Book Review: A Vicarage Wedding by Kate Hewitt

Do any of you remember my review of A Vicarage Christmas back in October last year? It was a charming story set around the Holley family who lived at the vicarage, particularly the personal story of Anna Holley. Well, I’m back with another instalment of this series where we get to know Holley sister Rachel a bit more.

A Vicarage Wedding by Kate Hewitt starts with Rachel’s fiancée, Dan, ending their relationship the night before her dream wedding. Suddenly, Rachel finds herself at a loss and wonders how she will restart her life alone and with nowhere to live. Rachel finds herself living above The Bell, the village’s roughest pub, where she gets to know landlord Sam and his nephew, Nathan. Rachel begins to develop feelings for Sam and wonders if she is on the rebound or if someone completely different to how she imagined her partner would be is exactly what she needs.

Ok, any hawk-eyed readers out there might notice that I didn’t read book two in the series about Esther. The thing is, I didn’t need to. The Vicarage series can be read in any order and you won’t feel like you are missing vital information. So, if Rachel’s story appeals more to you than Anna’s or Esther’s, feel free to go for it!

A Vicarage Wedding is such a nice story to read. It left me with a very pleasant feeling afterwards, one of satisfaction, let’s say. I like that from time to time. Is it just me who thinks this but aren’t there books out there that are great but really stressful to read? This book was just perfect for curling up on the sofa.

This is a relatively short book but there was still time for character development, mostly in the form of Rachel, but also Sam and Miriam Holley, who will take the forefront for the next book. There was also time enough in A Vicarage Wedding to develop various themes. Again, we have the theme of family that was so strong in A Vicarage Christmas. This time we don’t only get the family form of the Holleys but also Sam and his nephew too.

What I liked the most about this entire book was the theme of materialism. I hope this is not a spoiler for anybody but Dan believes that Rachel is caught up in the more material things in life. This is true. She has high expectations for her dream house and car, and her wedding (or what would have been her wedding) is certainly on the more extravagant side in comparison to other members of her family. However, I didn’t view Rachel as spoiled. She herself asks if there is something bad about liking nice things. I began to ask myself that question but I don’t feel I have a straight answer right now. What do you think? Does liking nice things make you shallow?

Overall, this was a great addition to the Vicarage series. I need to make sure I clear some time in my schedule to read Miriam’s story – it sounds like it will be a cracker!

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

PS. If you want to check out another great book by Kate Hewitt, then check out A Mother’s Goodbye (buy here on Book Depository*).

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