A bit too long and a little too much bizarre antics. I found myself skipping 3/4 through. Still the aunts and Meddy are a lot of fun. The wedding couldn't have been anything else than chaotic. A fun romp, the jinks are funny. It's like «Married to the Mob», «Crazy Rich Asians» got together and decided to have a wedding.

Funny, light, a bit too long.

Highly entertaining sequel that isn't quite as good as the first. The aunties get into more trouble as Meddy nears her wedding day. I just wanted her to have a nice wedding but it's impossible with her aunts. I felt so bad for Nathan because she was gone for half the day. Things got a bit repetitive even if I was laughing out loud at some parts. Still a solid book.

I adored the first book in this series, Dial A for Aunties, so my expectations were extremely high for book two. What can I say? It was fine. I laughed a few times, and was entertained for the most part, but was left a tad unimpressed in the end. The plot was super duper ridiculous just like book one, but I was definitely rolling my eyes a lot more with this one. If you’re in the mood for something fun, over-the-top, and lighthearted, then Four Aunties and a Wedding is just the book for you.

I LOVED the first Four Aunties book and was so excited to see a second one so soon. It did not disappoint! I laughed, I cringed, I hoped and prayed that it would all turn out okay. It was great to return to the characters and to see more of their development. I hope there will be more adventures for Maddie and her aunties.

There’s something about the books in this series that are so absurd, yet they somehow just work. Picking up shortly after where Dial A for Aunties left off, Four Aunties and a Wedding follows protagonist Meddy at her own wedding this time, where (of course) a massive chain of disasters ensue.

You know how they say how doctors make the worst patients? That’s basically what happens in this novel, with, you know, your casual mafia twist. Meddy and her aunties run a wedding planning business, and are now looking for vendors for their own family wedding. Meddy doesn’t get much of a chance to choose her own vendors given how opinionated her aunties are, and when they find a family with a similar background to their own who are in the business, it’s pretty much a done deal that they will hire them. Come to find out, however, that they’re a “mafia” family and the whole wedding planning business is a cover to “take out a target” at the wedding- and to Meddy’s family horror, they actually really don’t know what they’re doing, whether it comes to photography, hair and makeup, floral arrangements, etc. The story vacillates between them trying to salvage the disaster that is Meddy’s wedding while also trying to prevent an assassination while also taking matters into their own hands- and if you’ve read the first book in the series, you can probably only imagine how that goes!

Despite the shenanigans, there were also some real gems in this novel, such as the Oxford setting (Meddy is actually getting married at Christ Church’s College which I visited when I studied abroad, and it was so cool to have been where the story was set!). The author also makes a note in the beginning of the book about wanting to explore different experiences of the Asian diaspora in this novel, and does so through the meeting and merging of Meddy and Nathan’s families during the wedding weekend (which honestly, does not go well, but also highlights how not everyone’s experience is the same).

Overall: Another delightfully campy installment, there’s no denying how fun of a read this was!

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Caro

Oh, how the tables turn! Meddy and her family were always the ones helping brides organize their weddings, but now it’s Meddy who has to organize her own wedding with the help of Ma and the aunties. Finding a dress was difficult, especially since it had to be approved by Meddy’s family, but once she found the perfect one, all that was left was the banquet vendors. Ma and the aunts know that Meddy will be busy, so they take it upon themselves to find a vendor family like theirs to take care of the wedding. They settle on a Chinese-Indonesian family-run company just like them, and what’s best is that they are family, as in, Meddy’s grandmother cousin niece cousin sister-in-law. What could go wrong?!

Nathan, Meddy and the aunts meet with the vendors at their favorite dim sum restaurant. The vendors show them their portfolio of previous work, admiring it and even recognizing certain things from social media the aunts didn’t know they were the creators. Meddy is fascinated by everything, but the photography style catches her attention. When she inquires about the type of camera Staphanie, the vendor photographer, uses and her technique, Staphanie mentions it’s the same camera as Meddy’s. Meddy is surprised, slightly doubtful, but asks to be shown later how to get smooth pictures like hers.

Meddy and Nathan’s wedding will take place in England, a destination wedding that will alleviate inviting all of Meddy’s family, since having them all there can be a little overwhelming for her. The day they are set to fly to England, the aunties fly in style with fake Louis Vuitton suitcases and they all start speaking British, with words such as, luv, hot cuppa, Toodle pip, cheerio. This is all part of them trying to fit into the British culture, only making Meddy even more stressed.

