A Fool's Gold Wedding

I had issue with too many things in this book. The plot secret didn't seem all that "bad" to me to warrant the drama and outburst by the lead woman. The lead male was supposed to be really bad with people and have a hard time and none of that was shown. He did fine with people but then again that was explained because she brought the best out in him. That's a lazy excuse to me because what are we told as young woman all our lives? You cannot change a man! lol <br /><br />I do normally love Fool's Gold books but this one not so much.

After a long time away, we finally get a new Fool's Gold story! It'd been long enough that I somewhat forgot all the character dynamics (there are a <i>lot</i> of people in the greater Hendrix Clan), but it worked itself out ... mostly fun, fast-paced, predictable conflict and resolution. Exactly what I expected going in to the reading. HOWEVER ... I have one very significant issue with this story... <br />Soapbox rant:<br /><input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="cd8e4a24-7dfe-4005-aa2b-1b59cec1daca" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="cd8e4a24-7dfe-4005-aa2b-1b59cec1daca"> There's an interval in the story where a female reveals she's still a virgin at 22, somewhat sheepishly, and the male to whom she 'confesses' is shocked to learn she's that old and had never gone that far (and then had the stereotypical urge to claim her as his/get what nobody else had). WHY IS THIS EVEN STILL A PLOT POINT?! It annoyed me, obviously. And I might understand working that in to the story if a man had written it - but a woman wrote this scene into a romance novella. My understanding was this genre is supposed to be a "safe place," where readers are not judged for their preferences or decisions - particularly in regards to sexual areas/choices. To have a young lady (because 22 is *not* old) who has a thoughtful and very personal reason for "still" being a virgin/waiting portrayed as A: sheepish in explaining herself and B: something as a shocking novelty for conquest in the eyes of the man is incredibly insulting, even damaging. I am disappointed - it would have been so easy to spin that in a positive way, in an empowering way. </label>

I was so excited to see that Susan Mallery was giving us another Fool's Gold story, this time it was Abby Hendrix, adopted daughter of Liz and Ethan (Liz being her birth father's younger sister) and surgeon Joaquin Kincaid. Abby's older sister Melissa is marrying Joaquin's younger brother Davis and Abby is given the job of escorting him around Fool's Gold for the time he's visiting. It's a novella so a quick read but it was lovely to see some of my favourite couples from the series, especially Simon and Montana, whose story I've always loved. I'm really hoping that Susan Mallery will treat us to a few more stories from the younger generation of Fool's Gold residents, just so I can get my fix of this wonderful place.

What a lovely, lovely story! I only have one complaint: It's was too short! Some great cameo appearances by old friends which now makes me want to read the entire series again for the bajillionth time!<br /><br />As an added bonus, there was no graphic sex scenes.

Loved the visit back to Fools Gold, but where was the Mayor?

<strong>A Fool's Gold Wedding</strong><br /><br />This is the kind of story that I love. Susan Mallery makes her characters seem so real. Joaquin and Abby both win my heart almost from the very beginning. Loved it.

Another fantastic visit to Fool's Gold to a sweet wedding setup that leads to another love match. A fun easy to enjoy listen. I've followed this series since it began and as always can't wait for the next book to come out!

I loved returning to the Fool's Gold series! I'm still not a fan of Simon's character so I'm glad he wasn't in it too much. (Although he still did a crappy thing in this one!) Joaquin and Abby's story was short and sweet. I hope the author revisits this series again in the future!

From the romantic perspective, this book is nice and sweet. But the rest of the plot? It just didn't make sense at all to me. Why would a renowned surgeon need to resort to deception to get into a training program? He was in college by age twelve and is supposed to be super smart - couldn't he just find another way? Or another training program? <br /><br />The plot moves on, totally ignoring these details and just focuses on the fact that Joaquin is with Abby for the wrong reasons - when there isn't really a reason. He went to Fool's Gold three weeks before the wedding to try to get Abby's uncle to accept him in this training program. But his soon-to-be-sister-in-law is as much a niece to said uncle as Abby is, so he could have tried to "use" family influence before and in different way. So why Abby and why now? No idea, other than without that the author couldn't get the plot to work...<br /><br />They do fall in love, but it almost feels like everything else in the book is a set-up for them to meet, and not a very realistic set-up at that. I was totally missing being back in Fool's Gold, even with a novella, and I ended up disappointed. So, running the risk of going against everyone else's raving reviews, I'm not rating A Fool's Gold Wedding with more than 3 stars

It is a cute short story about two people who are so very different…but in my mind, so very much alike. Abby, who is all grown up now, reminds me of a sprite – happy, and funny, and just high on life. She has a quick wit, and is gorgeous, even though she doesn’t know it, and is kind right down to her very soul. And Joaquin. He is one of those characters that you just want to wrap up in your arms and hug the stuffin’ outta him. I adored him. <br /><br />I won’t give you any details but know that their story is sweet and fun and reading about them falling in love made for a wonderful story. Abby has the entire town of Fool’s Gold behind her and Joaquin is and has always been on his own. He’s extremely intelligent but not so aware about the ways of the world. I will admit that I didn’t like how Abby’s friends and family all rallied around her, and pointed the blame to Joaquin only, but everyone redeemed themselves in the end, imho. <br /><br />Absolutely adored this story! And it was so much fun going back to Fool’s Gold.<br />