The Bride Wore Size 12 by Meg Cabot

A delicious mystery served up with Heather Wells flair!

About The Bride Wore Size 12 by Meg Cabot*: Heather Wells is used to having her cake and eating it too, but this time her cake just might be cooked. Her wedding cake, that is.

With her upcoming nuptials to PI Cooper Cartwright only weeks away, Heather’s already stressed. And when a pretty junior turns up dead, Heather’s sure things can’t get worse—until every student in the dorm where she works is a possible suspect, and Heather’s long-lost mother shows up.

Heather has no time for a tearful mother and bride reunion. She has a wedding to pull off and a murder to solve. Instead of wedding bells, she might be hearing wedding bullets, but she’s determined to bring the bad guys to justice if it’s the last thing she does . . . and this time, it just might be.

My two cents

Heather Wells, former pop singer, works for a college dorm in New York. She keeps things in order ... yes, those students but also those clingy parents. But Fischer Hall has become the place to live because this year their dorm houses royalty, Prince Rashid of Qalif, who calls himself Shiraz (because he's best served chilled). He's rumoured to have gotten in because of a generous donation to the college president. Hmmm, it all sounds very, very fishy!

But school's not yet in and one of the resident assistants, a pretty junior, is discovered dead. Does Shiraz have anything to do with it? Does it have anything to do with these rumours about Shiraz's parties, these speculations about the questionable donations, and the juicy insider tidbits that are being leaked to the local student paper? So many questions begging answers ... now let's see how our kick-ass heroine, Heather, puts her detective skills to the test!

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I am a bit of a Meg Cabot fan, let's just get that out in the open. But I am biased in my chick lit selections. Chick lit is a balm for me; it's my escape. So fun and fluffy is ok, but I never really liked duh chick lit; things still need to make sense to me, even if things are fairytale-ish or fantastical.

Cabot does just that: she mixes up elements of the fantastical and ridiculous with college romance, boozy parties, a shot of dweebiness, and oh, throw in Heather's upcoming wedding, some family drama, and royalty too! It sounds ludicrous all jumbled together like that, but you'll just have to read the book to realize how well Cabot manages to pull off a mystery with these elements coming together. It's unexpected, fun, and it kept me guessing at every turn.

In this mystery-of-sorts, I was pleasantly surprised to see how it all played out. The answer/resolution to the mystery was never obvious to me so I enjoyed the gradual revelation of motivations.

I found the side stories an interesting part of the mystery as they added to the mess but didn't make the plot messy: Heather's estranged mother and the mysterious reason why she's back, the unlikely dorm romance (who? I won't tell), the dorm and school politics, and ... is there a more ominous side to the security surrounding Shiraz?

I also have to point out that I found the characters extremely likeable, well-rounded, and quite realistic. Foremost is Heather, a heroine with backbone, who undoubtedly kept this series going strong. As this is the fifth (and it seems the last) Heather Wells book, I feel compelled to look for the other four books in the series. Heather Wells is a lovely character. She sort of reminds me of Bridget Jones (without all the obsessing about weight) with her humour, her can-do attitude, and her adorable romance with her beloved Cooper.

***

Verdict: If you're a Heather Wells mystery fan, you don't want to miss this last installment. If you're a Meg Cabot fan, you already know you need to make an acquaintance with Heather Wells in the wildly popular series.

If you want some fluffy and fun yet coherent chick lit, pick this one up and give it a whirl! It'll satisfy your need for interesting characters, a dose of the fantastic, with a nice juicy mystery to boot!

About Meg Cabot

Meg Cabot was born in Bloomington, Indiana. In addition to her adult contemporary fiction she is the author of the bestselling young adult fiction series, The Princess Diaries. She lives in Key West, FL with her husband.

Find out more about Meg at her website, follow her blog, and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the tour!

I received an uncorrected proof from the the publisher via TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Book Depository*
Paperback: 400 pages

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (September 24, 2013)