ABOUT THE BOOK:
Once again, she's running...
When bride-to-be Cami Lockwood finally escapes the clutches of her domineering family, she accidentally stumbles straight into the mountain retreat of the most alluring man she's ever met. Garrett Bravo's never been lucky in love. But that's before a one-of-a-kind heiress rushes headlong onto his doorstep.
But this time, she's running toward something!
Garrett's mother can't resist matchmaking for her relentlessly unavailable son. So what better way to evade her meddling than to pretend that his accidental arrangement with creative, unique Cami is the real thing? Just one catch: he hadn't bargained on falling head over heels for the runaway bride turned woman of his dreams...
READ AN EXCERPT:
MY REVIEW:
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Garrett Bravo’s Runaway Bride by Christine Rimmer is a 2017 Harlequin Special Edition Publication.
Sweet and sexy with an empowering message!
Nothing will get your attention faster than a woman showing up at your mountain cabin in a tattered wedding dress, sporting a black eye and covered with bruises.
Garrett thought he was seeing things at first, but Cami Lockwood was no apparition. She’s a runaway bride hoping to break free and live her life on her own terms. But from the first moment their eyes met, the two became fast friends. But, they both know there is something stronger and more powerful growing between them, they just need the courage to embrace it.
"I mean, you may not really be able to love someone at first sight. But, you can know if you could love them. You can see the potential. And I would take it even further. I would say when it comes to love, sometimes your heart just knows.”
Garrett’s backstory is so sad, and he carries unnecessary guilt and not a small amount of fear about falling in love.
Can Garrett overcome his tragic experiences with love and open his heart to the delightfully whimsical woman who waltzed in and changed his entire life?
I loved Cami right away. She had the courage to do something many people wouldn’t or couldn’t manage to pull off. Before her life became a big, sad mess, she took charge, albeit at the last minute, and never looked back.
Of course, it helped that she had Garrett to give her a place to lay low for a while, while she figured things out. But, more than that, Garrett was her support system and her friend. He didn’t pressure her or judge her, he just let her figure things out in her own way, in her own time.
The secondary thread involving Garrett’s mother was humorous, but also showed character growth and how people can change and decide to right some wrongs as a result. I ended up really liking Garrett’s mother and thought Cami’s open, non-judgmental approach went a long way towards healing old wounds.
But, the story also has a serious tone on occasion, as well as a rousing and inspirational theme, especially when Cami finally has a face to face showdown with the person who has been controlling her life for far too long. Will Cami stand her ground or will she bow to pressure?
I think the message here is an important one. Bullying comes in many forms, as does controlling behavior and manipulations. Running is so much easier than facing the pressure, but standing up for oneself is so empowering, which is what I liked most about this story.
Rimmer has a knack for telling heartfelt emotional stories, with a nice balance between sweet and sexy and always writes the most perfectly romantic endings. She always leaves me with one of those big goofy smiles on my face.
I really enjoyed this story a lot and highly recommend it!!
https://www.amazon.com/Garrett-Bravos-Runaway-Bride-Justice-ebook/dp/B06XFRYY13/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/garrett-bravos-runaway-bride-christine-rimmer/1125814382
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
New York Times bestselling author Christine Rimmer has written more than one hundred contemporary romances for Harlequin Books. She has won Romantic Times BOOKreview’s Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Silhouette Special Edition. She has been nominated seven times for the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award and five times for Romantic Times Series Storyteller of the Year.
A California native who first longed to be an actress, Christine earned her theater degree from California State, Sacramento and then went to New York to study acting. Later, she moved to Southern California, where she began her writing career with short stories, plays, and poems. Her poems and short stories were published in a number of small literary journals. Her plays were produced at The Back Alley and Group Theaters in Southern California and have been published by Dramatists Play Service and West Coast Plays.
She now lives in Oregon with her family and two very contented cats named Tom and Ed.
