"Brimful of the Debbie Young brand of sly and wry humour" - Mari Howard
"These stories are a witty & engaging slice of life in the marriage market and a perfect tonic for a quick read. We all need a dose of fun in our lives and Debbie's humour is unmissable, wry and mischievous." - Lynne Pardoe
"If you like a modern take on old-fashioned love, then you'll enjoy this collection. Readers can't help but give a sigh of satisfaction at the end." - Betsy Talbot
"This book's fifteen short stories about dating, love and marriage' are essentially optimistic about these experiences, even though one or two of them tell of wrong turnings. Their optimism is not starry-eyed, however - love is a beautiful and powerful force, but has to be accompanied by a healthy dose of tolerance, of learning to put up with your partner's more annoying habits, and of humility, in realizing you may not be free of annoying habits yourself... I particularly liked The Homecoming, where the (female) author takes the risk of writing in a male voice and succeeds.The New Coat is a clever (and, in the current climate, brave) riff on a fashionable theme of the controlling husband. And The Butterfly Clip rounds the set off perfectly, with its sense of the quiet reward that can await us if we get this love business right. If you like your fiction noir and see life as a nasty, messy business we have to fight our way through, this is probably not the collection for you. But if you have a more upbeat take on things... here are fifteen gentle, well-crafted stories. Written by an unknown author who lives in the sticks (the book's publisher is based in rural Gloucestershire), they would probably not have seen the light of day under the old order. But they are now available for us to read and enjoy. More, please.." - Christopher West
"Marry in Haste"---the title invites us to add the suffix :- "Repent at Leisure." But there is little evidence of repentance, as Debbie Young's characters seem to embrace their fate with whole hearted enthusiasm. The dangerous angle of the wedding cake couple on the cover might indicate future perils, but one hopes they are simply "falling" in love. Jane Austen was acclaimed as a creator of microcosms, tiny brush strokes on a small piece of ivory. Was she also the first writer of "chick-lit"? No shame if she was. Women number half the population of the world. Why should we not have light hearted fiction, which speaks largely to the feminine psyche? Debbie Young is a gifted proponent of this genre. Her warm humour and appealing characters place her with Catharine Alliott and Katie Fford, but her stories have a depth all her own. Each vignette of "Marry in Haste" contain characters that have a complete imagined life with a past and a future. Each little history contains the possibility of a full length novel, whilst being sufficient unto itself. The subtle humour with which the writer invests her stories, permeates each scenario. A sushi roll carefully examined for "signs of life", Barbara in A and E after food poisoning provides specimens, "of which unfortunately she still had plenty," Thomas, the over demanding partner, turns out to be a cat. Very occasionally married bliss is questioned . The over solicitous husband tells the feminist saleswoman that he and his wife are perfectly happy as they are . "And do you know, though his attitude flew in the face of my feminist principles, I'm sure he was speaking the truth." A collection of short stories which positively celebrates love, yet subtly raises the wedding veil on the slightly sinister. questionable side of that well worn institution, marriage." - Celia Boyd
