A new novel from the wonderful Frances Mayes, Dara and Austin meet and fall in love at first sight. As they try to make their very different lives fit together, a secret comes up and may destroy everything they are trying to build. Can Dara's mom help pull them back together, or will life get in the way of what they are hoping to build?

I have been excited to read A Great Marriage. Under the Tuscan Sun was an amazing book in my opinion.

If you like fiction that is based on family dynamics, this one may be worth checking out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for allowing me to have an ARC of this novel.

I really enjoyed this beautiful book about love, marriage, and family. I struggled at first with the author’s writing style, but then I couldn’t put the book down. Love and marriage can be messy so I had to know how it would all work out. I loved the ending! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read A Great Marriage.

Dara Wilcox comes from a tight knit family in Hillston, North Carolina, an only child and beloved granddaughter, who is on her way to law school in D.C. She meets and falls for Austin Clarke at a NYC art gallery – he’s a rising star architect, charismatic and from an intellectual British family. They’re all set to get marred at the family home in North Carolina, when Austin gets totally unexpected news that leaves him reeling and moving back to London. Dara cancels the wedding scheduled in just a few days and refuses to let her family or best friends in on why. Dara first flies off to visit old college friends in California, then heads to South Carolina to become part of a large artistic group restoring a historic but run down inn.

As Dara considers her mom and dad’s close marriage and her grandmother’s great marriage to a former Senator, she measures her strong ambitions along with her strong love for Austin. This romance is tempered in the novel with philosophical underpinning on what truly makes for a great marriage, and the tremendous obstacles that must be overcome to make a marriage work.

By the end you’re wildly cheering for Dara and Austin on to find some way to make their relationship work and enter into marriage despite all that has transpired!

Thanks to Random House, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have started and put down this book at least 3 times but have officially finished… something about this novel makes me want to see it as a movie. Characters were kind of bleh and didn’t feel connected to the couple or the story at all.

Thank you netgalley for an arc in exchange for my review!

I thoroughly enjoyed A Great Marriage by Frances Mayes. This was my first fiction read by the author and I wasn’t sure what to expect. This is the story of Dara and Austin who are about to be married when life takes some unexpected turns and the wedding is called off. Through Dara and Austin’s journey - along with Dara’s parents and grandmother and friends- the complexity of love and marriage is explored. It is also the story of friendship, finding your place, and adapting to what life throws at us despite our best laid plans. I also enjoyed the author’s love letter to the south- with a brief one to California thrown in. Beautiful writing and rich characters made this a memorable read. Highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced reader copy!

As the novel opens we are introduced to a happy family scene with happily married parents having a dinner with their daughter and her fiancee, who are absolutely smitten with each other. Almost immediately the engagement is broken off because of unexpected information revealed to both that changes their trajectory permanently. We follow the outcome for both the prospective bride and groom, as well their friends and families, with a great deal of details about the various settings. All along, we have to wonder, "Can this engagement be saved?" I found myself being impatient with both the characters and the extensive description.

Frances Mayes' "A Perfect Marriage" explores love and loss among wealthy families through Dara Willcox and Austin Clarke's abruptly halted romance. Despite its promising premise, the characters' struggles to connect and the narrative's disjointed perspective shifts detract from the story's depth. While Mayes infuses warmth and humor, the novel may appeal more to readers interested in exploring relationships within privileged circles than those seeking relatable characters and emotional resonance.

While it took me three tries of picking this book up and putting it back down (for some reason the first few pages didn’t capture me), I’m so glad I persisted. I loved this book, every word. The writing was crisp and the story captivating - I truly love a meander through relationships and it made me nostalgic for a different time and place. Thanks for Net Galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.. 5 stars.

Dara Wilcox, engaged to be married to Austin Clarke, is a bride on the run in A Great Marriage by Frances Mayes out on August 13. When the two met at an art gallery during Dara’s weekend in New York in 1995, it was love at first sight, but now Austin’s devastating news from a friend in England has detoured them both.

Her parents are supportive even when she does not give them the specifics for calling off the wedding. She is in shock and in full-on flee mode to visit her grandmother Charlotte in South Carolina and then on to college friends in San Francisco while Austin is headed back home to London to deal with a situation that is going to change the course of his life forever.

Dara contemplates attending law school in California since she is now questioning returning to Washington, D.C. to attend Georgetown Law School. She finds the beauty of driving the coastal highway in California to be a balm for her troubles. Meanwhile, Austin has his hands full dealing with life and death matters in London, finding support from his father and sister.

With enough time, what is the way forward for the couple? When the dust settles, how will their situations shake out? Could they have what it takes to make a great marriage? Or maybe a great marriage with someone else?

