This annual countdown goes from December 1st until Christmas with one share per day. In the original challenge, the “rules” were (1)published in 2021 and (2)five-star read with “Red Hot Reads” titles automatically making the list. I kept the 2021 publish year “rule” as I have a lot of recent releases that were amazing. Since I already do my top novels of the year (5 star and sometimes 4.75 stars), I decided to highlight some of my 4.5 star reads as they are still amazing, but often get passed over in my countdowns. The choices are in a semi-random order with some novels that I enjoyed a little more making it a little higher in the countdown.
#Bookvent DAY 8
The Runaway Bride by Mary Jayne Baker
Here comes the bride … but how long can she hide?
When Kitty Clayton flees her wedding with no money, no bank card and no phone, her life seems worryingly futureless. All she knows is, she’d rather sleep on the streets than go back home to cheating Ethan.
After picking her up hitch-hiking, widowed children’s author Jack Duffy takes Kitty under his wing, looking out for her until she gets back on her feet. And it’s not long before the two grow close…
But with Jack struggling to recover from the guilt he feels over his wife’s death and Kitty refusing to face up to the problems she’s running away from at home, will the two ever manage to share a happily ever after?
There was a lot more to this story than meets the eye. The bride in this story discovers her husband cheating on their wedding day and decides to get away from it all. She meets a widower, who recently lost his wife and is going through his own emotional journey. While the two had an attraction, this story explores the complexity of each character’s past. While it is initially only the cheating that Kitty is going through, there was a lot more to her past. The two characters help each other deal with their pasts in order to, hopefully, find a brighter future.
Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!
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