Review: IndieReader Review
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 11 6, 2013
WHERE'S THE GROOM? is a romantic comedy about marriage, desperation, and our wedding-obsessed culture. The heroine, Ashley, is lonely after a series of breakups, surrounded by female friends who are engaged, married, or about to have children, and believes that marriage to the man of her dreams will make her happy. Her gay male friend and yoga teacher, Ray, persuades her to go to a seminar on The Power of Believing in Dreams, and she is convinced, bit by bit, to start planning her wedding as though her groom were already there. This, of course, leads to madcap chaos and catastrophe as her friends and family get involved.Ashley is a likable character, and one can see in the words and actions of her friends and family the pressures that shape her desperate wish to be married at (almost) all costs, the pressures that keep her from backing out and admitting her deception, much as she wishes to at many points. Her emotional growth is touching and promising, and the reader is led to cheer her on in her self-discovery. The story is lively and playful, while still managing to provide some gentle satirical commentary on the wedding industry and on social attitudes towards single women and marriage. The minor characters are entertainingly insane, and the writing is clear and vigorous, with a tongue-in-cheek appreciation of its own zaniness.The ending is a bit unsatisfying, appearing to take all the growth and self-knowledge Ashley has gained through the story and toss them out of the window in favor of a deus ex machina, that seems to be thrown into the tale just for the sake of a happy ending. Additionally, the characters, even Ashley and her parents, are a bit too prone to melodramatic emotional behavior more appropriate to adolescents than to adults. Admittedly, and sadly, the adolescent behavior of adult characters is not entirely unbelievable, particularly where weddings are concerned, and helps to explain how Ashley becomes trapped in her situation at all. However, it can be a bit wearying to an adult reader.)Despite some character credibility issues, WHERE'S THE GROOM?  is a fun and fluffy piece of literary cheese, which will likely appeal to any romantic (or wedding planner) seeking an hour or so of amusing entertainment.Reviewed by Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader.