftly falls into place as the novel neatly wraps up at the perfect seaside wedding -- a show more fairy tale ending. Fairy tales have their place and we all wish for that "happily ever after" feeling and it is this experience that Thayer once again delivers to the reader. I received my copy of this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. show less

This was a good beach read that I was able to finish in a day. Tt was an easy read, with plenty of time spent at the beach or relaxing watching the ocean. Of course not everything was easy for the characters; most of them had problems they were dealing with. But since this was a ‘feel good’ type of story, you knew it would all turn out.

I can’t say this is a story that will stick with me for a long time, but i did enjoy it. I tired sometimes of the descriptoins of the food served at meal times, but I enjoyed the descriptions of the beach; the sounds, the smells, and the colors. While I enjoyed the story, i did find the last chapter, where we finally got to the wedding, was a little anti climactic. The book could have easily ended show more a chapter early and I wouldn’t have felt that I’d missed anything. If you are lookinig to get away to the beach, but can’t work it in right now, this book may provide a taste of the beach until you get there!

I won a copy of this book through the Library Thing Early Reviewers program. show less

I really enjoyed this book from start to finish. It was the perfect vacation/beach read. The setting of the story was perfect. I could picture myself there and with the family. The characters were all believable with real life problems.

While at first glance, you might think this book was a romance. But it was really all about the complexities of relationships, blended families and real life family problems. It was also about realizing you should love what you have and enjoy your family. I thought that the story perfectly encapsulates the changes in relationships over time - the growing together, growing apart.

The characters was awesomely drawn. The book outlines Allison, who is the mother getting re-married to David and their show more children. The book shows how one can move on after the death of a loved one and the struggles of someone facing retirement - both the joy and the reality of it. Their children were also awesome with two sisters (Jane and Felicity who are Allison's daughters) who renew their sisterly relationship over the course of the summer. David's children were another story, but believable characters.

This is a great read for someone who enjoys women’s fiction. Reader received a complimentary copy from Good Reads First Reads program. show less

I must confess from the start that I am not a fair judge of books of this genre, being a mystery fan myself. That being said I did find this novel enjoyable as a good “beach read” book and did find myself wanting to return to find out what developments were in the family’s lives. A little too thin in plot for me but as a romance novel - three stars.

This is a pretty classic beach read set in a beautiful place, Nantucket. Alison has invited her two adult daughters to the island, to her fiancée's beach home, to help begin preparations for the wedding. The visits continue to occur over the course of the summer, with siblings, husbands and kids all making an appearance. I kept wondering who are these people? They weren't very likable or relatable. The story followed a pretty predictable line. The last sections, when the wedding finally takes place, were the best.