The Singles

The Singles, by Meredith Goldstein.

In the top right-hand corner of the board was a list of names written in bright red ink and all-capital letters: "HANNAH MARTIN, ROB NUTLEY, NANCY MACGOWAN, VICKI CLIFFORD, JOE EVANS."

Above the same, in the same crimson print, Bee had written the word "SINGLES."

They were the only guests to RSVP for Bee's nuptials without using their plus-one invites, and now they were the only names Bee hadn't yet placed on her seating chart.

This book reminded me a lot of the movie The Romantics, which wasn't that good; however, this book was excellent. Everyone is reuniting in Maryland for Bee's wedding, including her college friends, and tensions are high for everyone. Hannah is kinda looking forward to seeing her ex at the wedding, but also scared. Vicki has been depressed recently and doesn't want to go to the wedding, but feels that she has to. Rob decides to ditch the wedding at the last minute, even though his one-time love and BFF Hannah is going. Joe is Bee's uncle but didn't want to take his current girlfriend to the wedding, and Nancy ends up becoming sick and sending her son, Phil, to go in her place; after all, the places are $200 a piece, she tells him, and she doesn't want food being wasted.

The Singles end up interacting at the wedding and some interesting pairings take place. Each person has a story of their own to tell, and although the reason they are all gathered in Maryland is because of Bee, the focus of the novel is not on her, for the most part, but on her friends and the people who are at the wedding.

I could see this being a movie, too (and one of the characters, Hannah, is a casting agent, and likes to cast people as she meets them), although it might end up being a rom-com even though the source material is more serious throughout.

4 stars out of 5.