Gibt es den falschen Zeitpunkt für die große Liebe? Der 8. Roman von Bestseller-Autorin Paige Toon – aufregend romantisch und absolut berührend.
Als Bronte und Alex sich in London bei einem Junggesellenabschied kennenlernen, ist es Liebe auf den ersten Blick. Sie verbringen eine atemberaubende Nacht miteinander, doch Bronte wird wenige Tage später nach Australien zurückfliegen, wo sie als Bildredakteurin bei einem Magazin arbeitet, und Alex wird sich mit Zara verloben, mit der er schon seit Jahren zusammen ist. Aber diese eine Nacht können sie beide nicht vergessen. Über ein Jahre später nimmt Bronte einen Job in London an. Gleich am ersten Tag trifft sie auf ihren neuen Kollegen – Alex. Bronte spürt sofort, dass da noch etwas ist. Aber Alex tut so, als sei nichts. Um sich abzulenken, nimmt Bronte Aufträge als Hochzeitsfotografin an. Zwölfmal ist sie dabei, als sich glückliche Paare das Jawort geben. Doch dann kommt Auftrag Nummer 13: die Hochzeit von Alex! Paige Toon feierte große Erfolge mit folgenden Romanen und E-Novellas: ›Lucy in the sky‹, ›Sommer für immer‹, ›Du bist mein Stern‹, ›Einmal rund ums Glück‹, ›Diesmal für immer‹, ›Immer wieder du‹, ›Ohne dich fehlt mir was‹, ›Johnnys kleines Geheimnis‹ und ›Ohne dich keine Weihnacht‹.
Paige Toon grew up between England, Australia and America and has been writing books set in sun-drenched locations around the world since 2007. She has written fifteen novels, a three-part spin-off for young adults and a collection of short stories. Her books have sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide. She loves hearing from her readers so get in touch via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @PaigeToonAuthor or visit her website and sign up to her free newsletter The Hidden Paige.
I scrapped my other review! Sorry but I really can't deal with the ending. I haven't stopped thinking about it and it has left a bitter taste in my mouth... It's funny how you can enjoy 99% of a book up until the last bit when it just turns sour. Some people may have liked both Alex and Lachie but there was one clear winner in my eyes hands down. My expectations were really high with this book and I thought even before I read it that it was going to be my favorite but....not any more. With no chance of the book ending changing then I just don't see myself reading Paige's books in the future. I just get too passionate and attached to them that things like this happen. Sorry Paige but you've really let me down here.
This was another quick and very enjoyable read and if you're ever looking for a good chick-lit / romance book, I highly recommend you check out Paige Toon's novels. She's definitely become one of my favorite authors over the last two years and her writing just always manages to put a smile on my face!
So if you decide to give her books a try, make sure you start with "Lucy in the Sky", the first book she's ever published, because she often includes characters from her earlier works in other novels which is very lovely if you've read the books in chronological order but I suppose it might spoil your reading experience if you just read them in a random order.
PS: I know this isn't really a proper review for this novel but I'm just way too tired to write a good one right now and trying to persuade some of you to give her work a try seemed like a good alternative to a review :D
After reading the ending only one thought comes to my mind: horrible .
I mean.... what the bloody hell?!?!
I LOVED Alex. From the first page, he was amazing. I literally fell head-over-heels in love with him. And I adored their story. The chemistry they had was mind-blowing. Good job on that one Paige Toon!
Other things? Not so much.
I really disliked Lachie. Firstly, I hate guys who flirt with everything that moves. Secondly, he and Bronte didn't have any chemistry whatsoever. She basically didn't want him until seeing Alex be happy with someone else became too much for her so she had to find her comfort elsewhere.
I get that Alex hurt her by choosing to marry Zara, just like I get that Paige Toon hurt me by making Alex be the bad guy. He was terrible by the end of the book and I honestly didn't expect the ending where she's "happy" to be with Lachie because honestly, she even mentions that she's not over Alex but will settle for Lachie.
Anyway, I am disappointed and through roughly angry at Paige Toon for making me love a character and then completely throw him off the cliff. I know some may not agree, but from the very beginning I was cheering for Alex. The joke is on me, then, huh?
I may sound harsh right now, but Paige Toon, I ain't reading your books again.
hmmm. Definitely a love triangle, but one that I found myself losing interest in and my respect dramatically dwindling for the Heroine. She kept cheating with an engaged (ultimately married man). She even decides to photograph his wedding and keeps hoping that he will give the OW up before they get to the altar. I couldn't figure out what the other man (Lachie) saw in her because she had the morals of an alley cat.
