Guest Review: Life’s A Beach by Portia MacIntosh

Sun, sea and inescapable exes...

Peach is excited to hear that her sister, Di, is getting married. Of course, she would have preferred her little sister to be engaged to someone she's known longer than a week - and the fact that his name is Charles doesn't bode well - but who is she to judge?! After all, her own love life is non-existent, and who doesn't love a destination wedding...?

Whisked away to the gorgeous Italian coast, Peach assumes her role as chief bridesmaid and, despite her reservations about the groom, she tries to ensure everything goes to plan.

But weddings are never straightforward affairs... throw in some unexpected guests in the form of ex-boyfriends and one night stands, and soon enough there is more drama than a reality TV show.

Can Peach keep the show on the road, or might she end up in a whirlwind romance of her own...?

Review: Although Portia MacIntosh is a well established author of romantic comedies, somehow this is the first one that I have read. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but was pleased to find an enjoyable tale that had me chuckling from beginning to end and checking out her backlist of books.

The story concerns mystery shopper Peach (short for Penelope) and the lavish destination wedding of her sister Di. Peach is rather surprised that her sister is planning to marry a man she has known for just one week having met him on holiday, but nonetheless undertakes her chief bridesmaid responsibilities with due attention. However, things do go wrong along the way, and with hilarious results. There are unintended guests, a string of ex-partners turning up, a best man who Peach has a history with and a groom who is also a blast from the past. All of this with the backdrop of a gorgeous villa in the Italian countryside. Will the wedding go ahead without any more hitches and will Peach perhaps find some romance for herself into the bargain?

I can highly recommend this romantic and very funny book. It is the kind of pure escapism that we all need from time to time. The characters are interesting and, in the main, likeable. Peach is a very entertaining person, unlucky in love and more than a little accident prone, but she has a great job that we would all envy, with many perks. I loved the way that the surprises in the wedding party  heaped one on top of the other; I was just waiting to see who would turn up next. The setting sounded absolutely fabulous though. I wouldn’t mind spending a few weeks there myself. As well as being really funny, the story was also so well written that I really had no idea how it would all end, but it was worth the wait.

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