When Holly's beloved grandfather dies, she has a hard time coping. Good thing she has a distraction: the Las Vegas wedding chapel her grandfather spent his life running, and which he left to her in his will. But taking over Rose of Sharon is not easy. For one thing, the chapel is in debt. For another, Holly has employees, including her best friend and her recently-divorced parents. And, finally, there's a boy. Dax is cute, and sweet, and loving, and he understands what it's like to lose a loved-one. Unfortunately, he's also the grandson of her rival, which makes him pretty much the least perfect boyfriend ever. Holly will never forget her grandfather, but at least she has plenty to do while waiting for the pain to fade a bit.
Holly is a likable character with enough quirks to keep her realistic. The Las Vegas setting is wonderfully rendered as well, and the exploration of the wedding chapel industry adds an interesting touch. As a heads-up, while the cover and blurb paint this one as a cute, fluffy read, the first 15-20% is heavily mired in Holly's grief over her grandfather's death, making it a better match for those wishing to explore life-and-death questions as opposed to those searching for a light, fun romance. Either way, I would recommend this book more highly, but I had trouble with the fact that Dax's response to emotional distress was to get extremely drunk. It was an issue to the point where Holly was afraid to upset him because he might go on another bender, and he continued even after he admitted his alcoholic grandfather was a mean drunk. With not even a hint of resolution to this particular issue, I found myself rooting against the two of them, instead of for them. In addition, it felt like there were so many other plot points and characters that none of them could be fully explored or resolved, giving the book a more scattered feel.
HS -- OPTIONAL. Reviewer: Caryn
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