That Thing She Reads...: Publication Day Review: Marrying Mr Valentine by Laura Barnard

Marrying Mr Valentine by Laura Barnard

Published: 22nd February 2018

Pages: 199

Available on Kindle

Rating: 4/5

Blurb

Nadine Roberts smiles for everyone, but beneath it she hides a heart-breaking past that only a few know about. Throwing herself into her new career; wedding planner at The Duck & Goose, a property recently purchased by newlyweds Florence and Hugh, has helped distract her from her loneliness.

When a teary bride suddenly cancels her upcoming wedding Nadine looks to the two year waiting list. Clara Blumenkrantz and Hartley Valentine. It’ll have to be a quick turnaround, but what’s the worst that can happen, right?

This should be like every other wedding she plans, but the magnetism she feels towards Mr Valentine disrupts the orderly life she’s worked hard to carve out.

Can she ignore her intense desires and be a professional? Or will she open up her heart to the one person that has the power to break it? And in doing so endanger not just her job, but her venue’s reputation?

Review

Nadine Roberts has worked tirelessly over the last year to put The Duck and Goose on the map as the place to get married for her best friends Hugh and Flo, winning the pub the converted award as one of the Best Wedding venues of 2017. Working hard to make every couples wedding perfect has been helping Nadine mask her own heartbreak, until now. Her latest couple to get ready to walk down the aisle are Hugh’s cousin Clara Blumenkrantz and Hartley Valentine. Clara can only be described as a “bitch” and Hartley, well Hartley makes Nadine’s heart sing like it hasn’t done in a long time. Can Nadine manage to keep her feelings to herself and get Clara and Hartley to Mr & Mrs?

This is a book which is jam packed full of fun, as a lover of all things wedding I secretly love reading about them when things go a bit wrong. For the first time in her career as a wedding planner Nadine is having problems, mostly caused by being around Hartley. From being locked in broom cupboard, to badly stained outfits and gravy incidents the sparks seem to fly when these two get together which made for very funny reading. This is one of those books you just have to keep reading just to find out what other scrapes Nadine can get herself into. There is also a more serious side to this book also with teenager Anna, which I think makes this a perfectly balanced read.

Marrying Mr Valentine may be a short read with a predictable outcome, but I loved the journey Nadine goes on to get there. Laura Barnard’s writing is full of light-hearted fun making this the perfect read to put a smile on your face.