A heartfelt fiction debut that will appeal to fans of Emily Giffin's Southern charm and Jennifer Weiner's compelling, emotionally resonant novels about the frustrations of blood ties, Cancel the Wedding follows one woman's journey to discover the secrets of her mother's hidden past-and confront her own uncertain future. On the surface, Olivia has it all: a high-powered career, a loving family, and a handsome fiance. 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 14-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 finally 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?
Thanks to the narrator, Cancel the Wedding is one of those books I came to enjoy precisely because I picked the audiobook edition. She spoke very clearly and was able to convey suitable voices for each of the characters. Plot-wise, I was entertained and adequately kept on the edge of my seat — I did fly through this book in a day, after all. However, there were a few aspects that irked me, particularly in terms of the integration of subplots that occasionally broke the momentum of the story. In any case, great read for days you're looking for something that isn't so heavy and weighs down the mood.