This was still a good and absorbing read. I just wish it had a more decent and "feel good" ending. This was so mired in muck and mud, I felt like I needed to take a bath after reading it.
I don't think there are any spoilers in this review but I've hidden it just in case!
Oh my goodness. What can I even begin by saying?! Ok, It’s a well-known fact that everyone gets a little bit over excited when a new Paige Toon book is due for release and when I saw this sitting on NetGalley I was pretty much falling over with excitement! I did do a little bit of screaming too when it arrived on my Kindle! It was just a PLEASURE to be back in Paige’s world with her characters, her writing and her sublime plots and, I know I say this every year, BUT, I think Thirteen Wedding’s is Paige’s best book by far. I am going to try and write a review that doesn’t give anything away and also keeps my fan-girling to a minimum but it might not be possible! Thirteen Weddings follows the story of Bronte who has a little bit of an unfulfilled life working at a magazine as a picture editor and spending her spare time with her flatmate Bridget. With a keen eye for photography, Bronte is roped in by Rachel, a wedding photographer, when Rachel’s assistant is ill. Bronte is rapidly thrown into the world of bouquets, brides and churches – her biggest fear. Trying to overcome the fear of churches and take impressive photos of peoples wedding day’s turns into a more permanent hobby for Bronte and when she meets Lachie (pronounced Lockie) a wedding singer, she begins to enjoy life a little more… But, when an old one night stand, Alex, turns up on the scene (who Bronte, hasn’t really ever got over) and begins to become a more lasting feature in her life – Bronte has to rethink everything she has ever thought about love, marriage and commitment. Ok, here goes… PAIGE HAS DONE IT AGAIN. She has written a book that fills you with such powerful emotions and has you flicking the pages with such a desire to find out what is going to happen next. From the very beginning of this book, I was totally hooked and I knew that Paige would not let us down. The characters go on such a journey and interact so perfectly together that you can’t help but become emotionally attached to every single one. This book has an almost love triangle feel to it and, much like Johnny and Christian in Johnny Be Good, you just CANNOT choose between either man – you want them to both win the heart of the heroine. I would NOT have liked to be in Bronte’s position!! Alex and Lachie are both such polar opposites but both have such a sense of needing to look after Bronte that they find it hard to accommodate each other - it becomes a little bit of a testosterone fuelled battle to see who can win the girl. And, obviously, you cannot decide which one you like more! Paige is also the queen of sneaky references to old characters and let me tell you – I CRIED. I actually cried when we are told about some of the old characters – I was so bloody happy with how some of them were living that I full on cried. That can’t be normal?! Bronte was a really great protagonist and I really loved her indecision and inability to make up her mind because it meant that as a reader, I also found myself unable to decide what I wanted to happen in the end. We slowly find out a bit more about Bronte’s early life and her backstory as the plot progresses and Paige has cleverly given her traits that are easily understandable from her past which made for great character development. As for the plot – well, let’s just say, you will NOT be able to predict where it will end up! I was ‘umming’ and ‘ahhing’ for ages trying to predict what would happen but I just couldn’t! The book was perfectly paced, there was the perfect level of surprise and tension and of course the much needed humour and wit that Paige is so known for. It was just flawless! Like I said before, I do think this is Paige’s best book to date and I think many fans will agree. Thirteen Weddings is quite possibly the most emotional and addictive Toon book to date and I can guarantee you will not be able to put it down for a second! Now I will sit impatiently and wait until next spring when Paige’s next adult novel will be out! Hurry up Paige! I can’t wait!! This is a must read! Full of laughs, tears and suspense – this book will be the perfect summer holiday companion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
It definitely wasn't my favorite Paige Toon novel, but still a very good one. I felt a tiny bit bored in between, because of all the weddings Bronte attended. Without wanting to give too much away, I was happy with the ending (even though there IS potential for a sequel).
I loved to hear from Lily & Ben, Alice & Joe and Lucy & Nathan again. Even Johnny Jefferson was mentioned. Somehow they are all connected, which I always loved about Paige Toon's novels.
I can't wait for the next one, even though it might be a while.
Oh what to say? I've read a lot of Paige Toon in the past couple of years: Johnny Be Good, Baby Be Mine, One Perfect Summer Lucy in the Sky and her one of her YA novels The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson. And now I'm really wondering why. I liked One Perfect Summer until half way through when I hated it. JBG and BBM were dreadful. The YA one was actually okay and I think I recall finding LITS to be okay.
