أين المفر

by Lucy Gillen, لوسي جيلين

Samantha had had last-minute nerves about her marriage to Barney Foster—so she ran away just before the wedding.

But Barney simply followed her.

How on earth was she going to say no to a man who refused to take no for an answer?

Genres: Harlequin, Harlequin Romance

Unknown Binding

First published October 1, 1974

Reviews

[Jacqueline J · Rating 1 out of 5]

Vastly disappointed with this one. The heroine takes off a few weeks before her marriage to the man her family has always assumed she would marry. She wants to think things over. But her fiancé follows her and just won't even give her any breathing room. He was pretty stalkerific and condescending and was always secretly or not so secretly laughing at her. All of which would have been acceptable if at the end he would have had a great declarative scene where he tells her he loves her and always has. But no, just a 'I'm glad you finally got your head screwed on straight.' Never even told her he loved her.

[StMargarets · Rating 4 out of 5]

First I have to comment on that gorgeous cover. The heroine is described as extremely pretty and I think the cover does her justice. This is a simple story, a bit of fluff, really, but I really enjoyed it.

Our twenty one year-old heroine is feeling a bit bold and little frightened as she sits on a train speeding away from her wedding preparations to the hero. She's having second thoughts about the wedding since it's something that just seem to happen between two people who have known each other their whole lives. Heroine feels she needs to get out of town to make up her own mind. She decides to disembark at a small town and finds her way to an inn. She's feeling all proud of herself for negotiating this bit of business when the hero shows up. Yup. He's followed her and that continues for the rest of the story

Hero is described as dark and charismatic and he's full of patience and confidence as the heroine gives him the slip again and again. The action is episodic - heroine meets a Scot in Brighton and he offers to have her stay with her family in Scotland. Heroine likes him, but doesn't feel any great passion for him. They drive North, stopping in the Lake District for one night. (With hero right behind). Then once in the small town in Scotland, heroine checks into an inn (with hero right behind her). The Scot decides the heroine is more trouble than she's worth when the hero tells the inn keeper that heroine is his runaway wife. The Scot wants to avoid gossip and bids heroine farewell.

Heroine has to walk to the train station with her heavy luggage, but the hero stops and picks her up. They have a long conversation, and hero agrees to drive her around so she can have her adventure without him worrying. They stop at a hotel and after a day or two heroine runs into an artist who tries to put the moves on her. Hero is there in the nick of time to warn him off.

They travel on and pick up two hitch-hikers - an engaged couple who are having difficulties. The man tries to put the move on the heroine and the woman pursues the hero. Neither are successful, but the heroine is terribly jealous and leaves on a train without telling the hero.

She ends up back in the Lake District and runs into an older woman who recognizes her name. She knew her (and the hero) as a child - and listens to the heroine poor out her worries. Hero eventually shows up and tells heroine he's on his way home and he won't bother her again. Now heroine realizes after her encounters with the three different men that it's the hero she wants. She knows he's stubborn once he makes up his mind and she doesn't think he'll take her back. Still, she makes her move the next morning by the side of the lake. He promises never to take her for granted again. HEA

In woman's fiction the heroine would have gone alone for this journey, but this is a romance and the hero had to go along. After they agree to travel together, it feels like a road trip story where they're both discovering things about each other.

As the other reviewer notes, the hero is stalkerish and should have let her go about her business. But honestly, I was just as nervous as he was about the heroine on her own. I don't think the world was that benign in 1974 when this was published. All those mid-night wanderings and going off with strangers seemed really risky to me. :)

By the end of the story I felt that they were off to a good start (and a good thing the hero only had to wait a few days until the wedding, since he was seriously into the heroine).

[Anuradha · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent theme for a rom-com. A great departure from serious, passionate or complicated love stories. This one is as simple as it gets. The girl and guy have grown up together all their life. Her uncle and his dad are biz partners. Its always been taken for granted that these 2 will marry eventually.