Meddy’s flight is stressful, followed by an awkward first meeting between her family and Nathan’s parents. Good thing Meddy’s friends are there to cheer her up the day before the wedding, and with everything ready there’s nothing else to worry about. In appreciation of Staphanie’s help, Meddy prepared a small gift for her, but as she is about to give it, Meddy hears Staphanie’s conversation. Meddy hears her plotting an assasination during her wedding reception, confirming from Staphanie’s own words that they are Mafia, and using her wedding as a cover up.

I had so much fun reading this book! If the aunties were amazingly hilarious and quick on their feet in the first book, they are even more mischievous and scarier here. Especially Fourth Aunt threatening someone with a blunt cream knife and making I’m watching you finger motions. Meddy is terrified of anyone killing someone at her wedding, she tells the aunties and they take matters into their own hands. Especially since Meddy can’t call the police because Stapanie’s family threatens them with telling about their own murder incident. I still couldn’t help laughing once in a while when the aunts said or did something mafia in their own way to help Meddy. It’s all about family with the aunties.

From this book, I definitely liked that we could read more about the aunties and know past events in their lives that shaped them into the women they are. We also see how Nathan is so used to Ma and the aunts that he just follows their lead. I can’t wait for a possible third book in the series, especially if they all go visit Meddy’s extended family.

There is so much fun content in this story, I can’t spoil it all, you definitely have to read it. Not to mention that if you have a family as close and big as Meddy’s you can definitely relate. Any Hispanic party/gathering probably has the same amount of guests that are all related somehow, how can you not invite them? And someone will always be making decisions for the bride or birthday person. You’ll most likely have a good time reading or end up laughing with Four Aunties and a Wedding.

While I absolutely loved Dial A for Aunties, I wasn’t as impressed with this one.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s still so many shenanigans that take place between Meddy, her three aunts, and her mother, I just had a much more difficult time with suspending belief at the expense of comedy because all of this takes place on Meddy’s wedding day. All of the events were just so utterly absurd, and poor Nathan was just left to be the schmuck in the dark while his wife and extended families is dealing with the most absurd of situations.

One of the things that the author does really well with this story is contrasting Meddy’s lower socioeconomic Indo-Chinese family and their traditions to Nathan’s wealthy family. Even though both family are of Chinese descent, there’s a stark difference in how each of the families conduct their day to day.

I’m still interested in Sutanto’s future works even though this one was meh for me.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this book! Shenanigans and humor and family, all the best qualities in a book. I have yet to find a book from Jesse that I haven't completely adored.

I was really looking forward to Four Aunties and a Wedding as I absolutely loved the first book Dial A for Aunties.

I'm not sure if it was me or the book, but I didn't love this one as much. I knew from the first book I had to suspend disbelief while reading this series, but something about the antics in this one didn't work for me. I wanted Meddy to be smarter this time around, but she quickly fell right back to her old patterns. I wish she would have leaned on Nathan earlier. I would have loved to see how he would interact with Meddy and her Aunties and all the meddling they do to try to "fix" problems.

I skimmed a good portion of the second half, as I did want to see how it all got sorted out. Just sad it wasn't a home run for me.

In this sequel to Dial A for Aunties, Meddy and Nathan are getting married in England and her aunties have found the perfect wedding planners – some very distant family members of course. But luckily Meddy hits it off with the photographer Staphanie and everything seems to be going to plan.
However, Meddy is nervous about what Nathan’s parents will think of her loud, eccentric Chinese-Indonesian family. Her aunts outdo themselves by being dressed by an avant-garde Indonesian designer, topped off with Komodo dragon fascinators and sprouting British slang.
Then the night before her wedding, Meddy realises Staph and her family are not who they say they are – and mayhem ensues. This will appeal to anyone who loved the first Aunties novel as well as anyone looking for a rollicking good time. It was another crazy ride and I am interested to see if the honeymoon provides the setting for another story.

These aunties make me physically cringe sometimes because I can see some of my family acting like this. But I also love them? Which is basically the definition of family: chaos, cringe, and love all bundled together.

I love the aunties! This series is so much fun. It was a quick, lighthearted, enjoyable read featuring characters that i know so many have come to love.

Posted on Goodreads on 6/6/22.

Chaotic and cartoony. I was hoping it wouldn't, but this sequel fell prey to the "bigger = better!" school of thought and came out the worse for it. For zany comedies, that usually means dialing everything up - the stakes, the antics, the personality quirks - but without a discerning eye, everything becomes a caricature of itself.

I was annoyed with Meddy because it didn't feel like she learned anything after going through the entire first book getting steam-rolled by her aunties and her mom. I could mostly forgive her passiveness before when it seemed like she was learning her "lesson" in standing up for herself when she knew she was right and being respectful without being a door mat. But I can't excuse her behavior when it's her own wedding she's letting be ruined, she's actively lying to her new husband, and her critical thinking skills have apparently gone bye-bye.

