THE PRE-NUP
Garnering rave reviews for her wickedly fun novels, Beth Kendrick always finds a fresh take on the laws of attraction. Now she tackles the laws of retraction in a rollicking ride through Mayfair Estates, a swanky gated community where no one says “”I do”” without signing on the dotted line first. But for three Mayfair couples, the pre-nup causes more woes than windfalls. When Ellie’s Prince Charming turns out to be a cheater, she discovers that a man who is good at hiding his affair will be even better at hiding his assets. A successful attorney, Mara still hasn’t walked down the aisle with her fiancée,
Garnering rave reviews for her wickedly fun novels, Beth Kendrick always finds a fresh take on the laws of attraction. Now she tackles the laws of retraction in a rollicking ride through Mayfair Estates, a swanky gated community where no one says “”I do”” without signing on the dotted line first. But for three Mayfair couples, the pre-nup causes more woes than windfalls. When Ellie’s Prince Charming turns out to be a cheater, she discovers that a man who is good at hiding his affair will be even better at hiding his assets. A successful attorney, Mara still hasn’t walked down the aisle with her fiancée, Josh. She’s giving the pre-nup and her wedding dress equally careful attention–until Josh dredges up a foolish one-night fling from her past. Insisting on a “”cheating clause,”” he unleashes a question of trust that neither of them is ready to face. Jen and Eric signed a pre-nup that put her business on the line. When the company suddenly takes off, so does Eric … forcing her to admit how much she loves him, with or without his bankroll. Ellie, Mara, and Jen may have rocky relationships, but they’re about to find out just how priceless friendship can be.
- Bantam Discovery
- Paperback
- November 2008
- 304 Pages
- 9780385342230
Buy the Book
$12.00
About Beth Kendrick
Beth Kendrick is the author of four previous novels, including Nearlyweds and Fashionably Late. She also writes teen fiction as Beth Killian. She lives near Phoenix, Arizona, with her husband, son, and an assortment of badly behaved dogs.
Praise
“A smart, funny spin on happily-ever-after!”—Beth Harbison, New York Times bestselling author of Secrets of a Shoe Addict
“Witty, juicy, and lots of fun! Say ‘I do’ to The Pre-Nup.”—Susan Mallery, New York Times bestselling author of Sweet Trouble
Discussion Questions
How did you picture Ellie and Michael’s marriage when you read the novel’s opening scene? Did Ellie have any reason to doubt Michael before she noticed the steamy message on his PDA?
Discuss Vixen, MD and women like her. Does Michael deserve any sympathy, considering her predatory ways? Would Ellie have been more forgiving if Michael had not been so greedy in the aftermath of his affair?
When we first meet Jen and Eric, they seem to love each other but aren’t in love. How do you think this compares to most married couples?
Did Josh overreact when he proposed the cheating clause, at the end of chapter eight? Were Mara and Josh both trying to sabotage their relationship during this argument, or were they trying to protect their pending marriage?
What made Alex bold enough to turn the tables on Michael? How do Ellie and her friends change after they meet Alex? What does she have in common with the women of Mayfair Estates?
How do Jen’s feelings about Patrick shift at different points in her life? What are the main differences between Patrick and Eric?
What changed between Mara and Josh after the demise of the wedding dress? What does their revised pre-nup in chapter twenty-eight say about every couple’s needs?
How did Jen and Eric use money to heal their marriage? What makes the difference between couples who are torn apart by financial feuds, and those who use wealth to enrich their relationship?
In the twenty-first century, do most men and women enter marriage on equal financial footing? If not, what accounts for the differences? Do modern divorced women deserve alimony, or was alimony only necessary when few women attended college or launched a career?
Should every couple have a pre-nup? How does a pre-nup serve as a time capsule, recording the hopes and fears of two people at an earlier stage of their lives? What did the pre-nups reveal about each couple in the novel?
What do you predict for Hannah’s future, in marriage and otherwise? How did her parents’ feud shift when they began fighting over custody of her?
What gave Ellie the nerve to accept a date in the novel’s closing chapter? How would you answer the question “why wonder,” printed on The Other Women business card? Would you want to know?
What was the effect of shifting between three points of view throughout The Pre-Nup? Which character did you identify with the most? What makes Ellie, Jen, and Mara’s friendship strong?
What role did Ellie’s mother-in-law play her son’s bad behavior? How was marriage different for women of her generation?
How does The Pre-Nup complement the other Beth Kendrick novels you have read? What is unique about the way her characters experience marriage and commitment?