My edition: ebook (proof), to be published on 27 March 2014 by Simon & Schuster.Description: Milly Gamble is an up-and-coming actress, and the perfect English flower child. At 23, she's always been cast as the innocent heroine. But looks can deceive. Calculating and fiercely ambitious, Milly is determined to be the most famous star in England. And how better to achieve her goal than by dating Tarquin Ormond, lead singer of the biggest folk band of the moment? Tarquin is madly in love with Milly; Milly is only in love with herself.
Brianna Jade is an all-American pageant girl. The daughter of Tamra Maloney, a stunning billionairess, Brianna is a sweet, pretty girl who is more than happy to go along with her mother's ambitious plans for her. Now Tamra's brought her to the UK and hooked her up with an Earl. He has a crumbling stately home and needs a rich wife to help restore it to its former glory. Tamra is as ambitious and determined as Brianna is sweet and innocent - is this more a case of mother-in-law-zilla than bridezilla?
Both Milly and Brianna's upcoming weddings will be huge, lavish events that garner national press. But with the cover of the biggest magazine in the country to be won, things are about to get very dirty…
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Hello my name is Zarina and I am a Chanceholic... I have a serious addiction to Rebecca Chance's novels and even though I just turned the final page of Bad Brides, I'm already craving more of the delightfully scandalous and glitz and glamour world of her books. She always manages to combine the most outrageous scenarios and deliciously saucy scenes with well-written characters and a continuously intriguing storyline so the over the top plots suddenly read like a very real possibility. In this novel she tackles weddings, but instead of going for the obvious Bridezillas (although there is one of those) and notorious My Big Fat Greek Wedding scenarios, it's actually some of the people surrounding the soon to be husbands and wives that surface as the most colourful characters of them all.
I won't go into detail as to not spoil some of the more interesting romantic twist and turns the story takes along the way, but the very short summary is that Style UK is launching a wedding magazine and two of the hottest young couples - one consistent of a beautiful starlet and the front man of a popular folk-rock band, the other of an American model and a British Earl - are up for the much-coveted cover. To gain extra publicity around the first edition both couples are told they're in the running and what follows is a more often than not dirty competition between the two, which makes it evident that some people (read: Milly) are willing to do anything to get what they want.
After tackling the royals in Killer Queens I wasn't sure how Rebecca Chance could top that world of luxury, but she managed to do so with the introduction of 'The Fracking Queen', who probably has more money to throw around than the entire British royal family together. The very lavish lifestyle of the main characters was described into detail, making their astonishing wealth practically leapt of the pages in a flurry of scrumptious cocktails and delectable canapés. Despite some of the characters being hideously spoiled and entitled as a result, it did all sound incredibly enticing and made me wish I have a few million pounds laying around so I too can take an impronto trip to the Italian countryside.
Of course it wouldn't be a Rebecca Chance novel if there weren't some really creative and steamy sex scenes written in, and there were plenty of those in this book as well. After each new novel I do start to wonder if there could possibly be any outlandish sexual preferences she hasn't covered yet, but once again she managed to outdo herself. Some of the scenes might make you blush when reading them on public transport but that doesn't make them any less brilliant - the ones involving Tamra were particularly eye-opening.
Compared to Chance's previous novels I was surprised by how genuinely nice most of the main characters were (save Milly, she's a selfish little brat with absolutely no redeeming qualities). Sure there was backstabbing and scheming going on in an attempt to gain that coveted Style Bride cover, but I didn't think the scenarios were quite as bad as in for instance Killer Queens - or perhaps I'm becoming a little bit more used to it all? Either way, it ensured the characters didn't become caricatures of themselves but instead remained reasonably realistic, which added to the fact that despite Chance's novels being mostly known as bonkbusters, they also consist of genuinely good writing and storytelling.
Bad Brides is scandalous, fabulous, sexy and most of all a lot of bonkers fun. It'll simultaneously make you want to join the inner-circle of the rich and famous, because their glamorous lifestyle sounds oh so tempting, and run away screaming from the terrible people it consists of. Perhaps the best option is to enjoy it all from a safe distance by reading about it in Rebecca Chance's books, rather than risking the wrath of the Milly's of the world.
Pre-order your copy now from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com or your own preferred retailer.
Would you like to know more about the author? You can connect with her online at:
Website: http://www.rebeccachanceauthor.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rebecca.Chance.Books
Twitter: @MsRebeccaChance
Many thanks to the publisher for providing an advanced reading copy of the novel via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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