Frances Mayes is an author who splits her time between her homes in Cortina, Italy, and Durham, North Carolina. Her 1996 memoir Under the Tuscan Sun was on the New York Times Best Seller list for more than two years and was the basis for the 2003 romantic comedy of the same title starring Diane Lane. Mayes is also the author of Under Magnolia: A Southern Memoir. She writes fiction and poetry as well.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting July 5, 2024.

I would like to thank Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

I started this novel several times, but I couldn’t get past the hodgepodge of characters and narrators. I finally realized that I couldn’t get through the entire novel. I know that I dislike books with TOO MANY characters and names. I’d like to hone in on a few and then meet ancillary characters. If one counted the names in the first 25 pages, my feelings might be clear.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

Dara and Austin, young, successful, and madly in love, call off their wedding only days before it’s set to take place, after Austin receives a surprise phone call with far reaching consequences for the young couple and their families.

I was excited to read this book since I loved Under the Tuscan Sun and was interested by the premise. Unfortunately, the book did not come together for me. The dialogue often felt stilted and unrealistic and the changing point of views felt unnatural. It often felt bogged down by unnecessary detail and backstory for secondary characters.

Despite this, there were definitely enjoyable moments within the book, and the plot lends itself to discussions about love and forgiveness. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.

I wanted to like this book as I enjoyed previous work by this author. This one failed to keep my attention. There were too many characters and too much going on in the beginning. I found myself skimming most of the book.

I wanted to read this book because I enjoyed the author’s previous work. A GREAT MARRIAGE meanders through a seemingly perfect couple’s engagement and break-up prior to the impending wedding. The reasons for the break-up seem ridiculous and the outcome of the interruption even more perplexing. The female protagonist might make more sense in a different, possibly historic, time period. I could see this couple having a brief, intense relationship; I could not imagine them getting back together based on what drove them apart. This is an odd tale but addictive. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

"A Great Marriage" offers a compelling portrayal of the complexities inherent in relationships, inviting readers to ponder the delicate balance between choice and destiny in the tapestry of matrimony. Set against the backdrop of divergent life paths and unforeseen circumstances, the central characters, Dara Willcox and Austin Clarke, are thrust into a tumultuous journey of love, loss, and self-discovery. As the narrative unfolds, familial relationships, personal ambitions, and unforeseen tragedies interplay to redefine the course of their lives. Through Mayes' signature warmth, humor, and incisive storytelling, readers are immersed in a multigenerational exploration of love, marriage, and the profound mysteries that accompany these intertwined facets of human existence. The novel has a myriad of characters and plotlines. This makes the pacing uneven, with a surplus of minutiae that detracts from the overarching story. I wanted to enjoy this novel as much as I've enjoyed others written by Mayes.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

A Great Marriage has a lot going on and too many characters for me to keep up with. I also found the
first half dragged along with many, in my opinion, extraneous details about things the characters were
doing. The last half picked up the pace and kept my attention. Still a lot of minor details I believe could
be left out. Overall good story; too busy at times.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately I was unable to get into this book. I found it to be written as unconscious stream of mind and extremely choppy. The POV was constantly shifting and it was difficult to keep it straight. I read for pleasure but this was arduous task because I couldn't connect due to the author's writing style.

It took me a while to get into this novel. I thoroughly enjoyed Under the Tuscan Sun and was hoping for a similar feeling with this book. This one wasn’t for me. My favorite character was her Grandmother, but otherwise I wasn’t invested in anyone else. Some of the sentences seem like they were written by a different person. You’d have this very beautiful prose and then these choppy sentences. It felt very inconsistent.

Thank you NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for sending this book for review consideration.

Loved A Great Marriage by Frances Mayes! The author of Under the Tuscan Sun hits all the right notes with her beautiful family story. Love, passion, betrayal, tragedy, growth, pain, more love…all swirl together in this delightful book. Touches of literary, art and music references add further to the reading joy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This is an engaging romance which makes you think about a beautiful young couple that is about to step into the wonderland of marriage but maybe they shouldn’t.

The girlfriend’s parents, Lee and Rich, from North Carolina will do anything for each other no matter what. They are so much in love. The boyfriend’s mom died and his dad, Michael from London, enjoys books rather than getting involved in a relationship. Now it’s up to the couple, Dara and Austin, to take the plunge and live happily ever after just like a fairytale.

When Dara’s mother accidentally spills red wine all over the table at a dinner gathering before the wedding, I immediately think it’s a sign and I wonder what’s going to happen next. Dara’s grandmother is a psychologist. She wrote a book called, “A Good Marriage” which should have been required reading for two people that were about to say their vows. What could go wrong when everything was set up so perfectly?

While their future was easy to figure out, the book had its own charm and I enjoyed reading about how they were affected by their family and friends. I could easily imagine the characters with their jobs in so many directions. It makes you think a lot about how life sometimes goes so smoothly and then hits a wall. This is a perfect summer read and fun for a book discussion.

My thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy with an expected release date of August 13, 2024.