Fit to Be Tied by
by Karen Kendall
Published by Signet
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Reviewed by Amanda K. Collins
Fit to Be Tied, by Karen Kendall is not your average romance novel. Rather than following a couple from the first stirrings of attraction to happily ever after, it begins with an engagement. There is no cute meeting, but a thoroughly awful wedding with a drunken groom and a manic bride. Instead of tender moments on the road to romance, this novel charts tender moments on the road to divorce.
When Tom Brookfield proposes to Jen Canby, everything seems perfect. But by the time the wedding rolls around, Jen believes it can't get any worse. From the missing bridal shoes to an overly endowed ice sculpture cherub, she handles crisis after crisis until a leggy blonde appears at the reception and introduces herself as Tom's first wife. Then the drama really begins. Though the newlyweds make peace long enough to leave for the honeymoon, and to have a wild, if slightly inebriated wedding night, Jen decides the next morning that trusting
Tom again is out of the question and the only answer is divorce.
What follows is the at times light, at times dark, and always a bit mad, story of Jen and Tom and the maturation process they both must undergo before they can make their marriage more than a $35,000 mistake. The parallel story of Jen's parents and their own struggle back from the precipice gives some much-needed clarification of why Jen behaves the way she does. And Tom's best friend Chase gives a window into the reasons he didn't tell Jen about his first marriage to
begin with.
It's easy to see the screwball divorce comedies of the 1930s and 40s as inspiration for a novel like this. Like George Cukor in "The Philadelphia Story" or Leo McCarey in "The Awful Truth," Kendall explores what happens when a divorcing couple still love each other but try to get divorced anyway.
Fit to Be Tied is a satisfying read and should offer a fresh diversion for romance readers hungry for something old and something new. The borrowed and blue they'll have to find on their own.
Armchair Interviews says: Nice twist on "romance."
Author's Web site:
http://www.karenkendall.com