The lack of choice or rather the lack of drama before one willingly settles down in life - that's the problem that hits the girl as her wedding day nears. All her people are 'fond' of her, including the hero !!!! Now, fondness in a would-be husband is a wrong emotion to have, she decides. So she simply runs away from home to see if any more than fondness might be awaiting here elsewhere.

But no, she doesn't get too far at all. For one thing, she is not particularly smart or resourceful to manage a successful escape bid. So time and again, our hero tracks her down and she gets infuriated that he is always just one step behind. She is charmingly dumb at times, quite stubborn at others, but remarkably moralistic at all times. Now, that's my kind of girl.

The author sets up a nice set piece of events where the girl gets to meet - not one but 3 OMs! One too dull, the next too aggressive, and the third too spineless. The first 2 episodes end in short whereas the third episode also has an OW. So that one's a bit longer. There is some talk of jealousy and insecurity and passion. Nothing registers.

But overall, the story is just a pre-wedding jaunt from town to town. The end objective is achieved - the guy starts to see her as a woman, his partner, and not just a sweet little doll. So all's well.

I would have appreciated if the author had thrown in a scene of 2 where the relationship between them is shown to be growing and cementing albeit silently. But the runaway trip simply ends after episode 3. The girl decides she isn't equipped to deal with the OMs and OWs of the world. So it's time to head back home, back to certainty, back to normal.

Normal is good, passion is overrated. Now that's a sound message to give any starry eyed reader. Message received !!

[Alina Valentine · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story had potential. However the ending didn't really solve any of the issues. Yes, she realized she wanted to marry him but the man was still a tramp. For once it would be refreshing if the heroine didn't end up with the jerk/Hero.

[Tahany elezaby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romantic and very comedy ;)

[Ayimas · Rating 3 out of 5]

its sweet :)

[رومولا الن emmajain-book · Rating 1 out of 5]

رواية ممله
لم احبها

[*CJ* · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Runaway Bride" is the story of Samantha and Barney.

It's a silly read in which the heroine who has been engaged to the hero for ages (theyre childhood sweethearts) decides to run away before their wedding. The reason- she thinks he takes her for granted. However the hero decides to follow her.. and will not let her go.

Honestly the second time the hero showed up, I did chuckle. However the heroine's reasoning initially made sense, until she gave into utter foolishness (with disregard to her safety), and the hero didnt do much to better himself for her. Great premise, average execution.

Meh

Safe
2.5/5

[Katrina Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been reading some of these older romances lately, and it must be the time period they were written in. Why are the men so domineering? It was clean enough, but I keep wondering why the women characters love these men. The man in the story was kind of sweet the way he followed her from place to place, but it was also kind of stalkerish.

I wavered between 2 & 3 stars, but gave it 3 because I chalked some of my impressions up to the time period in which it was written.

[Ellyn (Mrs. Darcy in my Dreams) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had a disappointing ending! Their future doesn't bode well.

[Sruthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given it only 2 stars , but gave it 3 instead , 1 extra for the Nostalgic last chapter . That is a beautiful chapter .

I finished reading this book in 3 hours , of course but stretched it for 2 days ( usually I dont hang books in between but this is an exception , so u know now that this is not a page turnover at all ) .

Sam , the runaway bride is hell bent on escaping from her fiancee Barney . I thought it will be some sort of adventure but naah this is pretty boring . I didn't quite enjoy myself . I DIDNT .

Barney , He is always smiling or laughing , maybe it is a part of his character . But I found him really unbearable at a point of time . And so is Sam , She was so stupid at times . But maybe Barney knows her too well , so I assume that is why he is always laughing at her .

A very short read . Give it a try . Ntn to loose :)

[Geo Hala · Rating 4 out of 5]

أعجبتني كثيراً :)
رومانسيتها صادقة جدا ، وشيقة

لكن النهاية تقلييه كنت أتوقع تأثير أكثر في النهاية

[Lynn Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a favourite of mine but I liked the story enough to complete the book. I have read it about 3 times. I also prefer the UK Mills & Boon bookcover to this one.