Book Review: Told You So by Leeanne Slade

‘Told You So’ by Leeanne Slade is an Audible Original story. It is a romantic comedy that follows a woman called Lucy Redway, who has experienced more than her fair share of heartbreak in her past. The story catalogues her experience during the week leading up to her best friend, Stacey’s wedding in Spain.

‘Told You So’ is a funny, upbeat and silly story of millennial weddings, first loves, heartbreak, second chances and divine intervention. When Lucy finds herself sat beside famous psychic Miranda Bloom on the plane to Spain, and she foretells that Lucy will leave Spain with the love of her life, a man she crossed paths with when she was younger. Except, unfortunately, there are two people attending this wedding that fit that bill – her childhood best friend, Ethan, and her ex-boyfriend, and the event’s wedding photographer, Drew. And then there’s the attractive grump of a Best Man, who seems determined to drive her around the bend.

I really liked Lucy and Charlie. I felt like it was a fun grumpy x sunshine story, with plenty of flirty banter wedding melodrama, and actual drama – like a wedding dress for a destination wedding being lost in transit, and needing to buy a replacement, just days before. It was a delightfully funny story.

I loved the character development, the plot twists and the way the story came to be. It was so compelling and interesting and I felt so terrible for both Charlie and for Lucy – I can’t imagine the havoc and the loss.

I enjoyed this story, but some aspects of it felt as if they were so convoluted, like the presence of drag queens at the wedding isn’t completely unheard of, especially a wedding with crazy shenanigans, upbeat happy, and funny experiences. And, as the story establishes, if the groom, Rodrigo is rich enough to fly out friends and family to a villa in Spain for a week preceding his wedding, there is no doubt in my mind he could afford to hire drag queens – but the ones that he hires? With the notice period? Completely convoluted and unreasonable. No way would that happen!

It ruined the immersion for a good while because I was baffled by the absurdity of it all. I was fine with the scavenger hunt, the karaoke machine, the obstacle course, and even the punchup that resulted in a dip in the pool – but the drag queens they supposedly hired were just too much for me. Not because there were drag queens at a wedding! Perhaps it’s because I’m a fan, perhaps it’s because I know how far in advance someone would need to book a popular queen to attend an event, but there was no way. It really threw me off.