Official Review: See Bride Run! by Charlotte Hughes

khudecek · Post by **khudecek** » 05 Feb 2015, 19:06

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "See Bride Run!" by Charlotte Hughes.]

2 out of 4 stars

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See Bride Run! by Charlotte Hughes is a contemporary romance novel with likable characters yet a predictable plot which earned it a two out of four stars rating.

Considering the author has won awards and accolades, I expected a much better story. Aside from the minor punctuation and spelling errors, the book summary really didn’t match the story. For instance, Annie, the bride, did leave her bridegroom standing at the altar and did hijack the limousine and drive to a little town called Pinckney, Georgia. But it wasn’t because she didn’t think she could live with a man she didn’t love. That epiphany came much later. There was no disputing that she detested her fiancé but there was more to the story which I found to be more compelling.

When she met Sam for the first time, she gave him a lot of attitude. He didn’t appreciate it and although he did help, he didn’t like her. I failed to see where or how they fell in love. On one page, he’s angry with her. On the next, he’s kissing her. Things just go bing-bang-boom and then it’s over. Nothing leads up to the first kiss. It just happens. Kindness or maybe compassion leads to him helping her but I never got the sense that it was love. It was more like he was just trying to help someone in need. There was no chemistry between Annie and Sam.

The book summary also led me to believe that Annie was going to have some real problems living without money and adjusting to a more mediocre lifestyle. I didn’t see that, either. She struggled, of course, but it wasn’t as dreadful as I thought it would be. Going from billions of dollars at your disposal to nothing but the clothes on your back in a three-hour time frame could be very dramatic and devastating. The author didn’t pursue that.

Annie did learn a lot about friendship and living life like the rest of us but these were not hard lessons for her. She didn’t seem to worry about anything. She knew everybody had her back and it seemed like she took that for granted.

There were some parts of the novel that were totally unrealistic and detracted from the story. I love fiction but I like to keep it believable. What was made abundantly clear was that when Annie had escaped the church, she’d left her purse and had nothing but the oversized, opulent wedding dress she was wearing. However, there was a part in the story where she miraculously produced an Appraisal and a Certificate of Insurance. Where did those come from?

I didn’t like the end. It seemed abrupt, rushed and went along with the predictability that was so prevalent throughout the story. So much could have been added that would have affirmed the love between Annie and Sam but I was left scratching my head, wondering what had just happened.

With the characters that made brief appearances at the beginning, so much more could have been done with the story. Bic had a small interest in Annie but we never saw him or the car again after he towed it to his garage. Marge, the town gossip, may have ruffled some feathers somewhere and even the Petrie Sisters could have gotten in on the action but nothing was done with these characters when there was so much potential. I see it as a missed opportunity for the author that left me, the reader, disappointed.

Overall, the book lacks the “wow factor” and is lacking details that would have made this a whirlwind of a story. It is an easy book to read but lacked depth.

******
See Bride Run!
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LivreAmour217 · Post by **LivreAmour217** » 26 Mar 2015, 15:44

Great review! It's such a shame that the book wasn't that enjoyable, though. On the surface, it looks like it has potential. The title actually reminded me of the Julia Roberts movie Runaway Bride, which is what drew me to reading your review.

khudecek · Post by **khudecek** » 26 Mar 2015, 16:42

Thank you for the comment.

I thought it might be a bit like Runaway Bride, too but that wasn't the case, which is a good thing. It showed that the author moved away from that storyline although the title alluded to it. But it was still a disappointment.

Kappy · Post by **Kappy** » 30 Mar 2015, 20:25

Good, thorough review. I don't read romance novels, but your description about falling in love with no apparent reason is something I've often seen in movies. Amazon shows it as a romantic comedy; did you find it amusing?

khudecek · Post by **khudecek** » 30 Mar 2015, 21:06

Thank you.

I didn't see much humor in it but then I felt cheated because the synopsis as misleading. I was expecting far more than what I got and then when I read about the author at the end, I was really ticked. She was bragging about having this award or that award and if she really did have them, she should have known better than to put out something like this.

Romance is my main genre when I'm reading and I've read some really good stuff and some really bad stuff and this goes under the "bad" category. But it did have potential that the author didn't expound on that made the book a dud.

Post by **bookowlie** » 01 Apr 2015, 13:47

LivreAmour217 wrote:Great review! It's such a shame that the book wasn't that enjoyable, though. On the surface, it looks like it has potential. The title actually reminded me of the Julia Roberts movie Runaway Bride, which is what drew me to reading your review.

Nice, insightful review. I also thought of the Runaway Bride movie when I saw the title of the book. I think the book's attention-grabbing title will grab many readers.

khudecek · Post by **khudecek** » 01 Apr 2015, 15:55

bookowlie wrote:
LivreAmour217 wrote:Great review! It's such a shame that the book wasn't that enjoyable, though. On the surface, it looks like it has potential. The title actually reminded me of the Julia Roberts movie Runaway Bride, which is what drew me to reading your review.
Nice, insightful review. I also thought of the Runaway Bride movie when I saw the title of the book. I think the book's attention-grabbing title will grab many readers.

Thank you, Owlie.

I thought it had potential, too but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Cee-Jay Aurinko · Post by **Cee-Jay Aurinko** » 16 Nov 2015, 02:07

I feel you khudecek. From your review I can gather introduced a lot of interesting new characters that could've made this book a whole lot better. And with new characters comes new subplots that would've added that depth you were looking for.

khudecek · Post by **khudecek** » 16 Nov 2015, 07:12

Yes, Leon. The author would throw in a character for a page or two and then we'd never see him or her again. I do think it was a missed opportunity.

Cee-Jay Aurinko · Post by **Cee-Jay Aurinko** » 16 Nov 2015, 10:39

I think this Bic guy should definitely have played a bigger role. The sisters sound interesting too.

khudecek · Post by **khudecek** » 16 Nov 2015, 12:39

They were. This book could have been something great if it had been done differently.

Cee-Jay Aurinko · Post by **Cee-Jay Aurinko** » 16 Nov 2015, 12:59

From millions of dollars to nothing... How does Annie manage that? It doesn't work. The author could've let Annie somehow be a billionaire herself, pretending to be a girl without money while being in pursuit of a guy that wouldn't be after her for her money.

khudecek · Post by **khudecek** » 16 Nov 2015, 13:53

It might have worked if she'd suffered some sort of hardship or discomfort or something along those lines. But she made the transition seamlessly. It's been awhile since I've read this book but I don't remember her having any hiccups to speak of. I remember being amazed that it was so smooth.

By the way, I see you're reading Dearly Devoted Dexter. I read that a long time ago. How are you liking that?