{"id":6318,"date":"2013-11-18T06:42:54","date_gmt":"2013-11-18T12:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/?p=6318"},"modified":"2013-11-17T20:03:11","modified_gmt":"2013-11-18T02:03:11","slug":"amy-matayos-new-book-the-wedding-game-is-delightful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/?p=6318","title":{"rendered":"Amy Matayo&#8217;s New Book, The Wedding Game, Is Delightful."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I finally figured out the deal with this here blogging: do it once and do it right. And then use it anywhere you can. I wrote the blog and then just lifted it to become my <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00GP841JC\/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B00GP841JC&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;tag=matayokindle-20\" target=\"_blank\">Amazon.com<\/a> review of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amymatayo.com\" target=\"_blank\">Amy Matayo&#8217;s<\/a> book, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00GP841JC\/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B00GP841JC&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;tag=matayokindle-20\" target=\"_blank\">The Wedding Game<\/a>. Lest I forget, go buy the book right now (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-Wedding-Game-Amy-Matayo\/dp\/1493774131\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1384739886&#038;sr=8-1&#038;keywords=the+wedding+game+%26+amy+matayo\" target=\"_blank\">This is the link for the paperback<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-Wedding-Game-Amy-Matayo-ebook\/dp\/B00GP841JC\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1384740072&#038;sr=8-1&#038;keywords=the+wedding+game+%26+amy+matayo+%26+kindle\" target=\"_blank\">the other link is for kindle.<\/a>) Skip this silly review and just start reading her book. <div id=\"attachment_6322\" style=\"width: 197px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/amymatayobook.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6322\" src=\"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/amymatayobook.jpg\" alt=\"The Wedding Game (Photo stolen from amymatayo.com)\" width=\"187\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6322\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6322\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Wedding Game<br \/>(Photo stolen from amymatayo.com)<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<p>Oh, fine. For the skeptics, read the review below.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/follow?original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fcommotioninthepews.com%2F&amp;screen_name=joecourtemanche&amp;tw_p=followbutton&amp;variant=2.0\">Please follow me on Twitter<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/josephcourtemancheauthor\">&#8220;Like&#8221; the Facebook author page<\/a>. Don&#8217;t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits!<\/p>\n<p>Finally, I\u2019m the first for something. The first review, and probably the first 350 pound biker type to read the book, The Wedding Game.<\/p>\n<p>I usually run as fast as possible from any form of Chic Lit: it has been known to cause hives in guys like me. And it\u2019s not like I haven\u2019t tried to read books like this in the past. My wife has urged me to read dozens over the years. Haven\u2019t made it through one without thinking, \u201cNever again. I value my sanity too much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I made an exception for Amy Matayo. I\u2019ve had the pleasure of being her Facebook friend for several months. We also have the same Literary Agent. A few months ago, I met her in person at a writer\u2019s conference. I figured if the book was half as good as her wisecracks and snarky Facebook postings it would be tolerable. Support a fellow author and all that sort of thing.<\/p>\n<p>I am pleased to report that her book, The Wedding Game, is one of the wittiest, funniest, most enjoyable books I\u2019ve read in my life. It\u2019s one of those rare gems that sucks you in on the front end and leaves you begging for a sequel.<\/p>\n<p>The story of Ellie and Cannon isn\u2019t archetypal, it isn\u2019t preachy, it isn\u2019t\u2026 well, you\u2019d be hard pressed to apply any negatives to this delightful story of two people who are the winners, if you could call them that, of a reality television show. Both have their reasons for competing, both loathe each other, and both find that their relationship with each other becomes vital to their well being. <\/p>\n<p>Amy uses gentle humor, slapstick, sarcasm, and spot-on depictions of male-female relationships to entice the reader to genuinely care about the characters. If you dig into the book on the surface, a great romp will bring tears to your eyes and laughter to your belly.<\/p>\n<p>On another level, it\u2019s an examination of each of their relationships with God, and how they reconcile their behavior with God\u2019s expectations. Growth, both as a couple and as spiritual beings, is a key to the story.<\/p>\n<p>Hidden twists, inventive descriptions that put you in the room with the characters, and dialogue that had to be overheard between bickering couples (it\u2019s that authentic) leave you in awe of this first novel from an author who\u2019s working hard at her craft. It shows in the quality of this work. <\/p>\n<p>I know Amy\u2019s working on the next book. If Amazon would let me buy it today, I\u2019d shell out the money right now. I\u2019m already telling friends about the book. After 28 years of marriage, I finally have a Chic book to give to my wife. I know she\u2019ll love it as much as I did.<\/p>\n<p>Buy it today. You won\u2019t be sorry. Just don\u2019t blame me if you can\u2019t get Ellie and Cannon out of your head.  <\/p>\n<p>Oh, yeah. Guys: there\u2019s no shame in enjoying this book. I promise not to revoke your man card if you laugh.<\/p>\n<p>Last, but not least, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=O2wPJWE19Eo\" target=\"_blank\">there&#8217;s a trailer for the book.<\/a> I&#8217;ve presented it below.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/O2wPJWE19Eo?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I finally figured out the deal with this here blogging: do it once and do it right. And then use it anywhere you can. I wrote the blog and then just lifted it to become my Amazon.com review of Amy <span class=\"excerpt-dots\">&hellip;<\/span> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/?p=6318\"><span class=\"more-msg\">Continue reading &rarr;<\/span><\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1970,2291,977,1,7],"tags":[1969,2442,2654,2655,2652,167,2653,2658,4518,2229,162,2656,2659,2657,1921],"class_list":["post-6318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-humor","category-popular-culture","category-uncategorized","category-writing","tag-amazon","tag-amy-matayo","tag-amymatayo-com","tag-blythe-daniel-agency","tag-chic-lit","tag-commotion-in-the-pews","tag-contemporary-christian-romance","tag-endorsement","tag-humor","tag-jessica-kirkland","tag-joseph-courtemanche","tag-marriage","tag-reality-televison","tag-sarcasm","tag-wedding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6318"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6326,"href":"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6318\/revisions\/6326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}