But Thirteen Weddings? Oh my God. Firstly, the reasons why people do things in this novel are tenuous. Bronte flies across the world for the wedding of someone she doesn't even like so much. When she eventually moves to London a year and a half later, she seems to bump into just about everybody she met at the hen do and wedding, and therein she has this Enid Blyton boarding school-esque group of friends who literally do the most ridiculous things. It's Bronte's 30th birthday - so everybody decamps to the Lake District because she's photographing a wedding there. Just... celebrate another time? Everybody bunks off work on the same Friday for another wedding, and their boss is completely unbothered: 'oh Simon won't mind'. Poor Simon.
Toon also has an uncanny ability to make everybody likeable, bland and hideous. The characters are very interchangeable, and it's hard to keep track of who everybody is. Then there's the fact that some of them are quite sweet - Maria and Russ, for example - but also utterly unrealistic. And then there's how Alex begins as the hero and becomes a complete sleeze, and vice versa for Lachie. Which, by the way, is a Scottish name in origin and yet no mention was made of this despite the character first appearing in Scotland: not a single mention! And as for Bronte. Well, I had next to no sympathy, much as I remember having little sympathy for Lucy in LITS when I read that. The hidden childhood past she had, which seemed only to manifest itself in a fear of churches, was disappointingly resolved as Toon threw all sorts at it: homosexuality, Catholicism, priests, Alzeimer's, child abuse. Bronte just felt like a cardboard cut out and I simply didn't care about her.
As for the writing, a token sentence: 'The wedding bells are ringing as we hurry up the hill to the church, just two of them, slowly, in different pitches: ding-dong ding-dong, ding-dong.' How did anyone allow that to get through the net, let alone write it in the first place? The asides which go on for at least a paragraph of what Bronte is wearing at various points add nothing to the plot or a sense of character.
I need to remember not to read any more Paige Toon.
Bronte has the great job in the world. She is a proffesional. When she met Alex and the attraction is obvious just not enough.. He has someone else. And he choose someone else. They meet again, they work together. They have friends in common. She meets also someone else. But Alex is always there... she is always confused how to go forward... I love this Toon's book between Gb and Aus. I have always dreamt to go live there.
Paige Toon is hands down one of my favourite Chick Lit authors – she writes warm, witty characters, set in some pretty fantastic destinations, and she has that easy writing style I adore. So it goes without saying that a new Paige Toon book is an exciting thing to behold – especially when it’s Toon’s second novel of 2014 following her young adult debut novel The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson in January. I had such very high hopes for Thirteen Weddings – it has probably one of my favourite Toon covers, ever – and that’s saying a lot considering it’s in her new style, which has taken a while to grow on me (but grow on me it has) and I thought the entire novel just sounded super interesting. Sadly, though, I was kind of disappointed with the novel.
Thirteen Weddings ticks all the Toon boxes – there’s the love triangle that is ever present (and which, if I’m being totally honest, I’ve sort of had enough of), the characters are just as warm as always, and Toon’s writing style is spot-on, but there just felt like there was something missing from the entire novel, and I don’t know what it was. For me, the obligatory love triangle lacked any traction. For starters, I was never entirely convinced by Alex or Bronte or their feelings for each other. Their chemistry in the Prologue was off the charts, but it just completely fizzled out beyond that (and rightly so – it was a year and a bloody half later when they met again, let’s be honest) and I just couldn’t bring myself to root for them to somehow make it work, despite the fact Alex is not only engaged to the girl he was on a break from when he and Bronte slept together, but they’re planning their wedding! It just made Bronte’s feelings seem not at all worthy; I couldn’t understand them myself – it was 18 months ago, I just sort of felt like she should have been over it by then, instead of hankering away for Alex repeatedly throughout the novel. He wasn’t that interesting.
The other reason I’m so down on Alex is the fact that Lachie, a new arrival a little way into the novel, completely blows Alex out of the water. As soon as Lachie arrives, it’s a case of, “Alex who?”. Lachie was full of life, full of mischief – the kind of mischief that makes you instantly fall in love. Anybody who sings at a wedding, hits on the photographer (Bronte) and reckons she’s gonna sleep with him on the first night (not unlike Bronte, to be fair; she has previous) is cheeky to the extreme, and that was Lachie all over. He just exuded charm and persona, and he made Alex look second best, time and time again. How Bronte could still moon over Alex when Lachie was in the picture was beyond me, and I wanted to do nothing more than to slap some sense into her! For a successful love triangle to work, there has to be tension and there has to be a reason the person in the middle of the triangle is stuck in the middle of the triangle, and for me Bronte had absolutely no reason (and no right) to be in the middle of any kind of love triangle that featured Alex, Alex who is engaged. It doesn’t matter what Alex had to say for himself: he was taken, and until that wasn’t the reality, I was completely unable to comprehend Bronte’s “love” for him, because it seemed like child’s play.
