A Bad Bride's Tale

by Polly Williams

Right time. Right dress. Right man

The author of The Yummy Mummy returns with a sparkling, hilarious look at what happens when you meet the wrong man at the right time.

Two weeks before her wedding, Stevie Jonson, a successful graphic designer in her mid-thirties, has got serious jitters. Is she finally growing up, or compromising horribly? In love or in denial? By the time Stevie steps into her 1930s vintage wedding dress for the last fitting, her life is coming apart at the seams. Her best friend, Lara, is moving to New York City, fulfilling Stevie's long-held dream of moving there herself; her parents' marriage is heading for the rocks; her teenage crush (The One That Got Away) is back in town, a reminder of everything her fiance isn't, and that niggling little voice in her head is getting louder all the time. As the clock ticks, a shocking secret threatens to bring Stevie's future crashing down around her.

A Bad Bride's Tale is a grown-up love story about marrying, mating, compromising . . . and how love doesn't have a timetable.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Adult, Romance, Adult Fiction, British Literature, Novels

352 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2007

Reviews

[BigTreesAndBigBooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

it was a vacation book. simple (and predictable) as it gets, it's a book about the struggle of thirty-something-girl who wants to get knocked up but is not sure whether the husband is good enough to give his dna to her children. of course in the end she finds her true love, dumps the husband who finds a hot blonde, everyone is satisfied, except of u who has just wasted two hours of your life reading about a grumpy girl who doesn't know what she wants.

[Redfox5 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the first chick-lit after more serious books. This was a welcome change but it the subject matter was actually quiet sad. Marry someone you love to late to have children or settle for Mr right now and have babies. Women have a rubbish time of it really. Men can have babies till the day they die whereas women only have certain years. Ahh! I'm worried this will happen to me and I'm to young to be worring about this! I liked the female characters in this book. I felt for Stevie and Katy equaly. I really disliked Jez. I don't know how Stevie got so far with him becuase he was really annoying. I wouldn't mind reading more of Polly's books.

[Annika Hoogendoorn-Van Oosten · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tja, het was wel aardig om te lezen. Maar niet echt fantastisch.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book because it was on the bargain table, and because I was looking for a little fluff. I wouldn't even say that fluff covered it. I was just boring, and there were various points throughout that I considered leaving the book unfinished, but that goes against my reading code of conduct. Even the worst books I've ever read - Catcher in the Rye, I'm looking at you! - I've finished just out of principle.

The basic premise of the story is that Stevie, on the eve of her wedding begins to have some serious doubts but goes through with the ceremony anyway. What happens after is pretty much an affirmation that she made a terrible decision. Her honeymoon is a disaster. Her husband is, at different times, a completely put together masculine example and a complete baby. Even Stevie herself isn't really all that endearing.

Despite some odd coincidences with my recent/forthcoming real life (a tropical vacation, estate proceedings, questions of whether marriage is in the cards at all, and a little bit of baby lust), I couldn't care for any of the characters, and that's a huge red flag. Tie in the fact that someone's editor didn't catch a mistake - names mixed up - around page 120, and I was just thoroughly disappointed.\

Final decision: A Bad Bride's Tale is just A Bad Boring Book.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book rather depressing. The heroine can't figure out if she loves her fiance (Hello! If you have to ask, the answer is, "No."), but marries him anyway. None of her friends or family give her good advice, even though they are all aware of another potential suitor. None of the other characters are likable. The book resolves happily, but it's quite a trudge to get there.

Re-read in 2015 and did not recall having read it before.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Two words to describe this book: absolutely horrendous. I would recommend to no one. It is written like the author has never been to New York, even though part of the story takes place there. It's also like the author has never been married, or even engaged, from the lack of emotion throughout the book. I was never actively engaged in the book, mostly finished it just to finish the book and return it to the library.

