Wedding Night, by Sophie Kinsella

If you are a Kinsella fan, then you don't need a review of her latest book to entice you into reading it. But if you aren't familiar with the work of British author Madeleine Sophie Wickham, writing under the pen name Sophie Kinsella, and you need a chick-lit laugh, give Wedding Night a try.

At age 33, Kinsella's heroine Lottie's modus operandi has always been to meet a guy, have great sex, and hope it leads to a wedding. But a proposal has consistently eluded her, so when an old flame named Ben reappears after 15 years and impulsively suggests that they get married, Lottie says "yes" if he agrees to wait to have sex until the wedding night. Continually left not at the altar but before there is even a mention of one, she figures it's well worth changing her game plan from "great sex with a hope of marriage" to "marriage with a hope of great sex."

Ben's proposal comes on the heels of Lottie's break-up with Richard, her beau of three years. She had thought he was ready to propose when he took her out to a restaurant to discuss "something." She told her sister Fliss, as well as a variety of friends and even a few strangers she met in a ladies room, that her boyfriend's popping of the question was imminent. Alas, she turned out to be wrong, heartbroken, and totally embarrassed when she discovered he only wanted to talk about the use of his free air miles.

Lottie's sister Fliss, who takes turns with Lottie as the narrator, has her own troubles. Involved in a messy divorce and struggling to keep her young son happy, her job under control, and her sanity intact, she is nevertheless horrified when she hears of Lottie's engagement to an almost total stranger. Although she agrees to stand up at the wedding, she tracks down Ben's friend and business associate Lorcan, who she hopes also will want to stop the nuptials. Fliss, however, didn't plan on Lorcan being so charming, and she certainly never thought she would end up jetting off to Greece with him to stop her sister from making what she thinks is a huge mistake.

Most, if not all, of what happens in this book is incredulous, but if you've been spending time with meaty historical fiction or beautifully written, but very sad, novels, you might be ready for a little silly fun. And what Lottie doesn't provide, Fliss will.

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