Too Good to Be True

Carey and Ben meet on a trans-Atlantic flight and hit it off. After a passionate one night stand, the two impulsively head to Vegas and tie the knot. When they return to Dublin, their new-found happiness is put to the test by shocked friends, family, and former lovers. Ben's sister Freya decides to throw them a wedding party, and invites his former lover, Leah to the celebration. Leah manages to make a spectacle of herself. Between Leah's inappropriate kiss and Ben's friends speculating how long it will take until Ben is back in Leah's bed, Carey feels humiliated. Her former lover, the much married Peter shows up at the festivities uninvited and suddenly wants to reconcile with her now that he has left his wife; she declines but not before he steals a kiss from her. When Ben sees the kiss, he assumes the worst, and rather than talk it out, Ben ignores it in hopes that it will sort itself out. Soon, the newlyweds break up and Carey is forced to live on her own for once in her life. While a full blown divorce will take 4 years according to Irish law, in order for them both to get on with their lives, Carey offers to go to the Dominican Republic to start the dissolution proceedings, though there are still unresolved feelings between the two, and neither wants to admit feelings for the other. When Freya discovers that at 40 she is experiencing early menopause, she has no one to talk to. She forges a friendship with Carey's mom and sister, much to the displeasure of Carey and Ben. Can they ever sort it out? O'Flanagan has penned an interesting story with charismatic characters that the reader will instantly like (and some that they will hate), as she takes the reader on a journey to discover if there is a such thing as love and first sight, as well as how two people can make a one night stand last forever.

I just read this book a few weeks ago, and last night while I was sitting in my car I started thinking about it again, and am now re-reading it. I am a fan of O'Flanagan's books, and this one did not let me down. It is just such a good story. Okay, maybe it's not totally believable, but hello!! It's fiction!! A great book for a summer or winter escape from reality.

I just finished reading this book and it was awesome! I really enjoyed the characters and the story was definitely a page turner. I'm quite pleased at the ending of this book (finally a book that did not let me down at the end). I recommend this book to anyone who is a hopeless romantic, like myself.

Air Traffic Controller Carey Browne flies from Dublin to New York on her vacation. On the flight she meets Ben Russell, co-owner with his sister Freya, of a successful chain of health-food stores. Still smarting from a relationship with a married man that went sour, Carey wants nothing to do with men, but Ben is persistent. They enjoy their first night in Manhattan together. Perhaps it was the alcohol, but the two Irish tourists fly to Vegas and get married. They return to their hometown of Dublin where his sister hosts a party in which family and friends honor the newlyweds. However, Freya invites Ben's former girlfriend Leah Ryder who thinks he is a form of excrement and a few drinks later wrecks the gala and more. Meanwhile Freya has her own concerns as she suffers with the early arrival of menopause. This is an intriguing chick lit tale that spends much of the book looking deep into the impulsive act of marrying without any solid basis. However the story line takes a perpendicular spin by abruptly refocusing from the shaky relationship between Carey and Ben to the physical troubles suffered by Freya. Either subplot would have made a strong lead, but neither takes charge for the preponderance of the novel as if there were two novellas. Still the cast is solid, the location terrific and the two competing subplots interesting albeit shortchanged.