"Arranged" by Catherine McKenzie

When another relationship comes to an end Anne Blythe begins to wonder if she will ever find Mr. Right. She has a great job, good friends and has just been given a book deal. But she is missing someone to share it with. When she comes across a business card for a dating service, she decides to try it on impulse.


Only this isn't a dating service, it's an arranged marriage service. A very pricey arranged marriage service which boasts an incredible success rate. At first she rejects the idea, but when she considers the millions of people around the world for whom arranged marriages are the norm, she decides to give it a go. Anne travels to a Mexican resort and within days is married to Jack, and to her surprise things seem to be working out. Until Anne arrives home early from a trip to discover a secret about Jack and realizes that her arranged marriage isn't what it seems at all.


Arranged by Catherine McKenzie brings a new twist to the marriage and relationship novel. It looks at modern marriage from an old-fashioned view and asks if love is the most important thing in a marriage.


While this book has great moments of humour and emotion, it does follow the standard formula of relationship chick-lit novels which results in it being pretty bland at times. The ending was pretty standard as well. Maybe I was expecting a different twist given the fact that this is such a unique take on relationships.


The book will definitely make you think about relationships and what one wants, especially if you are single. It is also a book that you can read through in a short amount of time, as it keeps you turning the page to find out what is going to happen. But it's not one I would recommend rushing out to find, rather one to pick up if you do have the chance.

Comments

  1. Katie EdwardsApril 30, 2011 at 10:52 AM

    The first thing I noticed in this review was the character's name: Anne Blythe, the married name of Anne of Green Gables. I wonder why the author chose that name?

    ReplyDelete
  2. ShanApril 30, 2011 at 7:34 PM

    Actually there is an Anne of Green Gables thread to the book (her brother is named Gilbert!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. KateMay 1, 2011 at 7:40 PM

    I heard an interview with the author - she has noticed a lot of Pride and Prejudice references in recent books, and decided to do a Canadian version of the same thing. Plus she is a fan of LMM.
    I'm sitting on the fence about this one - I may read it eventually, but in general I'm not a fan of Chick Lit.

    ReplyDelete
  4. RAnnMay 2, 2011 at 8:48 AM

    The premise of this one does sound interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  5. KarenMay 4, 2011 at 1:38 PM

    That's a very interesting concept. I'm kind of interested to see how it turned out.
    Thanks for stopping by my blog on the hop (I'm very late!!)

    ReplyDelete

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