Review: Cancel The Wedding

Cancel The Wedding

by Carolyn T. Dingman

Why did you choose this book? it sounded like a good summer read

When did you read this book? August 2014

Who should read this book? readers who enjoy family history

Source: TLC Book Tours

Here is a synopsis of Cancel The Wedding from TLC Book TOURS

On the surface, Olivia has it all: a high-powered career, a loving family, and a handsome fiancé. She even seems to be coming to terms with her mother Jane’s premature death from cancer. But when Jane’s final wish is revealed, Olivia and her elder sister, Georgia, are mystified. Their mother rarely spoke of her rural Southern hometown, and never went back to visit—so why does she want them to return to Huntley, Georgia, to scatter her ashes?

Jane’s request offers Olivia a temporary escape from the reality she’s long been denying: she hates her “dream” job, and she’s not really sure she wants to marry her groom-to-be. With her fourteen-year-old niece, Logan, riding shotgun, she heads south on a summer road trip looking for answers about her mother.

As Olivia gets to know the town’s inhabitants, she begins to peel back the secrets of her mother’s early life—truths that force her to question her own future. But when Olivia is confronted with a tragedy and finds an opportunity to right a terrible wrong, will it give her the courage to accept her mother’s past—and say yes to her own desire to start over?

My Review

I went into this expecting a pretty average, 3-star, summer romance. I expected to see Olivia getting cold feet before her wedding, running off to think about things, and then the situation being resolved by Olivia either realizing her finacé is her one-true-love after all or dumping him for good in favor of her REAL one-true-love who she meets during her ‘escape’. And for the first part of the book, the book appeared to meet my expectations. The book was moving slowing and predictably, but okay, when suddenly about 100 pages into the book, the story developed into one that I could not put down!

Olivia grew up never hearing stories of her mother’s childhood, so is mystified that her mother left instructions to have her ashes scattered in the hometown of which she never spoke. Olivia is determined to find answers to this mystery by returning to her mother’s hometown. But with each answer she finds, many more questions appear as she retraces her mother’s past. As an amateur family historian, I could definitely relate to this! I found her search for answers and the discovery of her Olivia’s family history fascinating, and I felt her excitement as she learned each new fact and ‘met’ her ancestors!

Yes, this is a romance, and yes, there is a happy ending….but this is so much more than just another summer romance!

About Carolyn T. Dingman

Carolyn T. Dingman lives in her adopted hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two daughters. Cancel the Wedding is her first novel.

Find out more about Carolyn at her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

My Rating:  ★★★★   4 Stars

This book review is included in a tour by TLC Book Tours. I received a review copy of this book and have given my an honest review, which you can read above.

Carolyn’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, August 5th: A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, August 6th: From L.A. to LA

Thursday, August 7th: Peeking Between the Pages

Monday, August 11th: Book Loving Hippo

Tuesday, August 12th: Stitch Read Cook

Wednesday, August 13th: Stephany Writes

Wednesday, August 13th: Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Thursday, August 14th: Drey’s Library

Monday, August 18th: Lessa’s Book Critiques

Tuesday, August 19th: Tina’s Book Reviews

Wednesday, August 20th: Doing Dewey

Thursday, August 21st: Time 2 Read

Friday, August 22nd: Sweet Southern Home

Tuesday Memes: Cancel The Wedding

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where you can share the first paragraph, or a few, of a book you are reading or thinking about reading soon.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Today I am spotlighting Cancel The Wedding  by Carolyn T. Dingman

On the surface, Olivia has it all: a high-powered career, a loving family, and a handsome fiancé. She even seems to be coming to terms with her mother Jane’s premature death from cancer. But when Jane’s final wish is revealed, Olivia and her elder sister, Georgia, are mystified. Their mother rarely spoke of her rural Southern hometown, and never went back to visit—so why does she want them to return to Huntley, Georgia, to scatter her ashes?

Jane’s request offers Olivia a temporary escape from the reality she’s long been denying: she hates her “dream” job, and she’s not really sure she wants to marry her groom-to-be. With her fourteen-year-old niece, Logan, riding shotgun, she heads south on a summer road trip looking for answers about her mother.

As Olivia gets to know the town’s inhabitants, she begins to peel back the secrets of her mother’s early life—truths that force her to question her own future. But when Olivia is confronted with a tragedy and finds an opportunity to right a terrible wrong, will it give her the courage to accept her mother’s past—and say yes to her own desire to start over?

Opening Paragraph

Prologue

August 1956

Huntley, Georgia

  The strap from the overloaded canvas satchel dug into Janie’s shoulder as she made her way down the well-traveled path to the river. She could feel that George was already there before she could hear him and long before she could see him. They were only ten years old but they had been tuned in to each other like that for as long as she could remember. As she jumped over one of the small creeks that fed into the river, she glanced at the wild blueberry bushes growing on its small bank. They had all been picked clean, so she didn’t bother to stop.

  Janie left the cool shade of the treelined trail and burst into the blazing sunlight on the bank of the water. She was at the Hitch, a bend in the river where the Dunk Pool formed every spring, which was what they called the slow, swirling pond of water that was deep enough for swimming. There were a hundred secret places on this river, and they knew all of them. She had sensed correctly that George was already there jumping off of the Overlook, an enormous granite outcropping over the frigid waters. Janie watched as he jumped high into the air before diving into the water.

My Teaser

    I left the candle and note with the woman at the front desk, then went to the bar to get a drink to go. I got back to the room and opened my dinner of Fritos and Pop-Tarts. That covered corn and fruit. And there were limes in my vodka tonic. A well-rounded meal.

page 148

So...what do you think? Is this one you would pick up? Leave a comment below!