I would absolutely have loved to have written a glowing, positive review of Thirteen Weddings, but I just felt let down. I very much enjoyed bits of the novel – Bronte has some pretty amazing friends, who help keep the novel from sinking to far down, and I enjoyed the whole wedding aspect of the novel, visiting all thirteen weddings with Bronte, they were fun, and added something else to the novel, but I just mostly felt let down. I finished the novel feeling deflated, mostly because I suspect Toon isn’t done with Alex/Bronte/Lachie. I can foresee a sequel in the future, and I’m not sure it’s something I will be reading. I felt like come the end of the novel, Bronte had settled. Yes, she talks about being in love, feeling love, but it didn’t ring true, it didn’t ring right, I didn’t feel like she was talking about the person she ended up with. That makes me so sad for her to be so indecisive. I must mention, before I finish, that there is a sub-plot about Bronte where she hates churches, and there’s a reveal behind that, which was… Unusual. Unexpected. It sort of came out of nowhere, for someone who writes light-hearted women’s fiction, it jarred a little bit to throw in something so serious. Overall, it was a so-so novel. It had bright spots – Lachie made the book shine, the fact we saw some older characters again made me squeal with delight and Toon’s writing is solid as ever, I just didn’t really care about the characters as much as I should, with the exception of Lachie, whom I absolutely adored.
It started out good, but around after 80 ish pages it went downhill from there. Brontè chased Alex, who ignored her, who was cold, who went back to his ex and married her..and then she chased him, cheated with him.. and they both were so horrible... and with all that
This book is Bronte’s story. An Australian girl, who doesn’t believe in God or marriage but ends up helping her wedding photographer friend, Rachel, when Rachel’s assistant lets her down. The photography is her ‘weekend’ job. She works as a picture editor for a magazine in London.
As you can imagine, there are lots of ups and downs but that just adds to the wonderfulness (not a word I know!) of the book.
I whizz through Paige’s books. I love her style of writing. I love how she very cleverly includes characters from other books she’s written. They are so easy to read and so hard to put down.
Paige seems to deliver the perfect combination of chick lit and romance. Her writing packs a punch. She tugs on my heart with sizzling chemistry and strong connections. So much so that I feel like I'm experiencing it myself. I loved it! I can't say that was the ending I was hoping for however there is a little sequel, so fingers crossed!!
Enjoyed it more than I thought! I read a few reviews that didn't like the ending but I thought Bronte (love that name) ended up with the right guy in the end. Need to get some more Paige Toon novels as I've liked the 3 I've read now.
Whilst all have a will they, won't they romantic scenario and your firmly unsure yourself at times at which way it will go...the settings are different each time but always enjoyable.
*Copy provided by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
Paige Toon is a well known name in chick lit and has an army of fans, a whole ARMY I'm telling you! However, I'm ashamed to admit this is the first one by Paige I've read. Now I know many of you will feel a strong urge to yell at me or even throw a rotten tomato at the screen once you read this, but forgive me guys. I've made a mistake for waiting all this time to read her books, and I promise you I'm gonna read all her books soon. I already got them all after I finished reading 'Thirteen Weddings' anyway and I'm taking them with me for my hols because it seems only natural to read fun books at the beach. Right?
Phew! Now if you forgave me, I shall continue with my review. If I had to use only one word to describe this book, it would be FANTASTIC! If I could use more than one, oh well I'd say brilliantly written, uber fun and took me totally by surprise.
As much as I love chick lit, I have to admit it can be predictable to a certain extent. But hey, I don't have a problem with that, as long as I get my happy ending and my heroine is fun, I can live with that.
But boy, what Paige did in this book is totally unbelievable! I tried to predict this book's ending and first time in my life I was wrong! Damn, only a master of writing can do that! You don't believe me, wait till you read this book then please come back to my review and share your thoughts. You'll see what I mean.
So..The story is centered around Bronte, our lovely, fantastic heroine who goes on a wedding and meets this gorgeous guy, Alex. They're both single and out of complicated relationships and have a fling loads of chemistry and stuff like that. A year later they meet again, but this time Alex is back with his ex-girlfriend and Bronte still has the hots for him. Apparently so does Alex, but it's a complicated situation and he doesn't want to admit it.