[Sara Booklover · Rating 2 out of 5]

Il titolo di questo libro non avrebbe dovuto essere "baby o non baby", ma "baby a qualsiasi costo"! Le donne descritte nel libro sembrano delle invasate con un unico obiettivo nella loro mente! Da donna mi sono sentita molto offesa dall'immagine superficiale che ne esce fuori. Se invece non la si prende troppo sul serio come storia è scorrevole, a tratti carina e con degli intrecci ben riusciti, anche se molto prevedibili.

[Anastasia Adams · Rating 1 out of 5]

No, no , no! I liked the concept of the story but i found it so stringy and slow at times. I have to admit I was so bored that i kept skipping few paragraphs :) I was dying to know how the book would end.

[Lalluz · Rating 3 out of 5]

lo annovero nella categoria che chiamo "i libri svuotamente". Stevie, la protagonista, ha passato i 30 anni e si trova di fronte alla tipica crisi "matrimonio e figli prima che sia troppo tardi.
Libro leggero, divertente ma ovviamente abbastanza scontato,,. sai già come finirà il libro e intuisci anche i dettagli mentre lo leggi..
non male la scrittura e ottimo come passatempo o come "relax" dopo letture particolamente impegnative.

[Smitha Vasudevan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hitting the thirties and hearing the biological clock ticking makes you take mad decisions. Women who make bad marriages, women who regret having married young, women who decide life is bigger than marriage, women who are thinking of sperm banks, women who pressurise their partner for the white picket fence. The author guides the reader through the murky world of career women who have left it all a bit late. However, the pat solutions and perfect matching makes it an improbable plot.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another fluffy chic lit book about following your heart and marrying the man of your dreams. I had a hard time staying focused on this book. The main characters were mostly late 30s desperate to settle down types who think marriage and babies are the answer to all life’s problems. It was fairly predictable and there wasn’t much of a plot line. Not a great read and definitely not very memorable.

[Rona Nimmo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bad bride’s Tale by Polly Williams

Two weeks before her wedding Stevie gets the jitters is it just nerves or is she making a big mistake? Yes she is marrying because she’s not getting any younger she wants kids but is he the right man and us it for the right reason??!!

Follow the trials and tribulations laughter and tears in this dream of a books in every sense. 4.5/5

[LISA MARKHAM · Rating 3 out of 5]

After looking at other reviews, I wasn’t holding out much hope for this book but was definitely better than I thought it would be. If I’m honest, I didn’t really like the main character and in some places I found the choice of words a little odd or the describing of the surrounding a bit overdone. But as a bit of light reading chic lit it ended up being enjoyable to the end.

[Marianne Brodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It appears the Brits are a bit more liberal than I'd previously thought. Most of the other characters & couple dynamics are more interesting than the main family. I was disappointed in the very last few paragraphs which seemed to cheapen the purity of the relationship.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although not a deep and powerful book, it was a fun book and easy to read! The characters were written really well and I loved the realistic chaos that was in everyone's lives. Very happy with the ending!

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable - funny - left me wanting a bit more at the end - let's sum up some of this stuff!

[Marsha Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Silly book, easy read.

[Philippa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Predictable romance totally divorced from reality.

[Ginger Rogers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dnf

[Sarah Freeland · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not my usual type of book. I persisted till the end, it was OK, I wouldn't rush to read this type again.

[Kerry O’Nians · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn’t finish it

[Jeanette]

a chirpy story with a good ending ...she finds her love in the end

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book club selection. This started out well, but it lost its sense of humor pretty quickly on, and devolved into an overly detailed melodrama.

It irritated me that the author couldn't seem to decide whether she wanted her story to be multi-perspective, or just focusing on Stevie. The result was that majority of the book was from Stevie's perspective, but you'd get stray chapters, paragraphs, or even sentences from other peoples'. It did not work for me at all.

On a related note, this was WAY too long; I could have enjoyed it a lot more if it had been at least a hundred pages shorter, and this seemed to be a result of the author not having a clear character focus. Just to name a few of many instances, we didn't need the details of Katy and [insert name here, don't want to spoil even if it's obvious!] falling in love, and basically anything relating to the younger brother was pointless.

