The Bridegrooms by Allison Pittman

Vada Allenhouse's life is simple until her father, the town doctor, takes a new patient into their home-the victim of a misplaced baseball at a local baseball game between the Cleveland Spiders and the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. The man is in a comatose state because of the strength of the blow and must be confined to bed. Vada's bed. Now that this stranger has been let into their lives, Vada begins questioning her own life, including her boring love life and her "understood" engagement to Garrison, the town lawyer. One of the Brooklyn Bridegrooms is pursuing her for her heart, and she is seriously considering giving in. On top of all this, a man shows up claiming to be Vada's mother's lover who fathered her younger sister, Lisette. With so many questions, Vada wonders if any of them will be answered.

The best way to describe The Bridegrooms is to call it an unfinished work. There are many good ideas woven into its plot, but they are all vague and unfinished. This book somehow missed the editorial department on its way to the printers. There are not grammatical errors or outright amateurish writing, yet there is much underdevelopment and vagueness. Many original ideas lurk throughout the plot but are not completed. However, there are several completed unoriginal ideas that serve to keep this book off the Elite List.

Vada and Garrison are the best characters. They are not your typical couple in love, to say the least. Vada's alternate love interest is good enough, but no other character has a nailed down personality. There aren't any perfect characters, however, staying away from such cliches altogether. The entire character department in just an example of the unfinished feel of the book.

Some things that were left unfinished needed to be left unfinished, such as an unnecessary fourth romantic subplot. However, Allison took no time at all to fulfill three romances in the end. This is probably the ultimate downfall of the book. The subplot concerning their mother's old lover had potential, but Allison left this open-ended. The subplot concerning the unconscious man plays little part in the overall picture and only serves as something to talk about. The subplot concerning Vada and Garrison ends interestingly enough, and while it is nothing groundbreaking, it is the highlight of the book.

The Bridegrooms

could have been much more interesting had Allison Pittman actually done some of the interesting things she talked about doing and refrained from doing not so interesting things. This cast of characters should have been exemplary, yet Allison let them fall by the wayside. Allison has potential as an author if she will stop thinking about writing things and start doing them.

3 stars