A Wedding In Provence tells the story of a late-in-life wedding in the French countryside. A divorced mother of two grown daughters falls madly in love with a widowed cowboy, and they decide to marry at her friend's inn in Provence. Although the story opens in Provence, after Olivia and Brody have met, fallen in love, and decided to marry, we see their romance unfold in memories and references, and quickly learn that even a happy relationship is not without complications.

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I really enjoyed this book. Of course I really enjoy the south of France. This book is about Olivia and Brody's second marriage in their 50s at Olivia's best friend Emily's inn. It's about love, family, life, and relationships. It covers about a weekend amount of time so you don't go too in depth with the characters. You learn just enough about each character to get a little bit about their personalities and what makes them tick. This is a short book so it's a fast read. I got lost in the story. This is a great read when it's a cold day and you don't want to do anything but escape to the south of France. I did cry just a little bit.

I won this on Goodreads. ( )

Going into this book, I knew that it would be a wedding type book. I knew that it would be set in a beautiful part of France. I knew there would be some drama. I got all of that plus more. I thought that it would be focused on the wedding and less on the character development or the scenery, but I was happily wrong.

I’ve never been to France but Sussman makes it so easy to picture the scenery. Her writing was spectacular in this book. It’s hard to picture a place that you’ve never been without great description and that’s what I got in this book. If I ever thought I didn’t want to go to France, then now I definitely do. Not only did the fabulous writing help the scenery, but it helped with the character development. With timely flashbacks to Pre-Wedding, I got to know more about the characters and see how they ended up at the end. Every character seemed to grow in their own way.

Some characters grew up; some characters grew out; and some characters grew in. Carly grew out. She was always the quiet one, but by the end she was taking up the space she finally saw that she deserved. She became selfish and impulsive. She did what she needed to do. I enjoyed watching her development and growth the most. Nell grew in. She realized it’s not all about her and that she is not the only one hurting. She was always self destructive and raw. By the end, she found out what was important to her and that she needed to work to get it. Jake, Brody’s longtime best friend, didn’t get a huge spot in this book but I definitely think he grew up. He had his moments where I wanted to beat him up and he had his moments where I might have high-fived him.

The greatest part about this book for me was that it was more than just a book about a wedding. It was about a family growing together while all of them are going through rough times while they are going through as awesome time. The story, for me, was more about the sisters coming together and being there for each other when they needed it most. It was more about the story of two older people finding love again after losing it before. It’s about changing yourself if you don’t like who you are. I went into this book thinking that it would be a light summery beach read and I got life lesson as well, so I would call that a win.

I also enjoyed that this book was about older people falling in love. Brody and Olivia are in their 50′s and are getting married in France. How perfect is that? My dad is in his late 40′s and is getting married next year so I read this at the perfect time. It’s nice to see a book that focuses on older people that especially older people that are starting over in a way.

Carly reminded me of Lena in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. She’s quiet and reserved and then finally breaks out and becomes who she always wanted to be. Nell reminded me of Bridget in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Lucky for me, those are my two favorite characters. I saw obvious parallels Carly and Lena; and Nell and Bridget.

I would suggest that if you’re going to read this book: have google translate open if you don’t know French. I only know the very basic words and there was some French in this book which I had to look up. Obviously the book is going to have some French because they are in France. I’ve also decided that I want to learn French but I highly doubt it would go well.

Really, this was a fantastic book and I highly plan on looking for more things by Ellen Sussman. She is a great writer and writes awesome characters. This was such a strong book that I could relate to. ( )

Olivia and Brody are a fiftyish year old couple who plan to get married in France at the hotel owned by her best friend and husband. The only guests will be Brody's best friend, his mom and Olivia's two daughters. Instead of a quiet romantic weekend, everyone has problems. One of the daughters brings a man from the airplane as her date, the other daughter comes without her boyfriend, the best friend dislikes Olivia, Brody's parents have recently split up and the best friends are not getting along. Will Olivia and Brody be able to get married and find happiness with all the chaos going on around them? Read the book and find out! Its a fun read about a beautiful place and it will give you several hours of enjoyment! ( )

I received this from NetGalley to read and review. Olivia is in her fifties and about to marry Brody, a one-time vet who left his practice in Wyoming to be with Olivia. They have decided to marry at Olivia’s close college friend’s B&B in the south of France. Olivia’s two daughters come for the wedding. The younger, Carly, appears to every parent’s dream child: good looking, smart, a successful businesswoman involved with another successful businessman. However, all is not what it seems. Carly arrives without her guy, but with some quirky, made-up reasons why he did not come to the wedding. Olivia’s other daughter Nell is a free spirit, an aspiring actress who just hasn’t quite made it to the big time yet. She has no beau but brings a guy she meets on the lane to the wedding party/weekend. As the weekend progresses, things spiral out of hand quickly. Nell’s “date” leaves. Carly mysteriously goes off on her own. Olivia’s friend and her husband encounter some rough patches in their marriage. Brody’s mother, deserted recently by her long time husband arrives, uncertain what to do or say, smarting still from her husband’s departure from her life but trying valiantly to be strong for appearances and her son Brody. The story is filled with many personal challenges and changes for all involved. I thoroughly enjoyed the smooth flow of the story and storyline. The characters were realistic and well done. Sometimes I felt sorry for Olivia, having children who went every which way but the way a parent would hope. I also found the way Brody coped with all the drama involved was admirable. This is a great summer read, which will keep the reader glued to the book, wondering what will happen next or how things will turn out. I received this from NetGalley to read and review. ( )