Runaway Groom

Runaway Groom
by Sally Clements
Published by Creative Space
Genre: chick lit; romance
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview
3 / 5


So your sister is getting married. Happy times, right? But what if she invites the guy who seven years ago all but abandoned her at the altar?

April Leigh can't understand why her sister June (yeah ... I, too, kept wondering if we'd meet May) insists on asking Matthew Logan to come to her wedding. From April's perspective, Matthew ran off and jilted her sister. But what June wants, June tends to get, as April's friends continue to point out to her.

And there is my issue with this book: April so rarely figures out anything on her own.

She's a likable girl, and you can't help but root for her. But her life seems to have happened to her, as opposed to because of her. She's one of those people who lets life affect her, rather than the other way around. She landed in fashion design because that's how things worked out, not because she had a particular inclination toward it. She tracks down Matthew to beg him to forego attending June's wedding not because she once had a crush on him and wants to reconnect, but because she thinks it's best for June. She takes up running because Matthew needs some help with a client. She lives in an apartment located above the coffee shop where she works. As I read this book, I kept wondering what April would be like if she went out and attacked life rather than wait for things to happen to her.

So she goes to see Matthew, and let's just say that her teenage crush is rekindled. As far as Matthew is concerned, his former fiancee's little sister has grown up quite nicely. Due to quirky circumstances - again, not because of anything April does, but rather because of what happens to her - she moves in with Matthew. Separate bedrooms, OF COURSE. They're clearly attracted to each other, though, and you can imagine which one makes the first move. Go ahead. Guess.

The ending provides more of the same. April waits, and life happens.

This is a quick, fun read, and there are some sexy times. Not a whole lot, nor is there a tremendous amount of detail, but you get the sense that Matthew knows what he's doing. You also understand his concerns regarding a relationship with April, even if you want to knock him upside the head.

There are plot holes here and there, but let's face it. You don't read books like this with tremendous concern about plot coherency. You read them because their romances are cute, sweet, and maybe a little hot.

I just wish April had a little more oomph to her.