Allegra Steinberg thought she had it all. At 29, she is a successful show business attorney with a handsome lawyer boyfriend named Brandon to boot.
She's been raised well, by loving parents. Her mother, Blair, is a successful television writer. Simon, her father, is an award winning movie producer.
Though everything appears fine on the level, Allegra's life is stressful enough for her to see a therapist, who questions Brandon's loyalty and desire to commit. After all, Brandon has yet to divorce his wife, and he can't make the time to take Allegra to the Golden Globes.
Fortunately, Allegra can count on her best friend, Alan Carr, who just happens to be the hottest thing on the movie screen. They have been friends since childhood, and Alan is kind enough to escort Allegra to the awards ceremony.
The day after the show, Allegra heads to New York City on business. She meets author Jeff Hamilton at a literary party and her world suddenly changes. She finds she cares about Jeff very much, but is still attached to Brandon. Can Allegra open up and let a wonderful man like Jeff into her life?
This book is called The Wedding, so there is little room for me to build up suspense. Obviously, two people get married and one of them is Allegra. Though the book clearly points out the groom, I leave it to you to read it and find out more.
In true Danielle Steel form, there are a zillion more things going on in the story. Blaire suspects her husband is cheating on her. Allegra's younger sister has a big problem that needs to be resolved. The wedding itself is having a hard time getting planned.
On top of all that, there are a couple of story lines involving Allegra's big shot clients including a legendary rock star and a young, beautiful actress that falls in love with Alan.
Surprisingly, The Wedding was able to keep my attention almost until the end. It wasn't a great book, it was a ok book. There were several elements that just plain bugged me.
First of all, the players in this story are way too shallow. Character development is at a minimum. In The Wedding, there's a whole side story about a rock star client of Allegra's. I know Ms. Steel put him in the story to illustrate the difficulty of Allegra's job. However, this side story deters from the rest of the plot. It would have been nice to omit this part and focus some attention on developing the main characters that are about as deep as the wading pool at the Fresno Holiday Inn.
Also, everything that happens to these people turns out ok in the end. Solutions to problems are just a little too convenient. I am not giving anything away by saying these people live through birth, death and everything in between, only to live happily ever after in 400+ pages. Yawn.
I suppose this book is a hit because it is set among the celebrity elite in Beverly Hills and Malibu. Yeah, that's nice and all, but it is far from original. Readers must like the setting, however, because many authors besides Ms. Steel write fictitious novels about celebrities. Just once, I'd like to see a real Hollywood story that includes gigantic egos, plentiful backstabbing and a decent amount of plastic surgery. Maybe someday, huh?
For some time, this book held on to a four-star rating, simply because it held my attention. After a while though, I just got tired of the too easy solutions and "happily ever after" attitude. Doesn't anything go wrong for these people? A pimple or something? Anything? Three stars and no more for The Wedding.
For fans of Danielle Steel, this is probably a must read. Those who like to get lost in a shallow, steamy book once in a while will probably enjoy it as well. For everyone else, I ask you to consider my review and make up your own mind before you decide if you want to read The Wedding.
