HERE COMES THE BRIDE
Chapel
of Love, #3
by
Hope Ramsay
On Sale: August 29th
2017
Publisher: Forever
Mass Market: $7.99
USD
eBook: $5.99 USD
Audio: $19.98 USD
The Book Junkie Reads . . . Review of . . . HERE COMES
THE BRIDE (Chapel of Love, #3) . . . Hope Ramsey gave me
another small-town romance that make you believe in the power of small-towns
and romance. Most little girls wait for the day that they can play their
wedding and marry the man they dreamed of. That was the plan for Laurie Wilson.
She had spend years finding the right man and months playing the perfect day.
Only to be left. Then prodded in to going on more dates to make the man that
left her come back. Damn, that was a big pill to swallow. Brandon had his on
agenda going on so that leads to Laurie's dad wanting action taken to make the
wedding happen. In comes the best man and an employee of her father's, Andrew.
Andrew was interesting and had a bit of a problem. He must
get Laurie and Brandon to the alter. The idea of making her more desirable by
showing all the fun she was having by dating and dating often other men. Laurie
grows herself during this time. She finds that what family expects of her is
not how her life should be. She learns who she is, what she wants, and grows to
accept all of that. Watching Laurie grow a friendship with Andrew was pleasant.
The extra characters, events, and backdrops were fun additions. Small-town
community feel can add it own extras to a story and Hope Ramsay gave a good
read that allowed you to see the two characters grow as friends and allowed it
to move in to more.
BLURB
There
goes the groom . . .
For
Professor Laurie Wilson, planning her wedding to longtime boyfriend Brandon
Kopp has been a whirlwind. But somehow, between all the cake tastings and dress
fittings, she never imagined being left at the altar. In the aftermath, she
does what any sensible woman would—she swigs champagne and considers keying his
car. Until someone knocks on her door with a much better idea for revenge.
Best
man Andrew Lyndon thinks Laurie's better off without Brandon. But Laurie's
father—and Andrew's boss—isn't going to accept anything less than a
reconciliation. And he's made it Andrew's problem to solve. So Andrew decides
to make Brandon jealous by setting Laurie up on a string of "dates."
After a couple of weeks, Brandon will be begging Laurie to take him back. But
Andrew's plan works a little too well because suddenly he's the one falling for
Laurie—and planning a proposal of his own.
PREORDER THE BOOK HERE
THE CHAPEL OF LOVE SERIES
A
FAIRYTALE BRIDE, #.5
A
CHRISTMAS BRIDE, #1
A
SMALL-TOWN BRIDE, #2
HERE
COMES THE BRIDE, #3
EXCERPT
Laurie was busy killing her waistline with
her days-long ice cream, popcorn, and pizza binge. But hey, she didn’t have to
worry about fitting into the beautiful lace wedding dress anymore. And binging
on junk food and all twenty-six episodes of the first two seasons of House of Cards kept her mind off
her troubles.
But she hadn’t watched more than fifteen
minutes before someone knocked on her front door. Damn. Couldn’t people just
leave her alone? But then whoever it was decided to peep through the gigantic
living room window that overlooked her rickety porch.
Laurie’s heart soared. The visitor who
pressed his face up against the grubby window pane was definitely male. For an
instant, she thought it might be Brandon, come to tell her that calling off the
wedding was a horrible mistake.
But the guy on her porch was taller and
thinner than Brandon. “C’mon, Laurie, open the door,” he said as he raised a
green and red donut box. “I brought Krispy Kremes.”
Speak of the devil. Andrew Lyndon himself.
The best man. With donuts.
She hauled herself up from the couch and
padded to the front door. She cracked it open. “I’ll take the donuts, please.”
She reached her hand through the narrow opening.
He cocked his head like an adorable puppy
with big, soulful eyes. “You don’t get the donuts unless you let me in.”
“I’m not dressed for company,” she said,
glancing down at her pink bunny slippers, gray sweatpants, and George
Washington University sweatshirt. She’d been wearing these clothes since Sunday
afternoon.
