Lead Review

• Book: Three Weddings and a Proposal
• Location: Dublin
• Author: Sheila O'Flanagan

Review Author: Tina Hartas

You have to love Delphie from Dublin. A cracking personality who has forged her way in a man’s world and is an elevated PA working for the CEO of Cosecha. This involves organising virtually everything for CEO Conrad – theirs is a platonic relationship but he values her and she gets to live the life of luxury and feel valued in return. So far so good.

The novel opens as she is bidding on a terrific piece of jewellery on his behalf, destined for the woman with whom he is living. She clips it on her wrist and flies out to Conrad’s estate in Mallorca to hand it over (I was just waiting for her to mislay it or have it stolen…. what drama!). In the background is his wife, with whom Delphie gets on quite well, so already the characters are beginning to dig in for the long haul. And you really don’t want to know about jaunty Justin who heads up the office at Cosecha.

Delphie is single, and happily so, and with the advent of her brother’s wedding coming up, she has to find a plus one and get her family off her back, who want to see her settle down. She happens upon Ed, with whom she had a relationship a while ago and he is quite happy to slot in. The family is more than happy to see him again, which has Delphie rolling her eyes, but what can you do? It is all working out for her so far.

At her brother’s wedding, however, there is an almighty shock and her life takes a very different and unexpected turn as a result. The nub of the novel is about how she finds a new path in life. She has a firm friendship group upon whom she can rely when times get tough and a resilience that is admirable. There is a feminist slant to Delphie’s character that means she won’t put up with people (men) trying to pull one over on her, which is refreshing.

The setting is very much part of the narrative. Dublin features loud and clear and there are a couple of side trips to Mallorca, which makes a very nice and entertaining change of scene.

I really enjoy the author’s writing, she is concise and descriptive and pulls together a good and meaty story.

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