Toss the Bride

As the assistant to Atlanta's top wedding planner, Macie Fuller is used to all sorts of bridezillas—and the occasional momzilla, groomzilla or other nasty type—but she handles their outrageous demands with pluck and aplomb (and just a bit of private panic). The bride wants to ride down the aisle on her horse? No problem. A wedding with "a theme of mutton, velvet, and braided hair seasoned with a bit of bowing and curtsying"? Whatever! So why is it that when her own cute, rich, gentle, blue-blooded boyfriend, Avery, proposes, Macie gets a serious case of the prewedding jitters? It's a good setup for light chick-lit fare, but Fenske's debut plods rather than prances along. Far too much of the book is consumed by wedding horrors—chapter titles include "The Evil Bride," "The Greedy Bride" and "The Vegan Bride"—brought about by horrible (but "rich and beautiful") people. And when one stops to think that Avery adores Macie, gets a job he doesn't need to win her approval, hands her a giant ring and can't wait to buy a house with her, one wonders why the heck Macie isn't laughing all the way to the church. She'll be the happy bride eventually, of course, but readers may wonder what took her so long. (Dec.)