Shopaholic Ties the Knot: A Novel (Shopaholic, #3)

by Sophie Kinsella

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Party Crasher and Love Your Life . . . 

“Sophie Kinsella keeps her finger on the cultural pulse, while leaving me giddy with laughter.”—Jojo Moyes, author of The Giver of Stars and The Last Letter from Your Lover
 
Life has been good to Becky Bloomwood: She’s become the top personal shopper at Barneys and she’s living happily with her boyfriend, Luke, in Manhattan’s West Village. But with her best friend, Suze, engaged, how can Becky fail to notice that her own ring finger is bare? Not that she’s been thinking about marriage (or diamonds) or anything.  
Then Luke proposes! Problem is, two other people are planning her wedding: Becky’s overjoyed mother—who has been waiting forever to host a backyard wedding, with the bride resplendent in Mum’s frilly old gown; and her high-society soon-to-be mother-in-law—who insists on a glamorous, all-expenses-paid affair at the Plaza. Both weddings, on separate continents, on the same day . . . and Becky can’t seem to turn down either one. Can everyone’s favorite shopaholic tie the knot before everything unravels?

Praise for Sophie Kinsella and Shopaholic Ties the Knot

“Kinsella has a genuine gift for comic writing.”—The Boston Globe
 
“Witty and hilarious.”—Cosmopolitan (U.K.)
 
“Another entertaining entry in Kinsella’s unabashedly fluffy Shopaholic series . . . chock-full of the charming antics and asides that made the first two installments hilarious best-sellers.”—Booklist
 
“Kinsella’s Bloomwood is plucky and funny. . . . You won’t have to shop around to find a more winning protagonist.”—People

• ISBN10: 0385336179
• ISBN13: 9780385336178
• Publish Date: 4 March 2003 (first published 1 July 2002)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc
• Imprint: Bantam Doubleday Dell
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780385336178

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

Becky is just one of those characters who never fails to make me smile. She is sometimes ridiculous, but always means well. In this installment, Becky is planning her wedding to Luke and gets herself committed to TWO weddings. During the course of resolving this problem, she grows up...a lot. She begins to become a little less egocentric as she moves into her role as Luke's life partner. She also realizes how special her friends and family are to her, and how she sometimes needs to sacrifice her own wants for their needs. In addition, she recognizes that forgiveness is an important part of any relationship and makes huge concessions to her soon-to-be mother-in-law.

As always, the super shifty and always thinking Becky makes it all work out. Whew!

Shopaholic books = fun, warm, witty, entertaining.

[Leah]

Becky Bloomwood's life has been running fairly smoothly recently, she is a personal shopper at Barney's, she and boyfriend Luke are living together and they've even opened a joint bank account. At best friend Suze's wedding Luke proposes and suddenly Becky's life has been flung upside down. Her mum wants her to get married in Oxshott whereas Luke's mother Elinor wants her to get married in New York - at the Plaza no less! As both women begin to plan their respective weddings Becky knows that eventually, sooner rather than later, she will have to make a decision and cancel one of her weddings. But once she gets around to dress shopping and cake tasting, the thought of cancelling one of her weddings becomes near impossible and Becky finds herself in trouble yet again.

With Mini Shopaholic less than a month away I've decided to re-read the entire Shopaholic series in preparation for the new book. I think it's the first time I've re-read all of the books back-to-back and it's so exciting picking out the details I remember and learning details I've forgotten particularly with the books I've only read once. Because I didn't get much reading done whilst I was in England, I only got the chance to re-read Shopaholic Ties The Knot once I was on the plane back to Tenerife. Four hours later and I had finished the book!

Shopaholic Ties The Knot is the third Shopaholic book and follows Confessions of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Abroad. I'd already read the first two books a couple of times but if I remember correctly, this is only the second time I've gotten the chance to read Shopaholic Ties The Knot. Unlike the previous two books, Shopaholic Ties The Knot isn't focused solely on shopping. There's no debt in sight, and whilst Becky does still shop (come on, it's Becky Bloomwood), it isn't as hectic or as frenetic as in the first two books. Shopaholic Ties The Knot focuses firmly on Becky and Luke's wedding and I liked the fact that it was different to the first two books.

Becky has dealt with a lot of things throughout the first two books but having to pick between two weddings is certainly the most difficult. I mean, either disappoint your mother who wants you to wear her wedding dress or give up a Plaza wedding. I've never been to the Plaza but I can imagine how beautiful it is and I'm well aware how much people would give to marry there. That is Becky's dilemma and although her flakiness and lack of commitment to one wedding was mildly irritating, it was an understandable dilemma. How it all sorts itself out is one of my favourite Shopaholic scenes ever, it was a stunning twist and it's the one scene that always sticks in my mind.

As ever, the characters are just as fantastic. Becky does seem to grow up a bit more as the books progress but her sunny, sparkly nature remains throughout. I have three more books to review and I'm running out of ways to say I love Becky Bloomwood. Honestly, I feel as if I'm beginning to sound like a broken record (I do apologise for that). I would also like to say, for the record, that I love Luke Brandon too. I've loved him since book one and if he weren't Becky Bloomwood's... No, I joke, I love Becky and Luke and if Kinsella ever broke them up I would cry. We get to know Luke so much more during Shopaholic Ties The Knot and it seems as if he has some unresolved issues, particularly where his mother Elinor is concerned (whom I don't like, for the record). It's refreshing to see Luke open up a bit more and I definitely felt as if I got to know him more. Suze, Becky's best friend is still around and Becky's parents are hilarious as ever (Becky's mum in particular is funny and made me laugh out loud). We also meet Danny, a new friend Becky makes in New York.

Again, like the previous two, the book is written in a chatty, recognisable way and I was surprised to find that I had managed to finish it in under four hours (even the lady on the plane mentioned how quick I read the book). I can't say that I have a favourite Shopaholic as I love them all for different reasons but they do keep getting better and better and it was nice to see Becky when she's not completely consumed by shopping (please note that I did say "not completely consumed"). If you've read the other books in the series you really ought to pick this one up and if you haven't yet read any of the books, why haven't you? The series is great and Shopaholic Ties The Knot is a worthy addition!

[Eve1972]

Another witty and quick read