Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Lauren Lipton

In Mating Rituals of the North American WASP, Peggy Adams discovers that she's married a man she doesn't know after a wild night of drinking in Vegas. She doesn't remember a thing. This isn't a good thing especially since she has a long time boyfriend. Luke, Peggy's new husband, is equally horrified and the two of them are determined to get an annulment as soon as possible. However, Luke's great-aunt, who's thrilled her nephew has decided to marry, makes them an offer that will solve both of their financial problems. Rather than getting an annulment, they make an arrangement that keeps their marriage a secret from their respective partners and keeps the truth from great-aunt Abigail.

This books was unrealistic, predictable, but a whole lot of fun to read. I enjoyed every minute of it. It's pretty well written with some great characters. Even though I thought I knew how it was going to turn out, I didn't want to put the book down. The story was engaging and unique while the characters were larger-than-life. Most of the fun centres on the chaos and the he said/she said situations that come about after Peggy and Luke decide to stay married.

I loved great-aunt Abigail. She was a hoot. I suspected, though, that she knew all along what Luke and Peggy were up to (staying married for the money). I also think that she was somewhere aware of the money troubles that Luke tried to keep from her. She just didn't seem as "out of it" as she was made out to be.

One character that puzzled me was Jeremy, Peggy's date. He didn't really add anything to the story, in my opinion. Wasn't Peggy's life complicated enough without this additional character? I mean she was already pre-engaged to Brock and married to Luke. She didn't seem that flighty that she needed to be dating after all of the other stuff that was going on. The big scene with Peggy, Jeremy and Brock didn't come across as intense as it could have been and seemed a little unnatural.

I wasn't enamoured with the poetry. I couldn't tell if it was good or bad or even mediocre. It's just not my thing. I didn't quite believe the whole scene with the poem that Luke wrote. It felt contrived to me.

Another thing that sort of bothered me. That was use of the word WASP. Is that politically correct? It's so hard to tell these days. I personally don't much like some of the labels we use to describe people, so I try hard not to use them. I'm not sure about this one.

Despite all of these things I really did enjoy the book.

Recommended for the beach, a lazy day in the hammock, or anytime you need a nice light humorous read.

For more information about this book, please visit the Hachette Book Group website.

Want to know what others think? Here's a review from Jonita at The Book Chick and another one from Heather at Books and Quilts. Enjoy!