Review: Good.  But no where near what Abigail is capable of.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 12, 2014
I gave this book a 3 soley for the writing and because I do think Abigail is a good writer. In the first two books, she wrote a strong storyline with equally strong characters. I found Sophie incredibly endearing, intelligent and her personality stood out from a lot of the female leads in this genre.  I told someone I believe if it had came out before FSOG and had been tweaked a bit for a mainstream audience (namely the age difference and for some, Neil's bisexuality) I think it would have been the love story to read.  Book 2 was that damn good.  But, unfortunately, the Bride was immensely disappointing for me.  The Girlfriend stood out to me because it as such a true human story.  As magical as Neil and Sophie were - him a billionaire, handsome, sexually gifted, well endowed 49 year old.  Sophie a 24 year-old with the maturity of a woman her age - the story showed that they are susceptible to the complications and unfairness of life just like the rest of us. It showed that money doesn't innoculate you from sickness.  Even the fortunate can be unfortunate at times. It showed Sophie's strength.  Neil's will to fight for his life even though he had no reason to hope.  The story was about life and unconditional love.  But in The Bride, there was no message.  There was a glimmer of something during Emma's wedding - the forging of this new unconventional family.  Still, it was superficial, just a glossing over.  Nothing to make me think.  I would have liked the animosity between Valerie and Sophie to not be so typically antagonistic.  Sophie's fight with Holli was infuriating and immature.  There was not one solid plot, just them jumping from trivial instances to another. After reading The Girlfriend, it was hard to get into a bunch of trivial, drawn out storylines.  I still cannot believe the story is being stretched into a fourth book. I'm the first to admit that when I love a book, I don't want to let go of the characters.  But we have to let them go.  We have to see them off and hope that they live a long fruitful life.  When the writer continues, there is a potential for fatigue and I'm fearful that this will happen with Sophie and Neil.  I became bored midway through, but continued out of loyalty to them.  Also, I can't believe I'm saying this, but it was way too much sex.  I found myself skimming entire scenes just to get back to the story.  I will buy book 4 because I enjoy Abigail's writing. But I'm praying that she goes back to committing herself to storytelling rather than putting a few timid plotlines together.  The Bride in my opinion took a lot of wind out of what made The Girlfriend so exceptional.  Hopefully the long wait fpr book 4 means that Abigail will be recommitting herself to writing a book that will meet the high expectations I know she's capable of.