We at ELLE India love weddings, real and fictional. And, in lieu of wedding season, we have curated some books where wedding plays cupid. There is a successful matchmaking that would make Sima Taparia proud, enemies who discover they are better off as lovers, a young love, which blooms during sangeet practice, and a woman whose days of being the bridesmaid are finally over. Let the champagne flow!
1. The Singles Table by Sara Desai
When ‘no time for love’ Jay meets ‘plenty of time for love’ Zara at a singles table at a wedding, he doesn’t know whether she would be the answer to all his problems or the cause of them. But, with wedding preparations in full swing, these two get thrown together (a lot) leading them to strike a deal. Zara will use her match-making skills to help find Jay a partner if he promises to use his business to help her find clients for her law firm. Seems straightforward and should work, but the scorching sexual tension between the two has other plans.
2. The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory
Maddie and Theo agree on only two things: that they are excited for their best friend Alexa’s wedding and that they hate each other. That is until they kiss one evening, and neither can stop thinking about it. Sharp barbs give way to romantic tension and the two find themselves slipping away for trysts and deciding to keep things quiet until the wedding, and then never see each other again. But things don’t always go according to plans, do they?
3. Sway With Me by Syed M Masood
Arsalan is thinking about his future, and how he will be left alone when his great-grandfather dies. So, he turns to Beenish, the step-daughter of a prominent matchmaker to help him find his future wife. Beenish agrees, but on the condition that he agrees to partner up with her to perform a ‘forbidden’ dance for her sister’s wedding. Beenish and Arsalan are in sync in when they are learning the dance steps but clash in matters of the hearts – he’s old school and she’s new age romantic, but their attraction is undeniable. Will their hearts sync at the end of the wedding?
4. The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall
Sophie Breeze is such a good bridesmaid that she made it her full time job. Hired by brides to pose as their friend, Sophie deftly runs things behind the scenes to ensure a foible free wedding day for the bride. So, when she is hired by Lady Victoria Swann for her daughter Cordelia’s wedding, Sophie knows this is her one shot to make it big in the wedding business! But, she didn’t account for Cordelia incorrigible behaviour. Or that she would be attracted to Cordelia’s older brother, who is definitely off limits. Or, that a rival society wedding is announced for the very same day. Will Sophie pull it off keeping her identity and dignity safe?
5. The Bride Quartet by Nora Roberts
Four childhood friends have started Vow, a premier wedding planning company, and each one of them — Parker (management), Emma (flowers), Laurel (patisserie), and Mac (photography) works in tandem to give the bride a guaranteed perfect beautiful day full of memories to last the rest of her life. The four books cover each of the friends path to love, with multiple weddings thrown in for that sentimental touch. All the four books, Vision in White (Mac), Bed of Roses (Emma), Savour the Moment (Laurel), and Happy Ever After (Mac), are lightly written, with the perfect dose of romantic flights of fancy and reality and how in the end as each one of them learns to make their own wedding memories.
6. His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie
This is a love story. Afi Tekple agrees to marry Elikem, who doesn’t show up for his own wedding; he sends a stand in instead. Afi soon discovers that her husband is in love with someone else, and is no happier about this marriage than she is. As Afi gets the scoop on her husband’s mistress, and her husband’s non-committal stance towards her, Afi decides she deserves better, and declares war.
