Paperback Reader

The best place to start with Fit To Be Tied is with what it's not. Rather than ending with a trip down the aisle, this book starts with one. No one steals the bride. The bride doesn't catch the groom sleeping a bridesmaid. A former flame doesn't rush in and declare undying love. The wedding happens...and then everything falls apart.

Actually, things are a bit rough from the beginning. Tom Brookfield proposes to Jen Canby. The anxieties of wedding planning are doubled when Jen's parents announce their divorce right as Jen announces her engagement. Jen's bad luck streak continues at the church where blueberries have turned her teeth a pretty shade of blue for her wedding day. The groom shows up just this side of drunk. The cupid ice sculpture arrives with a big ice erection. The cake is wrong. And, worst of all, Tom's ex-wife - the one Jen never knew about - stops by to introduce herself. The series of misadventures culminates with Jen asking for a divorce during the honeymoon.

Not exactly a fairytale romance.

The remainder of the book then deals with a short-term marriage that is breaking apart before it ever really got together. The divorce discussions lead to more fighting, all while Jen and Tom profess their love for each other. The plot sounds serious, and though it has some very tense and emotional moments, the tone keeps never wallows in darkness. In general, the reader is saved from a hideous downward divorce spiral by two characters, and a few memorable secondary characters, who are confused but not the average divorce party participants.

On the surface, Jen and Tom are bound by their mutual desire to keep their joint dog. The reality, of course, is that the dog becomes the one way for these two people to maintain the bond and contact between them. In the end, the dog serves as a catalyst for the direction of the relationship. But there's much more at work here. Jen and Tom are emotionally immature and, in many ways, not ready for marriage. Tom's lie about his first marriage is as inexplicable as Jen's overreaction to it. In different hands, this squishy beginning conflict might fail. However, Kendall manages to exploit the weaknesses of both Jen and Tom to create two very flawed, but very human characters who mask their real feelings with conflict even they know are not as significant as they pretend.

The issues all relate back to the underlying insecurities each has about marriage. Jen has seen her parents' trainwreck version of matrimony and is understandably scared. Tom feels his autonomy slipping away faster than he anticipated and is understandably scared. In examining those fears, both Jen and Tom show less impressive sides of their personalities. At times, each character borders on unlikable. Sometimes, more than borders - they are unlikable. Lucky for the reader, Jen and Tom tend not to be unlikable at the same time. When one seems to slip into the abyss, the other rises. That gentle balance, under the guiding hand of Kendall, turns out to be perfect.

Tom plays as a bit of a jerk - and a lying one - at the beginning of the book. But, as the pages pass, Tom is revealed as a decent guy who hangs on to his love for Jen far longer than most men would. He is hurt and confused and those feelings come through even though this book stays in Jen's head. On the other hand, Jen starts out as the wronged party whose "special" day is ruined by many things, including her groom's bad choices. She is sympathetic until she goes overboard in her reactions.

Frankly, it's tempting to shake both of them. But in taking a step back, the realistic interplay between Jen and Tomthem, as well as the ups and downs they encounter as they maneuver the realities of their relationship, are handled here in a way that rises above the simple, and often shallow, it's-time-for-me-to-marry-but-all-the-marriages-I-know-fail concerns. There is a deeeper connection and obvious growth.

In many ways, Tom reaches his turning point first and far before Jen. Her missteps and delay in getting to the other side of her fear takes a bit too long, but not so long as to interfere with the steady pacing of the book. But, while funny and poignant, charming and moving, Jen and Tom and their story can also be annoying. They tend to prove the point that people are at their least attractive during divorce proceedings. We know they love each other. They know they love each other. So, really, what's the problem?

Despite the emotional stagnation that creeps into the plot and attacks both Jen and Tom at times, and a shaky sense that maybe these two shouldn't be married, Fit To Be Tied does forge a new path. It's a chicklit-style romance that's less about romance than it is about maturity and finding your way. The tone is light, but the issues are real. The situation is modern despite the familiar traditional romance novel wedding backdrop.

Fit To Be Tied offers a fresh and unusual take on a wedding story, one that makes digging into the emotions and fears that surround a lifetime commitment worth the trip. In showing the good and the bad - and the really bad - Kendall creates a heart-warming reminder that marriage doesn't end with the big expensive wedding.

You can visit Karen Kendall here and buy this book here or here.