Hardcover: 272 pages
Seventeen-year-old Bronwen Oliver doesn't just want a family. She has one of those, and there's nothing terribly wrong with them apart from bickering grandparents, an image-obsessed mother and a brother she describes simply as Jesus. But there's no natural sense of connection between Bronwen and her family, leaving her with the belief -- and the hope -- that she was switched at birth, that she was never supposed to be Bronwen Oliver but someone else entirely.
When she begins dating college senior Jared Sondervan, she finds herself thoroughly embraced by the loving family she has always wanted and does not hesitate to say yes when Jared proposes on her 18th birhday. Plans for the Perfect Beach Wedding before her junior year of college become plans for the Perfect Beach Wedding before her freshman year of college. And a wedding so soon isn't exactly what Bronwen wants. But Jared is. And his family is. Or so she thinks.
Before Bronwen can determine what she truly wants, she must first determine who she truly is, and the answer, she discovers, is only partially what she thought it was. She wasn't switched at birth, but she's also not Bronwen Oliver and hasn't been for a very long time. (Source)
Review
I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU SOMEONE ELSE, by Eric McCahan, quickly became one of my favorite contemporary fiction books of this year. I immediately fell in love with Bronwen. She was intelligent and a bit of a dreamer (not unlike myself). I could see where she mistook herself for being switch at birth and I laughed at the many situations that she concocted to explain who her family could really be.
The relationship between Bronwen and Jared was straight out of a historical fiction. Jared was an absolute gentleman and did everything a perfect boyfriend should. The engagement was not rushed in my eyes, at least from his stand point. He was not unlike her and wanted to be an 'US' as soon as possible.
I admit I fell for this perfect romance just like Bronwen did, but when paths for the future were being laid before her, she needed to take a step back and really think about where she wanted to be. McCahan weaved this beautiful love story about a girl who was anything but whole and pushed her to examine what she actually needed to become herself before being an 'US'.
The ending was left open but leaves much room for interpretation and examination at its conclusion. I highly recommend this book, and I am excited to read more from this really talented author.
For more info, check out Erin McCahan's website
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