....  Life in Cook's Cove has moved on in the 30 years between the first book and this one in the series, and they now have a bridge across the bay and a road all the way to Corner Brook. The community, however, is as tightly knit as ever, with everyone knowing everything about everyone else, and mostly being happy that this is the case. The whole book exudes a sense of togetherness that is seldom experienced these days, except perhaps in the virtual fake reality of an internet game. This atmosphere is the book's main strength as the reader is pulled into the life of the village....We can be glad that, with any luck, there will be another four books to round out the series and our appreciation of outport life.
CM... Volume XV Number 11...January 23, 2009

Mary Sheppard's Three for a Wedding (Penguin, 254 pages, $14, ages 12+) is a perfect choice for girls who want to lose themselves in a comfortable, engaging world and a family saga that's piquant and nicely sprawling....Sheppard is well on her way with this instalment in the Derby family story, a refreshing mixture of communal festivities, familial tales and a down-to-earth, ironic narrator whose edge of humour allows for moments of seriousness but none of sappiness. While the novel evokes the doubts, complaints and ecstasies of a teenaged girl, it also provides a rich glimpse of the communities and conditions of outport Newfoundland. Good Canadian reading and nicely flavourful. Small Print ....thestar.com ...March 15, 2009 ... http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/article/602080

It's the late 1980s and there's going to be a wedding in fictional town of Cook's Cove, Newfoundland....And the heft of those wedding plans fall on the shoulders of 16-year-old Violet Blue Derby, the heroine of our tale, and her mother Melinda Derby, a widow, the town matriarch and head of the Ladies' Aid Auxiliary....Not quite as romantic as Anne of Green Gables, nor as given to poetic musings, Violet Blue is every bit as stubborn and sparkling....Everything is done by the women in Cook's Cove: They cook, they serve, they primp, hook rugs, knit baby clothes, wrangle politicians, demand new bridges, doctor the sick and tell stories. Sheppard delivers this seemingly quaint but convincing world with a kind of glee that makes it authentic...The true story here, subtle and touching, is about the friendship between to the two girl cousins. Here is a friendship full of fiery sparks and cool civility, and like the fudge Violet Blue makes for the Garden Party, the friendship comes to a slow tantalizing boil, and turns out beautifully sweet. The Globe and Mail, Saturday, March 21, 2009 ... p. F11

There's something mysterious about Grace-Mae's arrival in Cook's Cove. She wasn't expected to arrive so early and without her mother, and there's a strange reporter who's been roaming around town asking questions about her, too. But Violet, Grace-Mae's cousin, doesn't have time to unravel the mystery. She's got final exams, her sister's wedding, and a garden party to prepare for. And her first boyfriend. This is sure to be a summer she'll never forget.

Puffin Canada, February 2009