Book Review: The Bride Wore Size 12, #5 in the Heather Wells Mystery Series by Meg Cabot

This is book #5 of the Heather Wells Mystery Series by Meg Cabot.

Yes, Meg Cabot, who wrote The Princess Diaries and a slew of other YA titles.

But this book is far from YA. While some of the characters are older teens, our heroine and narrator is Heather Wells, a formerly famous teen pop star who lost her boy band lead boyfriend, career, family, and money all at the same time. Heather, now in her late 20s, is determined to go back to school to pursue a criminal justice degree, but, being broke, she's had to take a job as an assistant residence hall director and another doing the accounting of her ex's big brother, who's a private investigator (and Heather's longtime crush).

In this book, Heather has to deal with the fallout of another murder in her residence hall, as well as the demands of one VIR--Very Important Resident, all the while trying to prepare for her upcoming wedding. We get to meet her mom, and that allows us to see a deeper side of Heather's personality than we'd seen before. This fleshes her out a bit as a character who, after four books, readers feel they know pretty well.

If you haven't read the first four books, and you think you'd enjoy a humorous mystery set in NYC, with a lot of laughs and a relatable, realistic heroine, then I'd go to your local library and pick up Size 12 is Not Fat, Size 14 is Not Fat Either, Big Boned, and Size 12 and Ready to Rock.  They're all fast paced, short reads that will hold the interest of someone who enjoys humorous mystery stories and strong, funny female leads. Don't be put off by the titles; the books aren't a whinefest about being chubby. As Cabot notes in her first book, size 12 is the average American woman's size. And Heather is a real, down to earth, average woman put into extraordinary circumstances. Though murder is certainly a serious topic, the tone of the book is light and amusing. If you're looking for something just a little more grown up than "New Adult," read these books.

The Bride Wore Size 12 goes on sale September 24th.

You can find more information on the series' official Facebook page, and you can view Heather and Cooper's wedding registry (haha) on Pinterest.