Bronte works for a mag and also does a bit of photography and seems she's quite the natural when it comes to that, so does few weddings helping out her friend and assisting. One one of these weddings she attends she meets an Aussie guy, Lachie who's just so upbeat and such a wonderful character. He lives life to its fullest and is probably my fave character. He's fun, funny, caring, oh and gorgeous too! *drools*. He's very different to Alex, who's more serious and very reserved when it comes to emotions.
As I said, this book was a total surprise! I mean, I've heard Paige is a fantastic author however I didn't expect this book to be soooo good. The ending, oh guys...I remember reading those pages 2 times because I simply couldn't believe I didn't predict the ending!!!
Overall, this is an amazing book, perfect for the summer so I strongly advise you to get a copy and enjoy in the sun!
Read this in one sitting so I definitely enjoyed it! Loved Bronte, such a diverse character! As per usual I was torn in the love triangle but I did have a front runner, I was actually slightly disappointed with who she chose...not a spoiler, just my own opinion! I did find myself skipping a few pages when Bronte was photographing yet another wedding, I was getting a bit bored with the detail! As always with Paige Toon, it was great to catch up with old characters.. This is a perfect summer read!
ummmm.. what?? this could've been a 3 star book for me but that ending sucked! big time! don't get me started on the heroine. what a let down. also there was some fat shaming which I'm not cool with :/
It feels as If the minute I read the first paragraph, everything else I did was a blur. My head was literally stuck in this book!
So Iv said it before, but Paige Toon really does emotion so well! In this book, the emotion that was drawn out of me was happened, pure lovable characters who got their happy endings. I do love it when she touches on 'sadness and heartache' but this book was all about the smiles.
Bronte works for a magazine and that's just a fabulous setting for a fast romance! She's had a job offer for a year in London, she makes her big bold move from down under, packs her bags for her new adventure. She's excited for her new role, but there's a certain someone who she's more excited about and sets out on her mission to find said person. Little does she know that there won't be much of a search!
Before she knows it, Bronte is in deep. Living her life behind a lense, observing others at weddings.
Will she know what to do, love the right man? Choose the best road?
Loved this. Thirteen Weddings is a super quick romantic tale that made me smile and melt for the hotties who appear in it ❤
I have had Paige Toon's books on my tbr list for the longest time but have never got round to reading any of them. So when I saw her upcoming book on NetGalley I didn't hesitate to request. I will be reading some of her previous books just as soon as my review pile is a bit more manageable! As Paige is a hugely popular and much loved author I had extremely high expectations for this book and I absolutely was not disappointed.
The book opens with our main character Bronte at her friends hen night where she meets Alex. Bronte and Alex have both split up with their partners. They have a one night stand and the next morning say goodbye and go their separate ways assuming they will never see each other again. Bronte is a bit disheartened as they do appear to have a connection after just a few hours together. Jump forward a year and a half however and Bronte thinks she sees Alex on the opposite escalator at Tottenham Court Road tube station. He appears to ignore her however until later in the day she is introduced to the newest member of the team at the magazine she works on, Hebe. The new member is of course Alex.
Alongside her magazine work she is asked by a friend whether she wants to help out as a wedding photographer. Straightaway Bronte is a bit wary and we learn that she hates weddings, and especially churches but we don't know why. She is distant from her mum also. So all through the book I was guessing at what had made her this way until near the end it is revealed and I was pretty shocked! I loved the scenes at the various weddings Bronte was photographing. I'm not a huge fan of weddings myself but this book was highly enjoyable despite that.
I absolutely loved the character of Bronte, she was lovely and definitely somebody I could see myself being friends with in real life. At one of the weddings she meets a singer called Lachie, a fellow Australian. Alex at this point is back together with his ex, Zara and they are engaged to be married. Therefore Bronte is free and single? Well you wouldn't think it the way Alex was going on. He was moody and jealous of Lachie and this annoyed me as he was engaged and didn't really have any right to an opinion on what Bronte was doing. I definitely preferred Lachie to Alex. She does have chemistry with them both but for me it was stronger with Lachie.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and think Paige's legion of fans will love it too. I am seriously kicking myself at not having read her books sooner but happy at the fact it means there are so many of them for me to choose from! Characters from previous books appeared here and I think fans will love this. You don't need to have read previous books to read this one but I really like it when authors write standalone books but have characters from previous books mentioned along the way. A really fantastic book that I just loved.