The Bride Wore Size 12 - Meg Cabot

The Bride Wore Size 12 by Meg Cabot
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

'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.'




This is the first novel that I have read by Meg Cabot therefore I had not pre-conceived ideas of whether or not I would like her style of writing or not. If had read the blurb on the back I probably wouldn’t have chosen the novel as it did not readily appeal to me. The front cover was also not something that would have drawn me to the book – neither really did the novel any favours.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was very well written and has all the elements that appeal to me as being a good read.

Written in the first person as the central character Heather, this book is from the outset witty and up to date. The storyline is believable and the reader can identify with the characters, they have a very ‘real’ quality about them and the author manages to turn what might have been a very predictable chic lit into a very enjoyable novel with elements of mystery, suspense and romance thrown in for good measure.

Heather is weeks away from her wedding to a Private Investigator Cooper and is already quite stressed out dealing with a very hard to get hold of wedding planner. When a pretty student is discovered dead in the dorm that Heather is in charge of surrounded in mystery this puts added pressure on her and turns her job in to a nightmare; when everyone becomes a suspect Heather is more stressed than the usual bride to be. Add to the mix the arrival of her estranged mother and an ever growing wedding guest list that she and Cooper are not adding to and the whole affair becomes a little like a circus ring.

Heather takes it upon herself to find out what has happened at the College and turns detective to uncover the murderer not without putting herself in danger in the process. Will she solve the mystery before she comes to harm herself, will she manage to ‘handle’ her wedding planner and pull off a great wedding, will she in fact manage to get married at all? All these things contribute to making this novel a good read and keeps the pace going through the novel.

Such a delight to read a chic lit novel that is not predictable or sloppy, one that does not insult the intelligence of the reader and one that has laugh out loud moments. The main character is a strong woman, sensible, vulnerable, normal, the other characters believable and occupy good supporting roles.

I had not read any other books of the Heather Wells series but felt that I didn’t need the background information of the previous novels in this series to enjoy this book. It is a good stand alone novel and having read this I would definitely give the others in the series a look.

Rating this novel I believe I would give this a five star rating, for me it had all the elements that make for a good read; I felt that I knew Heather Wells and New York City through her eyes although I have never been there and I genuinely enjoyed the writing style of Meg Cabot.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending me this review copy.