Never the Bride by Cheryl McKay and Rene Gutteridge

Never the Bride: A Novel, by Cheryl McKay and Rene Gutteridge (WaterBrook, June 2, 2009), 310 pages

Jessie Stone has been filling journals with marriage proposal ideas and wedding plans since she was a child. But she hasn’t yet met “the one.” She’s been a bridesmaid eleven times, and she’s starting to feel like an old maid, even though she’s not nearly old enough for that term to fit. (Yes, thoughts of the movie 27 Dresses would not be remiss here.) She eats chocolate, even though she’s allergic to it. She goes to work every day at a real estate office job she hates, all because she’s the responsible one. And then God shows up, bodily, and says he wants to write her love story.

I was excited to read and review this book because I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Gutteridge (Boo, Scoop, and Snitch) and also because I hope to read everything she’s written.

This isn’t exactly a Gutteridge book, though. I knew she had a co-author on Never the Bride, but I knew I wanted to read it anyway. I didn’t know Never the Bride was originally a screenplay, written by McKay, until I reached the acknowledgments page, at the end of the book. The story reads like a movie to me.

This book has a message. A strong moral to the story. It’s not a bad message; it’s a good one, actually. But. It’s a bit too cheesily presented for me. Or perhaps I’m just too cynical for this book.

Still, I started and finished this book all in the same day, something I haven’t done in what feels like ages.

I certainly didn’t dislike it. I enjoyed the read. Sadly though, it didn’t live up to my (admittedly high) expectations.

McKay is the screenwriter for The Ultimate Gift. She also wrote an episode of Gigi: God’s Little Princess, based on the book by Sheila Walsh, and Taylor’s Wall, a drama about high school violence. She’s been writing since the tender age of five when she penned her first play. She is originally from Boston, Massachusetts, and currently lives in Los Angeles.

Gutteridge is a comedy writer and novelist. She is the author of 15 novels including the Boo series, My Life as a Doormat, the Occupational Hazards series, and the novelization of the motion picture The Ultimate Gift. She lives in Oklahoma with her family.

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