By Jennifer Dupee
BOOK SYNOPSIS…
When Larisa Pearl returns to her small seaside hometown in Massachusetts to manage her beloved great aunt’s estate, she’s a bit of an emotional mess. She’s just lost her job and her boyfriend and she’s struggling to cope with her mother’s failing health. When she passes by the window of The Little French Bridal Shop, a beautiful ivory satin wedding gown catches her eye…
Now, to the delight of everyone in town, Larisa is planning her wedding. She has her dress, made floral arrangements, and set the date. The only thing missing is the groom. How did this happen? All she did was try on a dress and let her fantasy take flight. But word about her upcoming nuptials has reached the ears of Jack Merrill. As teenagers, they spent time together on her great aunt’s estate, building a friendship that could have become something more had they chosen different paths.
Lost in a web of her own lies, Larisa must first face some difficult truths, including her mother’s fragile future, before she can embrace her family, straighten out her life, and open her heart to finding love.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Jennifer Dupee grew up on the North Shore of Boston near the seaside communities of Manchester-by-the-Sea and Beverly Farms. She is a graduate of Brown University, where she studied under published authors Meredith Steinbach and Carole Maso, and received her honors in Creative Writing. She is an active member of the Grub Street writing community in Boston and has published in The Feminist Press. She was a semi-finalist for the 2016 James Jones First Novel Competition and a semi-finalist for the 2016 Faulkner-Wisdom competition. Jennifer lives just outside of Boston with her family. Her first published novel is The Little French Bridal Shop, and she is currently at work on her next novel.
MY REVIEW…
**The publisher sent me an ARC to review. All opinions are my own!**
For the most part, I enjoyed the overall story and a few of the characters. However, I felt like I was reading while stuck in molasses. So much “text” and not nearly enough dialogue for my liking. I found myself completely skipping over chunks of words just to get on with the story as I didn’t find that it added anything extra to hold my attention. And I just could not relate to Larisa. Super self-absorbed, but not elitist (which would’ve helped me understand her more had she been that way). And the ending was a let-down.
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