Book Review: Coco Pinchard’s Big Fat Tipsy Wedding | Robert Bryndza

I have heard Coco Pinchard compared to Bridget Jones and I can see the similarities for sure! Fans of Bridget Jones are sure to fall in love with Coco Pinchard. But I also want to be clear that Coco Pinchard is very much her own person! Coco is courageous, humble, and fiesty. From the minute I began Coco Pinchard’s Big Fat Tipsy Wedding, I couldn’t put it down! I actually read it on a rainy weekend and finished the whole thing! I am beyond thrilled to see her stories sold together, just in time for the holidays.

About the Book

Coco Pinchard’s Big Fat Tipsy Wedding finds Coco moving on with her life. After a tumultuous divorce, Coco Pinchard has found love with the gorgeous, hunky, four-years-younger-than-her-so-technically-a-toy-boy, Adam. Her career as an author is finally a success, and she has fabulous friends in Christopher, a neurotic middle-aged socialite, and Marika, a slightly alcoholic teacher/dog walker.

Coco is even learning to cope with her awful ex mother-in-law, Ethel, who despite the divorce, still thinks it’s fine to criticize, especially when Coco and Adam decide to take the next step, and move in together…

But hours before move-in day, Adam ends their relationship without explanation and disappears. After the initial shock and anger (and an ‘I told you so’ from Ethel) Coco sets out to discover what has really happened, and uncovers a shocking secret Adam has been hiding from her. In the wake of this secret, Coco will find herself making sacrifices she wouldn’t have though possible to try and put her life back together.

Reflection

I know it is a cliche in book reviews to call a book laugh-out-loud funny, but this book truly made me laugh audibly while reading it! The characters are delightfully charming, and maddeningly quirky. I actually forgot that I don’t know these people in real life, because Bryndza developed their personalities so well. They were full of flaws, and yet imperfectly perfect, in my opinion. I still giggle when I think about Ethel’s commentary on the work of Adele, and her mistaken lyrics! I can’t say what they are, because I don’t want to ruin the joke. But when you get to that part of the novel I would be shocked if you can keep a straight face! Good thing I wasn’t reading this on the train… People would think I’m a lunatic laughing to myself!

The modern take on an epistolary novel was executed flawlessly. Sometimes this style of writing in letter (or in this case, email) form can become tedious, and lead to a flatness to the story that can deflate even a well-plotted book. But Bryndza absolutely nailed the technique! It was a fun way to read Coco’s story! And it gave the story the ability to jump ahead a bit, and not get bogged down in the minutiae of a week spent cleaning out an apartment, for instance. It was a charming way to weave memories into recent events, and each email ends with that snappy Coco commentary that made me fall for her!

Coco is truly an outstanding character. She is someone to aspire to be like. I found her strength to be inspiring, and her loyalty to be endearing. Coco is the type of character who will sacrifice all that she has earned for those she loves, and that selflessness is only one of many things to admire. A character like Coco may sound annoyingly perfect, but Coco is anything but perfect! She is impulsive and makes rash decisions before thinking them through. Coco is stubborn and won’t back down when she has taken a stance, even to make up with a friend. Coco will stand up and shout at inappropriate times when she is overcome with a sense of moral justice. And all of these flaws make her completely loveable!

The other characters are a delight as well! Her son Rosencrantz and his gay posse are charming and thoughtful. Rosencrantz is so supportive of his mother, and he is in that adorable stage of early adulthood where he is branching out and becoming his own person. Seeing him blossom through Coco’s eyes was a true pleasure. I also loved her friends Christopher and Marika! They make quite the trio. They may not always get along, but you won’t find a more accepting group of friends. They love eachother without conditions. And then there is Coco’s ex and his family, who remain a part of Coco’s life despite the divorce. The Christmas story in this book had me laughing out loud, and I think readers will find it positively hysterical!

And then there is the obvious relationship I haven’t mentioned–Coco and her fiance Adam. I won’t say too much here, because I want readers to find out what happened on their own. But I will say that Adam’s behavior will shock and appall you! Don’t forget, though, that we see everything from Coco’s perspective as it happens through her emails. There is more to the story of Adam and Coco that is yet to be revealed, but I promise it truly makes the book unputdownable!

About the Box Set

For the first time, all 5 books in Robert Bryndza’s bestselling Coco Pinchard romantic comedy series are available in one! And this box set includes a new introduction by the author.

Book 1: The Not So Secret Emails of Coco Pinchard

If you enjoyed flipping through Bridget Jones’s diary, you’ll love perusing Coco Pinchard’s emails! Coco confides in her quirky, supportive friends as she deals with her life falling apart. Read the emails that tell the heart warming and often hilarious tale of Coco picking up the pieces, in this fun, feel-good Romantic Comedy.

Book 2: Coco Pinchard’s Big Fat Tipsy Wedding

Coco thinks she’s on the road to happily ever after with Adam, until he inexplicably breaks up with her. Will one mistake cost them their whole future? Coco sets out to discover what has really happened, and uncovers a shocking secret Adam has been hiding from her… Full of hilarious twists and turns, Coco Pinchard’s Big Fat Tipsy Wedding is a witty, heart-warming, romantic comedy – the stand-alone sequel to no.1 bestselling, The Not So Secret Emails of Coco Pinchard.

Book 3: Coco Pinchard, the Consequences of Love and Sex

Coco Pinchard has a great life, a bestselling memoir, and a handsome second husband. Things are going exactly as planned — until her adult son runs into disaster, her ex’s mother butts back into her life, and she finds out she’s pregnant! Maybe life is more fun if you throw your plans out the window… The third book in Robert Bryndza’s bestselling Coco Pinchard series (which can also be enjoyed as a stand-alone story) is a hilarious diary with Coco’s trademark wit and honesty, tracing the raging hormones and extraordinary twists that take her to motherhood for the second time.

Book 4: A Very Coco Christmas

It’s 1985, and eighteen-year-old Coco Pinchard is home for Christmas after her first term at University. She’s fallen hopelessly in love with Daniel Pinchard, but Coco’s mother wants her to be with Kenneth, the son of posh friends Adrian and Yvonne Rosebury, who will be joining them for Christmas.

As snow falls softly over the city, and Coco tries to juggle a series of hilarious events, the stage is set for a Christmas lunch like no other. A Very Coco Christmas is a delicious, stand-alone prequel short story to Robert Bryndza’s smash-hit Coco Pinchard series.

Book 5: Coco Pinchard’s Must-Have Toy Story

A sparkling feel-good comedy, which asks the question – how far would you go to get your child the must-have Christmas toy?

It’s December 1992, and children are going crazy for the Tracy Island toy – almost as crazy as the parents! Christmas day is fast approaching and Coco Pinchard is desperately trying to track one down for her four-year-old son Rosencrantz.

From dodgy dealings in a motorway lay-by, to extreme shopping in Hamley’s with a Sylvanian Families fanatic, to having a go at the Blue Peter make-your-own Tracy Island, Coco tries everything in the hope that four-year-old Rosencrantz will open his must-have toy on Christmas morning.

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