Review: The Wedding Beat by Devan Sipher

The Wedding Beat
Author: Devan Sipher
Publisher: New American Library
ISBN: 9780451235794
Release date: 4/3/12
Author's website: Link

Sometimes the best man isn't even in the wedding party...

Gavin Greene is a hopeless romantic. He's also a professional one: He writes the wedding column for a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper, covering spectacular parties from coast to coast. But there's a thin line between being a hotshot reporter on assignment...and being a single guy alone on a Saturday night at someone else's wedding.

Everything changes on New Year's when Gavin meets Melinda, a travel writer with an adventurous spirit. A moonlit stroll across a Manhattan rooftop seals the deal. Until an Aussie with attitude swoops in and whisks her away before Gavin gets her number.

Gavin crisscrosses New York City to find her again, navigating stressed-out brides, gossip blogs, a budget-cutting boss and his daft but well-meaning parents. Along the way, he learns that there's something worse than losing the woman of his dreams: having to write an article about her wedding.

After being in a reading funk for a few weeks I needed a certain book to help me get out of it.  When I received The Wedding Beat on my doorstep, I read what it was about and was instantly excited to read it. It was the right book that I needed at that moment and it had me tearing up while reading about Gavin Green's journey to finding the one he believes is his true love.  I loved that this story was about a male character that just wanted to fall in love with the woman of his dreams. Finding "the one" is not easy for men either and this story really showcases that as the main character Gavin goes through so many emotions while reminiscing about past loves and the one that got away. He also to deal with his somewhat dysfunctional family that will have you laughing whenever they appear on the page.

What makes it all more heartbreaking is that Gavin writes the wedding column at a major NYC newspaper. He interviews couples that are about to be married for his column and attends each of their weddings. He can't help but want what surrounds him as he doing job and wonders if he himself will ever find the right woman that will take that journey with him. There are times when he feels that he may be alone for the rest of his life and just when he has hope that he may have found someone, he's back to square one again. It doesn't help that he's pressured by his parents to find someone or anyone to settle down with and it makes people question why he writes the wedding column if it's something that he's never experienced in his life. He's very good at what he does, but there's one upcoming wedding that is just too much for him to take and places him in the uncomfortable position of doing something that he never thought he would do. Will being honest and true gain him all that he's ever wanted in life or push him away from the one that he's been waiting for.

I'm giving The Wedding Beat a rating of:

The Wedding Beat is cleverly written by Devan Sipher and entertains the reader during an important part of Gavin Greene's life. It will make you reminisce about your own journey of love with your loved one. It will make want to grab onto them and hold them tight, because the journey is not an easy one.