The Wedding Caper

Janice A. Thompson
Barbour Publishing (2006)
ISBN 1597895245
Reviewed by Kelli Glesige for Reader Views (9/06)

The Wedding Caper is the story of Annie, a middle aged mother of grown twin daughters and a teenaged, football playing son.  Annie runs a freelance editing business from her home and has an ever-present canine companion named Sasha who is mischievous.  Annie is married to Warren, a banker at Clark County Savings and Loan.

Twin daughters, Brandi and Candy, have recently announced their engagements to be married on the same evening, much to the delight and surprise of Annie and Warren.  But with college loan payments and a son still in high school, how will the weddings be financed?  Surprisingly enough, Warren hands over $25,000 cash to Annie and tells her to use it towards the girls’ weddings.  No explanation is offered as to where the money came from, but much to the discomfort of Annie, there has been a $25,000 cash deposit stolen from Clark County Savings and Loan’s night deposit box during a brief power outage the previous evening.

Annie takes it upon herself to try and figure out who stole the money from the bank while keeping her investigation a secret from Warren, for he appears to Annie to be the number one suspect.  Annie enrolls in some online investigative lessons while remaining a devout Christian who uses a daily Bible verse to inspire her in the investigation.  As the inquiry continues, many more possible suspects surface, Annie investigates and becomes completely confused, and then she seeks God’s guidance.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this contemporary Christian romance.  It is upbeat and humorous, offers an inspiring message, and is just fun to read, especially if you like romance novels and weddings.  Mothers of teenage daughters will probably enjoy Annie and her adventures the most, but if you like Christian romance, I definitely recommend The Wedding Caper.

Sheila is Annie’s best friend and quite the character.  Although she cannot sing, Sheila always seems to be singing at church and performing at charity events.  When she’s around, the mood is light and comfortable.  Sheila helps Annie to sort things out when she becomes confused with information.  A so called word of advice from Sheila, fondly referred to as a “Sheila-ism,” that Annie tries to always remember is, “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”  Annie remembers this when during the investigation; everyone looks like a possible suspect.  By the end of the story, Annie realizes how important facts are in solving anything and feels for certain she is the most happy and blessed woman on the planet.

Author Janice Thompson was inspired to write The Wedding Caper because her two oldest daughters both received proposals within weeks of each other.  Janice successfully coordinated both weddings, a February Valentine’s ceremony and then a summer celebration the following June.  Janice now coordinates weddings for friends and includes many of these events in her writings.  And Janice really has a four-legged companion named Sasha, just like Annie.  Most importantly, Janice thanks the Lord for inspiration.

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