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A review by saareman
The Bookstore Wedding by Alice Hoffman
2.0
Wedding Bell Blues
Review of the Amazon Prime First Reads advance release (July 1, 2024) of the Amazon Original Stories eBook & audiobook (August 1, 2024)
The Bookstore Wedding continues the story of [b:The Bookstore Sisters|62337113|The Bookstore Sisters|Alice Hoffman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1663792373l/62337113._SY75_.jpg|98151099] (2022) which I reviewed at the time as The Prodigal Daughter Returns. As the theme of the first story centered around books and bookshops, I felt quite positive about it and gave it a good review. This 2nd entry is more along the lines of romance fiction and despite the various obstacles to its forecasted wedding plans, it layered on so much sweetness that it became completely unrealistic. I see that Alice Hoffman is otherwise known as a magical realism writer, and although there is no actual "magic" here, it is definitely in the realm of romance fantasy.
The cloying aspect is accentuated by an extended listing of baked goods with cutesy names which the sisters sell as a sideline in their bookshop. These include "I'll Miss You Forever Cakes", "Never Get Lost Oatmeal Cookies", "I Must Be in Heaven Chocolate Brownies", "Blue Moon Blueberry Muffins", "Treat Me, Don't Trick Me Cookies", "Good Witch Gingerbread", "Please Can I Have Some More Apple Cookies", "Double Bunny Hop Coconut Macaroons", "Cheshire Cat Peanut Butter Cookies", "Do Right Spice Cookies", "Marry Me, Marry Me Wedding Cake", "Midnight Chocolate Cake", "Kiss Me Twice Carrot Cake", "Make the Most of Life Pink Lemonade Cake", "Fall Madly in Love Cookies", "Love Me Do Chocolate Chip Cookies", "Do I Dare Cheese Puffs"(I think I found them all, might have missed a few).
There is a nice twist towards the end, but this otherwise really overdid it in the sweetness department. Admittedly I'm not a romance fiction reader and picked this up due to its being a free book.
The extended story of The Bookstore Sisters will continue with the next entry in the series [b:The Bookstore Keepers|214128353|The Bookstore Keepers (The Once Upon a Time Bookshop Stories)|Alice Hoffman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1717274808l/214128353._SY75_.jpg|220394015] with an expected publication date of February 4, 2025.
Trivia and Links
Amazon Prime First Reads are available to Amazon Prime subscribers. Commonly they offer advance reads of books in Kindle eBook format one month before the date of official release. The current month's selection is available here (Link goes to Amazon US, adjust for your own country or region).
You can watch for current and past Amazon Original Kindle short stories which are usually paired with their Audible Original narrations at an Amazon page here.
Review of the Amazon Prime First Reads advance release (July 1, 2024) of the Amazon Original Stories eBook & audiobook (August 1, 2024)
The Bookstore Wedding continues the story of [b:The Bookstore Sisters|62337113|The Bookstore Sisters|Alice Hoffman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1663792373l/62337113._SY75_.jpg|98151099] (2022) which I reviewed at the time as The Prodigal Daughter Returns. As the theme of the first story centered around books and bookshops, I felt quite positive about it and gave it a good review. This 2nd entry is more along the lines of romance fiction and despite the various obstacles to its forecasted wedding plans, it layered on so much sweetness that it became completely unrealistic. I see that Alice Hoffman is otherwise known as a magical realism writer, and although there is no actual "magic" here, it is definitely in the realm of romance fantasy.
The cloying aspect is accentuated by an extended listing of baked goods with cutesy names which the sisters sell as a sideline in their bookshop. These include "I'll Miss You Forever Cakes", "Never Get Lost Oatmeal Cookies", "I Must Be in Heaven Chocolate Brownies", "Blue Moon Blueberry Muffins", "Treat Me, Don't Trick Me Cookies", "Good Witch Gingerbread", "Please Can I Have Some More Apple Cookies", "Double Bunny Hop Coconut Macaroons", "Cheshire Cat Peanut Butter Cookies", "Do Right Spice Cookies", "Marry Me, Marry Me Wedding Cake", "Midnight Chocolate Cake", "Kiss Me Twice Carrot Cake", "Make the Most of Life Pink Lemonade Cake", "Fall Madly in Love Cookies", "Love Me Do Chocolate Chip Cookies", "Do I Dare Cheese Puffs"(I think I found them all, might have missed a few).
There is a nice twist towards the end, but this otherwise really overdid it in the sweetness department. Admittedly I'm not a romance fiction reader and picked this up due to its being a free book.
The extended story of The Bookstore Sisters will continue with the next entry in the series [b:The Bookstore Keepers|214128353|The Bookstore Keepers (The Once Upon a Time Bookshop Stories)|Alice Hoffman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1717274808l/214128353._SY75_.jpg|220394015] with an expected publication date of February 4, 2025.
Trivia and Links
Amazon Prime First Reads are available to Amazon Prime subscribers. Commonly they offer advance reads of books in Kindle eBook format one month before the date of official release. The current month's selection is available here (Link goes to Amazon US, adjust for your own country or region).
You can watch for current and past Amazon Original Kindle short stories which are usually paired with their Audible Original narrations at an Amazon page here.