Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Review - - Dial A for Aunties

Dial A for Aunties
by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: April 27, 2021
Reviewed by Santa



When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is inadvertently shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working at an island resort on the California coastline. It's the biggest job yet for the family wedding business
—"Don't leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!"—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie's perfect buttercream flowers.

But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy's great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?

Santa Says:

 

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto takes you on a five star ride of your life from the get go. You will laugh, cry, sigh and blurt things like ‘Oh, no she didn’t!’ with abandonment. The book is like ‘Weekend at Bernies’ meets ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ meets every great rom-com movie you have ever seen. We meet Meddelin or Maddie Chan and her four aunties including her mother, Ma, for Sunday Dim Sum at a restaurant in San Gabriel, California. Her aunties each took great pains to come to America from Indonesia and China. They married and had families but as each husband left them they banded together to start their wedding business for their Asian neighbors. They all live a block or so away from one another and all in each other’s business. All her cousins, all male, went to the other side of the country to college. Maddie, ever the obedient one, went locally to UC Berkley where she met and later lost the love of her life Nathan Chan - but more on that later.  

She graduated, moved back in with her mother and joined the family business as the wedding photographer. Big Aunt was the cake designer, Second Aunt was the hairdresser and Fourth Aunt was the wedding singer. Third Aunt, or Ma, was the floral designer. This particular Sunday is intense as they go over the intricate particulars of what promises to be the biggest wedding they have ever done. Having this be a success means a great deal of other families will want to book with them. This event of the year will take place at a brand new, exclusive resort on nearby Saint Lucia island.  

And if there that wasn’t enough, Meddie’s mom has taken it upon herself to set her up on a blind date. Well, not really a blind date since her mom set Meddie up on an on-line dating service putting up her photo, setting up a profile AND started messaging one Ah Guan. How else was Ma going to see any grandbabies in her future? Meddie reluctantly agrees to go but the date doesn’t end very well for Ah Guan when she accidentally tasers him to death. In her panic, her only recourse was to call on the Aunties. They’ll know what to do - right? So they stow him on ice in one of their bakery coolers. And would deal with him after the wedding. No problem, right? 

Big problems - as someone takes that cooler over to the wedding venue where stowing a dead body is not the only oddball thing going on at this wedding. Wedding gifts are stolen. Hired groomsmen are out of control, the maid of honor is unscrupulous and, amid all this, her Nathan appears out of nowhere. It’s his resort after all. Could anything else go haywire? Yes, yes, it could!  

You need to get your hands on this book. I loved the craziness of family. My Italian family was very similar except for the extreme tasering, etc.. We do know how to manage each other’s lives! I loved how Meddie finally found her own voice and her own way and how she and Nathan got their own happily ever after, too - much to the delight of the Aunties and Ma.

6 comments:

  1. Love this review! Can't wait to get my hands on it.

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  2. Thanks for the review, Santa! This book is now at the top of my summer must-read list. :)

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  3. I am getting my own copy when it comes out. I already have two people in my family who want to read it, too.

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  4. I think I'm going with the audio on this one. Looking forward to it!

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  5. Thanks so much for this review. Somehow a dead body at a wedding is funny....not for the dead body of course. But, the idea made me laugh. This does sound like a fun story.

    Hope everyone is well and safe.

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  6. Great review! This sounds hilarious!

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