The aunties are an acquired taste that went sour this time around. They've gone far beyond the line of pushy but well-meaning with a touch of culture clash like in book one, and are now coming across as selfish and obnoxiously oblivious. Meddy is constantly embarrassed by them, but heaven forbid anyone else point out their absurd behavior (even in the wake of a potential mafia hit going on at a wedding, we're talking bumbling levels of incompetence worthy of a "Who's on first?" kinda comedy routine without the cleverness to make you laugh). Like, sorry, no, Meddy, this is not a case of them being loveable goof-balls; they are truly just displaying embarrassing behavior, full stop.

Nathan wasn't much of a three-dimensional character in DIAL A FOR AUNTIES, which, whatever, it wasn't really a book ABOUT him or romance, but it really shows he's a cardboard cutout when he's put into the role of "saintly husband who knows something's up but just dutifully watches the chaos descending upon his own wedding and then totally forgives his wife for lying about all of it with nary a frown" -- and, like, my husband is an amazing man but even he'd tell me to cut the shit if I treated him like Meddy treats Nathan on their wedding day.

The plot itself isn't strong enough to overcome or make me overlook the other distractions. Constant scenes of popping into the wedding to watch the aunties make fools of themselves and then Meddy excusing herself to run into the dressing room yet again only to find one of the aunties kidnapped someone? Yes, I say CONSTANT because this "hilarious" kidnapping scenario happens THREE TIMES. The same moment where Meddy wrings her hands ineffectually as she watches shit just fall apart around her in no small part thanks to her family "helping" her? Too many to even count.

I appreciate what the author was trying to do, but Meddy's story needed to be one and done. I liked her author's note about portraying different types of Asian diaspora and how there's no monolith of "Asian" experience, but I do hope she finds new characters to write about in the future, because I have no more interest in revisiting the aunties ever again.

**FTC Full Disclosure: I received my free review copy from the publisher. I received neither money nor peanut butter cups in exchange for this review.**

This was a quick and fun read. It was fun to go back and see the aunties again but this time in a different, more anxiety-inducing situation with a wedding and preparations.

I loved learning more about the Aunties. Their personalities make them the stars of the show. Their coordination despite the bickering makes it easy to imagine they are secretly mafia. (I think Fourth Aunt is my favorite.)
Sutanto shows clear appreciation for her settings, whether San Gabriel Valley or Oxford. Her descriptions stand out, particularly Oxford's architecture. "...I never once thought of how comforting architecture can be but here we are." These places are loved as her homes.
However, while the mafia miscommunication hijinks between Meddy's & Staphanie's families are fun, the scenarios feel too separated from the rest of the wedding. While the romance is not the main focus of the Aunties stories, I felt Meddy and Nathan's relationship took too much of a backseat. Nathan's interactions with the Aunties show him to be embraced in the family, but his personality lacks depth in comparison. These are such wonderfully character-driven stories, but I felt as disconnected to Nathan as he was to his own wedding. I think part of the appeal of their comedy in Dial A was his involvement in the coverup as the straight man. His parents felt more fleshed out in the clash of assimilation and diaspora.
Overall, I still enjoyed the story and look forward to a third. (Their honeymoon or second wedding?) I find Sutanto's writing refreshing and fun, and I reach to it on vacations as a relaxing, feel-good read.

I LOVED Dial A for Aunties and I had high hopes for Four Aunties and a Wedding. I wanted so badly to love this as much as I did the first book but it just felt more forced this time around. The characters are still hilarious and lovable and emotionally compelling, but some of the plot points are over the top.

I think the beginning of this book (up until the night before the wedding) and then the last third are strong both character and plot-wise. The situations they're dealing with (the worry of two very different families coming together into one and dealing with the loss of a family member) are so interesting and emotionally rich and I feel like if the story had stuck with these it would have been stronger overall.

The open nature of the ending makes me think we may see this duology become a trilogy at least, but we'll just have to see. I did enjoy these books and I'll definitely pick up another book by Jesse Q Sutano!

How do you follow up the mirth and mayhem of a book like Dial A for Aunties? Return to the magic elixir that was at the center of it all- four Asian Aunties, of course. Stir in a wedding in England for Meddy and Nathan, and wedding coordinators who may have something to do with the mob to give the aunties a bit of a challenge. I was primed and ready for this one- or so I thought…

Four Aunties and a Wedding is a follow up story, but there was enough background detail in it that a reader could jump in with this second book and get up to speed just fine.

