Review: The Accidental Bride by Denise Hunter

Shay Brandenberger is the single mother of twelve-year-old Olivia.  Her first engagement, to Travis McCoy, ended when he abandoned her outside the courthouse in her wedding dress, and he is back in town for the first time since then, looking after his parent’s ranch.  Shay is strong-armed into playing the part of the bride in her town’s Founder’s Day wedding re-enactment, then finds that she has been totally set up, because Travis is the fake groom.  Things get worse when the wedding is found to be official, and Travis takes the opportunity to propose that they stay married for six months, in exchange for providing Shay with the manpower and financial assistance she needs to save her family ranch from bankruptcy.  Will they let their past history and misunderstandings get in the way of true love?

I really liked Travis.  I appreciated a hero who wasn’t afraid to admit his mistakes and show his feelings (even if it took a while).  I actually liked Travis more than I liked Shay – I get that she has had a tough life, but some of that she really did bring upon herself.  Your high school sweetheart leaves you at the altar when you are 18 – and you are married six months later to another guy?  Surely that is asking for trouble. Anyway, it was an interesting plot that was mostly well-executed and was good for some light entertainment on a wet afternoon.

While I enjoyed the last Denise Hunter book I read (Seaside Letters), it had one plot point that disturbed me and seemed out of character, both for the character in question and for the Christian Romance genre. Thankfully, The Accidental Bridedid not make this mistake, and was much more enjoyable (although there were still a couple of eye-rolling moments).  It is the second book in the Big Sky series (following A Cowboy's Touch), but can easily be read as a standalone novel.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.