To Me I Wed. K.M. Jackson. 2017. 368 pages. Dafina. [Source: ARC provided couresty of NetGalley.]
Lily is great at her job – she plans exciting events, whether weddings or birthday parties. However, no matter how happy she says she is with her single-hood, being asked when she’s the next to get hitched is getting old. What better way to shut up the critics with a spectacular wedding … to herself?
To Me I Wed has a pretty interesting concept. What made me want to read it was the idea of Lily being surrounded by people who expected her to simply wait for Mr. Right to sweep her off her feet, but instead she opts to show them that she was whole on her own. The wrench thrown in by her attraction to Vincent makes for a lot of tension, sexual and otherwise.
I found Lily to be a bit unlikable, which surprised me. She seemed extremely tightly wound, and a great deal more insecure than one would think given her choice to marry herself. The book starts with her finally breaking off a not-quite friends with benefits arrangement with a guy who didn’t really seem to treat her well while they were “together.” Then, she almost comes across as the butt of family jokes regarding her singlehood. I took her choice to marry herself more as a manifestation of that insecurity, rather than a show of strength. Later, she was a bit more selfish and rude in her interactions with Vincent. She was contradictory at best, and disrespectful at worst. Luckily, she came into her own a bit more as the book progressed. She was able to address areas some of the most pressing “problems” in her life and seemed more honestly independent and understanding of her impact on others.
Vincent is a brooding character, and grapples with his own insecurities. He heavily affected by his mother’s sudden death, and the result is that he blocks people out and is emotionally distant. He and Lily had an evening of heavy petting and a year later reconnect at Lily’s sister’s wedding. The chemistry is still simmering, but the two struggle with how to move forward, if at all. While Lily tries to keep him at bay, she ends up further embedding him into her life by selecting his restaurant as the venue for her “wedding.” The two have a back and forth rapport that not only challenges Lily’s rationale for marrying herself, but also what the two want for themselves in a relationship.
Overall, this is a cute story and a novel concept. I thought the ending was a bit predictable but fitting given the circumstances. Unfortunately, it did not captivate me as much as I expected, and it took me a while to finish it.
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