Meddy and Nathan are to be married in Oxford on his family’s home turf and Meddy’s Asian family of mother and three Aunties are determined that everything is to be special for Meddy, right down to their willingness to pick up British slang and accents *snort (yes, it was as hilarious as it sounds). Meddy and Nathan have already chosen their photographer, Stephanie, who happens to come with a family of various wedding vendors who can cover all their wedding needs. Perfect. Wedding sorted, they thought. Then Meddy overhears Stephanie on the phone and it sounds like there is to be hit on a queen. No worries, the Aunties got this (yes, you should be very afraid). And, they do, but will the wedding and guests going to survive their efforts?

Four Aunties and a Wedding is boisterous and over the top. It sparkles and drives forward at a furious pace and holds loosely to the plot. It is laugh until you cry funny and the antics never stop. Meddy spends more time with the Aunties chasing the mafia situation than she does worrying about the wedding or spending time with Nathan. They are once again shuffling a body around under the wedding guests and Nathan’s family noses. Part of me saw that the crazy situation was predominant over other matters like Nathan’s family reaction to Meddy and her background and wanted a bit more balance in this one, but another part of me shrugged and treated it as a full on comedy. I found this went off the map more than the first book (there might have been Komodo Dragon hats for the bridal party) and I think a reader’s enjoyment of this will greatly depend on taste in humor, mood, and expectation of a screwball romantic comedy-style cozy mystery. The grounding element is family. Meddy’s Aunties and mother drive her near insanity, but there is deep love and acceptance there. Nathan is charming and rolls with it. He knows what he’s getting into by now. And, those Aunties are fiercely loyal and loving (they will not only come to help bury the body, but will kidnap and hogtie the guy in the first place- and they do).

So, I was limp from laughter and amusement and satisfied overall with the blend of sweet family fun and madcap comedy. I see a glimmer of future series installments and hope it happens. If readers are looking for a sweet romance, a bit of a cozy mystery, and a whole lot of Asian family-centered comedy, give the Aunties series a go.

When it’s time for Meddy to get married, her family picks out a Chinese-Indonesian family as the vendors, just like her own. While Meddy sees a lot of similarities between this family and her own, and is optimistic they’ll put on a good wedding, her illusion is shattered when she hears Staphanie, the photographer whom Meddy is starting to consider a friend, talking about taking someone out at her wedding. Convinced this family is the mafia, Meddy & her aunties try to save the wedding & whoever the target hit is.

The key is reading this one is definitely expectation setting. I don’t think there’s any significant character development between the first and second book, although meeting Nathan’s family was a new dynamic (and made for some very cringe-worthy comedy…think The Office).

But there is one thing that keeps me returning to this series—the AUNTIES! They are HILARIOUS to the point where I was laughing to myself. I would definitely put this book in the same category as Finlay Donovan because (as you’ll know if you read Dial A for Aunties) the situations get pretty far fetched and unrealistic. However, if you go in knowing that and just enjoy the book I promise you will have an enjoyable reading experience. If you need a lighter book to decompress from a heavier, emotionally draining book (like I was) this is definitely the book for you.

One thing that I’m not the biggest fan of in any type of book is miscommunication (whether it be romcoms, women’s fiction, etc.) and there is certainly a lot of that here. Meddy withholds a lot from Nathan and there were definitely points where I wanted to scream “just tell him everything!” But I understand it’s all part of the story. Nathan has the patience of a saint for being able to get past Meddy’s unwillingness to communicate, but it’s sweet how he steadfastly accepts her and her family.

You don’t have to read the first book really to get the second one, but I would recommended it because the series overall makes for a fun, fast read.

Meddy Chan's wedding day in Cambridge couldn't get more complicated. Wedding vendors distantly related to her family have threatened her and her family if she interferes with their plan to kill someone at the wedding. Armed with the zaniness and the determination of her four aunties, Meddy tries to stop a murder or anything else that could ruin her elaborate and well planned wedding day .

Full of humorous dialogue and situations, the Chinese-Indonesian aunties steal the show with their outrageous wedding outfits, their misuse of British slang trying to impress Meddy's future in laws, and how the aunties thwart any attempt of murder at Meddy's wedding. They involve Meddy herself in their plans which are outrageously funny.

Written with spunk and a clever use of dialogue, character, and setting, Four Aunties and a Wedding is clearly a winner.

The aunties are a gem. The representation in this is incredible!

This is the definition of a cozy mystery - the unpredictable, unrealistic, hilarious, non-gory, bizarre, witty banter, etc.

This genre (like all genres) isn’t for everyone! I think people can unreasonably judge cozies SO much tougher than other genres because it’s outlandish & targets a niche audience. For that reason, I can’t recommend it to everyone - but if you’re OK with it, I think you’ll enjoy it!