A few good things about it..... I thought the dialogue was well done, very natural sounding. And I liked how thoughtful and honest it.. at least in the beginning. By the end I was bored.

[Darlene · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don't know what kind of review to leave about this book. It wasn't a bad read. I have always found it harder to read and follow stories that are written by authors from the England area. Their way of writing is so much different then ones here in the States. It was a good story, following couples, friends, through difficult relationships. Choices that were made because they seemed like the right ones at the time. I do find however, the lack of descriptions of the area they are in makes it hard for the reader to try and get the "picture" in their mind of what it looks like. I will say, I don't like when an author describes too much details because that is just as bad as too little. But, all in all, this wasn't a bad book. It reminded me of people sitting around, having a drink and telling a story of their life. In the end, it was nice to see that the two people that should've been together, finally got together.

[Fefi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Giuro che stavo per abbandonare questa lettura, poi ha vinto la curiosità di sapere quali altre scenette ridicole mi avrebbe riservato questa storia. Il problema di questa autrice è che vorrebbe raccontare delle storie rosa, ma finisce col scrivere sempre delle gran cavolate.
Qui poi non ho visto un pizzico d'amore in tutto il libro, forse solo verso la fine c' è un barlume di romanticismo. Nel complesso direi che regnano sovrane le indecisioni di tutti i protagonisti che formano coppie che non si possono più sopportare, ma che rimangono comunque insieme per non si sa quale motivo. Il matrimonio e la luna di miele di Stevie e Jez sono veramente ridicoli e per quasi tutto il libro regna una gran sciatteria di sentimenti.
Insomma questo modo di scrivere non fa per me però ho ancora 2 libri e troverò una storia almeno carina? La moglie peggiore del mondo non mi era tanto dispiaciuto...mah...

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars


Sometimes reading books written by English (European) authors take me a chapter to grasp the language and cultural references, this book was no exception.

I started off not loving this book as I was completely unsympathetic to the main character, Stevie. I felt like she was a coward throughout the entire book.

I feel like I was tricked by the author, in a good and surprising way, when I found myself cheering for the characters that I didn't like in the beginning: Katy and Jez.

This story really ended well with all of the characters getting their happily ever after with their issues seemingly resolved. I'm just on the fence on whether or not I liked it.

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stevie isn't sure she should be marrying Jez. She has doubts that are compounded when an old friend, a guy wished she had dated, shows up. There are some friends with some issues, but I stopped reading around page 50 and skimmed the last ten pages. She gets married and Jez leaves her for his ex girlfriend and she gets back with Stevie. The characters were boring and stereotypical.

AND it turns out I read this book in January 2009 - I only noticed it when I was logging some old books. Wow, so trite that I didn't realize I had read it.

[Francesca Leung-Chat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is pretty predictable, you know what’s going to happen up until the last few chapters, then there is a small twist but still not a massive shock. It’s hard to review this book without giving it all away 🤣😂 For an easy listen, not complicated story I would recommend. I think it would be great in a beach (not that we are getting to any beaches soon, my honeymoon got cancelled today 😭😭). It’s got me back into my reading loop and back on my reading challenge so that’s the main thing 🤣

Stars: 3/5 ⭐️ 🌟 🌟

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read, quick, easy. It was nice to see a book written for women and by a woman about failed relationships that didn't point all the fingers at the men in the story, as is usually the case, I've found. It was a nice tale about missed opportunities, settling for less than you deserve simply because you feel you can't do any better, and finding "the one" in the end. Probably wouldn't read it again, but it was nice to check it off my list of "books we own but haven't read".

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story of a bride who struggles with whether she's making the right decision, although the ending of the book was very predictable from the beginning. However, she does have some funny experiences, between her sort of obnoxious, inconsiderate fiance and the superficial, insecure female foil.

The book was entertaining but I'd classify it as more of a light beach type read.