Mating Rituals of the North American WASP

Lauren Lipton
5 Spot (2009)
ISBN 9780446197977 
Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (7/09)


Thank goodness I have never had an adventure like this in Vegas and I pray that I never do!!!  Author Lauren Lipton’s story about a woman’s misadventures is an often laugh out loud funny and enjoyable read. 

Peggy Adams is horrified by herself when she goes to Las Vegas for yet another friend’s bachelorette party after a terrible fight with her boyfriend, Brock.  She is upset with him about their lack of nuptials after seven years.  She uncharacteristically drinks herself into oblivion and when she wakes up in the morning, she finds herself in a stranger’s bed.  No harm done, right?  That’s what she hopes until the stranger, Luke, calls her a few days later and informs her that they got married on that fateful night in Las Vegas. 

Luke is the last in line of the Connecticut Sedgwicks, who arrived on the 2nd Mayflower.  He lives with his ninety-plus-year-old Aunt Abigail in a tiny WASPy town in New Nineveh, Connecticut.  When Peggy meets him to get an annulment, she isn’t prepared for the deal that his Aunt Abigail makes with them.  She does not want to see the Sedgwick name tarnished by a divorce, so she tells them that if they stay married for one year, then they can sell the estate that is worth millions.  The bulk of this estate is the family home, which makes the movie “The Money Pit” look like a piece of cake. 

Peggy decides to agree to this because she really needs the money to bolster her failing business in New York City.  As she and Luke enter into pretending to be a happily married couple on weekends, Peggy is surprised to find out that under Luke’s stuffy New England exterior is an amazing poet.  Their differences are not as insurmountable as both would think and they are both surprised to find that they are in love with each other.  You would think that it would be easy from there, but it’s not as misunderstandings and heartaches lead to rash decisions.

Does it all work out in the end?  You will have to find out for yourself in this heartwarming often hilarious story.  Lauren Lipton is very talented and I hope to see more from her soon.  I highly recommend “Mating Rituals of the North American WASP” if you enjoy a good, often light-hearted romance.    

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