The Goodbye Groom by Ellen James ~ HAR ~ 1136 ~ October 2006
Ratings:
Excellence: Very Good
Steaminess Factor: Romantic to Sensual
Personal Totals:
Harlequin / Silhouette / Etc: 11
Others: 0
Total Books Read: 11
Description:
Jamie Williams was groomless on her wedding day. No explanation, no communication except for just an ‘I’m sorry’ on her answering machine. She knew one thing, if she wanted to move on with her life, she had to find her ex-fiançé and find out why he left her at the altar. The only problem with her search was that she found his brother, Eric and Eric’s daughter Kaitlin. Jamie needed Eric’s help to find Shawn and Eric needed Jamie’s help to get reach his daughter Kaitlin who seemed to be wearing the scars of his divorce. This was a mutually beneficial arrangement except for one thing. Eric and Jamie seemed to be mutually attracted to one another. Will Jamie get her explanation from Shawn? Will Jamie be able to help Kaitlin? And what will happen with that pesky side effect that was Jamie and Eric’s attraction?
Critique:
This was another wonderful book. I started my holidays today and I started them with one of my favourite pass-times: Reading! This is my first book by Ellen James and it is the only one I have in my TBR. I would definitely be interested in reading more.
The characters were great. The dialog was great. The inclusion of the daughter, Kaitlin, was wonderful. She was as much a part of this story as Eric was.
This book took place over time. The romance didn’t develop over night. I love that about books. Time…
Another thing I liked about this book was that even though Shawn left Jamie at the altar and his brother was sort of left to pick up the pieces, the author never painted Shawn out to be the bad guy. Many other books where siblings or relatives come into play have one as the good guy (the one who ends up with the h in the end) and the other is a very bad guy. This wasn’t done this time. Jamie just has to sort through what really was her relationship Shawn without vilifying him. This worked very well and kept the story believable. We never hated Shawn. It’s not necessary to make the one who loses the leading lady out to be the bad guy.
There was one aspect that left me unsure of if I liked it or not. It seemed like things got really intense and just like that, we were changed scenes. This happened very frequently. It seems that just when we really got into the scene, oops, it was over and the story moved onto something else. Sometimes, I felt the need to know just a little more about that scene… On the other hand, perhaps this is what allowed the story to stretch over a longer period of time.
I highly recommend this book. If it is in your TBR, pull it out. It is a truly beautiful love story.
Kel (scoobie)
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