Nice Day For A White Wedding (The House on Camden Square, #2)

by A. L. Michael

[Leah]

Guys, A.L. Michael has very quickly become one of my favourite authors this year. I absolutely loved the other two books of hers I’ve read (If You Don’t Know Me By Now and the first The House on Camden Square book Goodbye Ruby Tuesday). I still have a few of her other books to read (yay for me!) and she’s one of those authors whose stories you can just slip into. I very rarely get caught up in third-person books, there can sometimes be a detachment there, but both A.L. Michael & Victoria Dahl write third-person as if it’s first-person, which is probably weird to say, but that’s how I see it. I was really stoked to read Chelsea’s story, because she kind of comes across as a snob (which is kind of ironic considering her background) but she has a good heart and that translates really well in Nice Day For A White Wedding.

While Goodbye Ruby Tuesday seemed to focus on all of the girls – Evie, Mollie & Chelsea, Nice Day For A White Wedding takes place, for the most part in Italy, so we don’t see that much of Evie or Mollie, which is a shame, but we do see them and that was enough for me. Instead it was like a clash of the backgrounds as Chelsea goes to meet Kit’s parents, in Italy, after Kit proposes. Sounds like a fabulous idea, am I right?!?! As it turns out, Kit is Richie Rich rich, and Chelsea obviously isn’t good enough for his annoying mother Jemima, who really was a horrible human being. The whole classes clash thing really winds me up, because with the greatest of respect to Kit’s mother (who deserves none of my respect, frankly) it is literally none of her business a) who Kit marries or b) what Chelsea’s background is. People who look down on other people are my pet hate, especially since Chelsea clawed her way up to become who she is now, and that deserves a massive round of applause and respect. Not everyone has an idyllic childhood, or wants to share that with everyone. Y’know, that’s Chelsea’s right.

The flashbacks to Chelsea’s life on the estate were really insightful, they really let you see why Chelsea decided to leave it all behind, and it also intensified my absolute desire to read Ruby Tuesday’s story because she literally guided these girls as teenagers, and her story needs to be told. I firmly, firmly believe that and I hope that I am not the only one. I also really loved the Italian setting. It sounded mostly blissful (as long as Jemima wasn’t in ear shot, making her mouth go) and I really liked Chelsea and Kit together. Until Jemima stuck her oar in (where it wasn’t wanted) they were a solid pair, and it was sad to me that Jemima couldn’t see that, and that she was too focused on herself. I loved Chelsea. On the estate and off it. This is a lass who has pulled herself from her rough background to become someone who is well respected in her field, who has great friends and a great boyfriend and she was a great role model. Sure, she could have handled her family better, but sometimes when it comes to your family, you do silly things or you leave it all behind. That’s how life goes sometimes.

There really was nothing wrong with this book. Except for the name alliterations that hampered the first book, as this time around we have Chelsea, Christopher, Celia, Celeste, Carly and Claudia. Thankfully there was only ever three in a scene at one time, otherwise I would have been lost. Nice Day For A White Wedding was brilliant. I love being with these girls, I love reading about Ruby Tuesday, and I’m so excited for Be My Baby, and also kind of sad, because that’s the final book in this trilogy. A.L. Michael is such a fantastic storyteller. I could read her books all day long, without ever getting bored. If you like really good romantic comedies you need to read this trilogy (or the first two books as book three isn’t out yet). It’s gold standard rom-com.