In Review

09 January 2009 12:03 BST

Revenge of the Wedding Planner by Sharon Owens

Penguin, out now, 304pp, £6.99.

In a nutshell...

A summery romcom with a better-than-average plot.

What's it all about?

It follows the tale of home-loving Mags and glamorous Julie as they run Dream Weddings, a firm which organisers the big days of some of the pickiest brides and grooms in the city. However, when Julie's life dissolves into a love affair crisis, Mags has to cope with more than running the business.

Who's it by?

Irish author Sharon Owens, creator of novels such as The Tavern on Maple Street and The Ballroom on Magnolia Street. She states that her books are all "unashamedly romantic tales of love and friendship" and Revenge of the Wedding Planner is certainly true to form.

As an example...

"I wanted to shake her hard but you can't simply go round manhandling pregnant women, can you? It just wouldn't look good, no matter how hard she deserved a good gonk."

Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster

Pretty slim but stranger things have happened. It is a fun enough plot that stick Renee Zellweger in an Irish accent and it could probably survive a cinematic makeover.

What the others say

"An original and insightful new voice in Irish literature." -Sheila O'Flanagan

So is it any good?

It is that time of year really, the cinemas fill up with wedding-themed rom coms and bookshops fill their shelves with Big Day paperbacks. Yet despite the rush of bridal books, Revenge of the Wedding Planner stands out as particularly charming and amusing.

The book has light-hearted humour, tender moments a plenty and – unlike many of its peers – a plot which actually moves at a fairly rapid pace. A reader can empathise with the characters, which is often not the case with romcoms - and there is tension aplenty. Furthermore, Revenge spans several generations. Younger women can enjoy it and then pass it to their mothers to read.

However, despite its charm, humour and the confidence with which Sharon Owens writes, very few people will read this novel more than once. It is a fun book with some fairly wry wit but there are no depths that cannot be fathomed on a first read.

Felicity King-Evans