But when Jessica suspects Max of having an affair, her world falls apart. She goes out and gets drunk with her friend Helen, and makes a huge mistake, one that could affect not only her and Max's relationship but also their business too. Will Jessica be able to right the wrongs she has done and make everything okay in time for their wedding, or has Jessica been too wild this time, even for Max?
The book is the sequel to Gemma Townley's previous book The Ideal Marriage. I picked that one up last year in the shops because of its fab green cover and loved it, so I was very excited to find out that there was a sequel. A Wild Affair carries on with the theme of the previous cover but is in tones of pink and is lovely and bright so will definitely stand out in the shops. Even though it is over a year since I read about Jessica and her adventures, I slipped back easily into the story and full credit goes to Townley for her writing! Writing is definitely in her blood though because her sister is none other than Sophie Kinsella! Anyway, back to the review.
The book picks up shortly where An Ideal Marriage left off with Max and Jessica now a couple, and the two of them are planning their wedding and running the advertising agency that Max bought from Anthony, Jessica's ex "fiance". I think that the book would be fine to read even if you haven't read the prequel because things are explained well (although a few omissions are made that I would have preferred to have been in there) but aside from that, I think the book is good enough to be a stand alone as well, which is very important for sequels because not everyone reads the first in a set or sometimes realise that a book is a sequel!
Jessica is as good a character as ever, and I probably liked her more in this book to be honest. The whole situation in this book was a lot more believable that in the first book, and I felt that Townley has written the emotions of the main character extremely well, as well as keeping up a few smaller sub storylines as well. I warmed to Jessica right away, and I wanted everything to be okay for her, even if she did seem to deserve what was happening in her life at the time. My favourite new character is someone important to Jessica and Max, I don't want to spoil it by saying any more than that! This character was a great addition to the book, and really brightened up the proceedings somewhat with their meddling.
The pace of the book was very good, starting with the planning of the wedding, and ending in an unexpected way. A lot happens in what is a shortish book but I was gripped for the entire length of it and didn't find any of it boring or wanting to skip any of it at all. I liked the twists and turns, there were a few of them and they keep you wanting to know more and unsure if it's all going to work out for the best in the end! What I liked about this book is how important the lesser seen characters are in the book too as well as the main ones, they are all important to the story and are well written and very believable.
If you read and enjoyed Townley's previous book An Ideal Marriage, you'll want to read this to carry on the adventure with Jessica Wild, but if you haven't discovered this author before, this book is a great place to start! It's enjoyable, funny, has great characters that you can enjoy reading about and it moves pretty quickly too, I finished it in just a few evenings. There is actually a third book due out next January (2011) called An Ideal Wife so presumably that will be carry on the story even further and I'm looking forward to that! Townley is a talented writer, and this book shows how Townley is improving book on book! I loved it, and can definitely recommend it.
Rating: 5/5
I can't WAIT to read this after loving The Importance of Being Married. Great cover, too!
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