Monday, September 24, 2012

The Wedding Cake Girl by Anne Pfeffer Review & Giveaway

Seventeen-year-old Alexandra spends so much time helping others realize their dreams that she never has time for her own. An expert ocean diver and reluctant maker of wedding cakes, she longs to leave roses and frosting behind to study oceanography. Alex’s mother won’t have it—needy and dependent, Mom can’t run the family wedding cake business on her own.

No matter what Alex does, things only get worse for her. When she saves a man's life while scuba diving and becomes the local hero, Mom's angry with Alex for going diving at all. Mom discourages Alex's new friendship with Jeremy, a fun and insanely wealthy boy who happens to have a secret. Then, Alex's best friend, Zack, a hunky island guy, starts to take an interest in her as well. The problem is, he's dating another girl. If she doesn't do something fast, Alex will spend her life making wedding cakes and be buried in her "Sue's Wedding Cakery" apron with a spatula in her hand. The Wedding Cake Girl features a colorful island setting, dangerous underwater diving adventures, a family of billionaires, and lots and lots of buttercream. The book is Alex's journey toward not only finding love, but learning how to step forward and take control of her own life, a rite of passage that faces all young readers.

Here is another book with the ocean side setting that I love.  In this book, Alex is a scuba diver which honestly scares me!  I've never done that because I've only been snorkeling and I almost hyperventilated doing that!  Alex goes scuba diving one day and ends up saving a man that got himself caught in fishing line and was going to die.  (see?  That's exactly why I should never scuba dive!)  Alex doesn't want anyone to know she saved the man because her mother would be furious and take away her scuba gear.  Alex's mother is deathly afraid of her scuba diving.  

The relationship between Alex and her mother is interesting.  We see how over time Alex has taken over the responsibility while her mom becomes more and more dependent and unwilling to do so many things herself.  It's a tricky situation and Alex grows increasingly frustrated and dissatisfied but she doesn't really know how to change things.  

I think the thing I liked the best about this book was how all the problems or challenges in this book were not overcome alone, but because of other people helping each other.  Alex wants things to change but it is because of other people helping her that she achieves her goals.  

The following is a quick excerpt from the book:

Mom stands at the kitchen counter in her pink apron that says "Sue's Wedding Cakery, Santa Margarita Island." She’s experimenting with a new frosting. The kitchen smells like a bank of fresh wild mint growing along a stream.

On my good days, I think of Mom as "The Caked Crusader," whose mission in life is to fill the world with perfect wedding cakes. On my bad days, I think more like my friend Zack who, after we saw the film Titanic, began calling Mom "The Iceberg."

"Why?" I had asked him.

"Because she's in your way."

He didn't have to remind me what happened to the Titanic.


I enjoyed reading this book.  The setting was awesome and Alex was a great main character.  My thanks to RABT for allowing me to be a part of this blog tour.

Content:  There is some mild swearing, profanity and some sexual situations.


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Author Bio:
Anne Pfeffer lives in Los Angeles near a large rotating neon chicken head with her daughter and her dachshund Taco.

Contact Links:
Website: www.annepfeffer.com

Twitter: AnnePfeffer1

Purchase Links:
amazon: http://tinyurl.com/cybyzgm

goodreads: http://tinyurl.com/csush2s

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of Reading Addiction Blog Tours and a copy of this book was provided to me by the author. Although payment may have been received by Reading Addiction Blog Tours, no payment was received by me in exchange for this review. There was no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, publisher, publicist, or readers of this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorcements and Testimonials in Advertising*

3 comments:

  1. I read Anne Pfeffer's other book and loved her writing style. This one sounds interesting as well, I know exactly what you mean about being afraid of scuba diving, something I would never do. Great review!

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  2. I have never been scuba diving either, although I think with enough training I might be brave enough to try it someday. Thanks for the review -- I'm adding this one to my TBR list!

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  3. awesome! i'm adding this book to my TBR

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