My review of Stand-In Groom by Kaye Dacus

ABOUT THE BOOK

When wedding planner Anne Hawthorne meets George Laurence, she thinks she's found the man of her dreams. But when he turns out to be a client, her "dream" quickly turns into a nightmare. Will Anne risk her heart and career on this engaging Englishman?

George came to Louisiana to plan his employer's wedding and pose as the groom. But how can he feign affection for a supposed fiancee when he's so achingly attracted to the wedding planner? And what will happen when Anne discovers his role has been Stand-In Groom only? Will she ever trust George again? Can God help these two believers find a happy ending?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Stand-In Groom, go HERE

My review:

Great debut! I really enjoyed this story once I got into it. It had unique characters and plot twists. If not for the slow start I would've given it five stars, but it was incredibly romantic and for that I applaud Kaye. The romantic elements and the push-pull that is such and important part of romance novels was very well done. The author had me turning the pages once I got sucked into the story.

I didn't feel manipulated and the conflict didn't seem contrived, which was refreshing. Yeah, it was predictable, but romances do follow a necessary pattern. Though this one followed that prescribed pattern, it still had many unique elements that held my interest and had me rooting for the two of them to get together and then stay together. George was the ultimate hero. And the ending was so cathartic and healing for the heroine that it made me smile. I loved the point that you have to forgive past hurts in order to truly heal and move forward in new relationships was brought out in this story.

I highly recommend this story to people who enjoy tension between the hero and heroine and don't want a fluffy same-old same-old read. This story had guts and heart tugging action, which earned my respect. I am looking forward to Kaye's next book.

Stand-in Groom was published by Barbour and released in January 2009.