“I’m not company,” he said.
“No? Then why are you here bearing bribes?
Andrew’s mouth twitched. “Your dad sent me.”
How could you not like Andrew when the guy
always told the truth? He was dependable. And honest. “Why did he send you and
not come himself?”
“I don’t know. I’m here to talk to you about
an idea.”
“What kind of idea?”
Andrew looked away and to the left, his body
language screaming discomfort.
Laurie was suddenly intrigued. She opened the
door wide and knew a moment of humiliation as he scanned her from head to toe.
She hated the look in his eyes. Was it pity? She didn’t want anyone, least of
all Brandon’s best friend, to pity her. “So what is this idea?”
“Teaching Brandon a lesson.”
“How? And why would you be interested in
doing that? I mean, you’re his friend, right?”
He looked her straight in the eye. “Yes, I
am. And I also work for your father.”
“Right. So conflicted.”
He nodded. “Your father wants to help you and
Brandon get back together. He’s enlisted my help.”
She snatched the box of donuts from his
hands. “I’m really sorry, Andrew. He can be a pain in the butt. But thanks for
these.” She clutched the box to her breast and tried to shut the door in
Andrew’s face.
Unfortunately, Andrew had good reflexes. He
wedged his foot in the door and forced it open.
She retreated in the face of his superior
strength, but not without a snarky retort. “I’m not sharing the donuts.” She
selected a donut from the box and nodded her head at him. “Okay, you’ve got
exactly five minutes for whatever it is you came to say.”
“On
Saturday, when I asked you what you wanted, you told me that you were willing
to forgive Brandon. Do you still feel that way?”
A rush of sugar coursed through her as she
sank her teeth into the donut. There was nothing in the world—not even sex— as
good as a Krispy Kreme. She thought carefully about Andrew’s question as the
donut melted in her mouth. “I don’t know,” she said honestly.
Andrew nodded, as if her answer hadn’t
surprised him in the least. “He broke my heart,” she added, just to be clear.
“How can I forgive that?”
“Easy. If you love him and want to be his
wife.”
“Not so easy. I mean, why did Brandon do that
to me? We were together for so long.”
“What if that’s the problem?” he asked.
“What? That we’ve been together? Like it’s
okay for him to get bored?” Although that’s exactly what had happened.
Andrew shook his head. “No, it’s more like
fear of better options.”
“What does that mean?”
“Maybe he feels as if he never took the time
to…I don’t know, play the field, sow some wild oats, whatever.”
“Right.” She took another bite of the donut.
In a minute, she would ask Andrew to leave, and she would forget this
unsettling conversation.
“So,”
he said when she was down to licking the sugar off her fingers, “what if we
showed Brandon the consequences of looking for better options?”
“Okay. And what, in your judgment, are the
consequences?”
“I’m pretty sure Brandon hasn’t thought
through how he might feel if you decided to go out and play the field.”
“So you’re saying that if I do what Brandon
asked me to do—go explore other options—it will make him jealous?”
“Well, sort of. See, I’m not suggesting that
you actually date other people. I’m suggesting that you give the appearance
of dating other people. In order to make him realize what an idiot he’s being.”
“Okay, how do I give the appearance of
dating? What do I do, just go directly to Match.com and post a sexy profile?”
He leaned back in the chair, looking so
completely comfortable that it irked her. “Instead of Match.com, I was thinking
along the lines of setting you up on a series of show dates, with guys Brandon
either knows or admires or even hates. In short, guys that will annoy the crap
out of him. We’d arrange them so that Brandon either sees you out with someone
else, or hears about it. I’m betting that seeing you out with someone else will
drive him crazy.”
Author Info
Hope
Ramsay is a USA Today bestselling
author of heartwarming contemporary romances.
Her books have won critical acclaim and publishing awards. She is
married to a good ol' Georgia boy who resembles every single one of her
Southern heroes. She has two grown children and a couple of demanding lap cats.
She lives in Virginia where, when she's not writing, she's knitting or playing
her forty-year-old Martin guitar.
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