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Always a Bridesmaid #4
Abandoned Bride
The moment of truth
All the guests had arrived at St. John's Church. The wedding gown had been donned. The organ music swelled. Lucy Maguire's big day had finally arrived. All she had to do was walk down the aisle....
Until a mysterious man burst through the door -- and her groom-to-be fled....
Max Ryder certainly had a way of making an entrance into a woman's life. But if it hadn't been for him, she would have made the biggest mistake ever. Obviously Lucy wasn't great at picking husbands -- and now she was falling in love with a stranger....
All the guests had arrived at St. John's Church. The wedding gown had been donned. The organ music swelled. Lucy Maguire's big day had finally arrived. All she had to do was walk down the aisle....
Until a mysterious man burst through the door -- and her groom-to-be fled....
Max Ryder certainly had a way of making an entrance into a woman's life. But if it hadn't been for him, she would have made the biggest mistake ever. Obviously Lucy wasn't great at picking husbands -- and now she was falling in love with a stranger....
- GenresRomanceParanormal
251 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1995
About the author
Jane Toombs
173 books33 followersJane was born in California, raised in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, has returned "home" to live in the beautiful Upper Peninsula on the shore of Lake Superior--with the Viking from her past. Jane has five children, two stepchildren, seven grandchildren, a calico cat named Kinko and two computers.
She's the author of over seventy published books, both in paper and electronic. These include the various romance genres--gothic, suspense, contemporary, historical, Regency and paranormal--as well as other genres such as mystery, fantasy and horror. Jane has used pseudonyms--Ellen Jamison, Diana Stuart, Olivia Sumner--but is now writing under her own name except for her Zebra/Pinnacle romances for which she uses Jane Anderson.
She's the author of over seventy published books, both in paper and electronic. These include the various romance genres--gothic, suspense, contemporary, historical, Regency and paranormal--as well as other genres such as mystery, fantasy and horror. Jane has used pseudonyms--Ellen Jamison, Diana Stuart, Olivia Sumner--but is now writing under her own name except for her Zebra/Pinnacle romances for which she uses Jane Anderson.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 6, 2026
The title is deceptive, because this isn't a story of cold feet at the altar but a tale of the supernatural, with an evil vampire (not the Dracula kind), dream visions, and psychic powers everywhere: the H has them, the h has them, the neighbor's cat has them, even jewelry has them! Yes, it's WEIRD, but it's also intriguing and has you turning pages!
I'd have given it another star except for two things. The first is the way the H used the OW in the story. The minute he arrived in town she got interested in him, and while we're talking less romance and more "I want him in my bed", it still wasn't right for the H to first take her out to dinner just to try and get info out of her and then (even worse) used her as bait to try and trap the psychic vampire that's menacing the h. This resulted in her almost getting killed later and it wasn't right for him to take a risk like that with someone else unless they were aware of what was going on and agreed.
Also, this book is part of a Bride's series that all take place in the same small southern town, which means that characters in one book appear in another. So, if you haven't read all the books (and this is the only one I've read, as it's part of the "Silhouettes Shadows" series), you're apt to miss some details.
This book, for example, assumes you know what happened to the h's parents, how they died. Out of curiosity, I looked at reviews of the previous book to find out, but it's annoying that the reason wasn't mentioned here.
The book also sets things up for the next one, as the h keeps a secret from both the H and her best friend, because the guy who's going to be the H in the next book (an old friend of hers) makes her promise not to say anything. Since it had nothing to do with her personally, she could have told the H that fact, instead of acting all stubborn and insisting she would NOT tell him what the guy said, making it sound like a deep dark mystery that may have involved her. And it was really crummy of the guy to insist she keep the secret from her BFF (who's to be the h in the next book). The jerk asked her (the friend) to marry him for convenience's sake (he needs a mom for his son), and meanwhile she's been in love with him for years (even after he married someone else) and she actually says yes when she should have told him to get lost! She had a right to know the whole story before she marries the guy.
The h should have told her friend the truth and to heck with that dumb promise, which Jerk had a lot of nerve asking her to make.
The truth was pretty dumb, anyway. But it made sense of why the h had seen the guy with his son in the church on what was supposed to be her wedding day, and her psychic powers made her see another man in his place, while the boy stayed the same.
My advice: check out this book but skip the next one because the H and h in it will both be really TSTL!
I'd have given it another star except for two things. The first is the way the H used the OW in the story. The minute he arrived in town she got interested in him, and while we're talking less romance and more "I want him in my bed", it still wasn't right for the H to first take her out to dinner just to try and get info out of her and then (even worse) used her as bait to try and trap the psychic vampire that's menacing the h. This resulted in her almost getting killed later and it wasn't right for him to take a risk like that with someone else unless they were aware of what was going on and agreed.
Also, this book is part of a Bride's series that all take place in the same small southern town, which means that characters in one book appear in another. So, if you haven't read all the books (and this is the only one I've read, as it's part of the "Silhouettes Shadows" series), you're apt to miss some details.
This book, for example, assumes you know what happened to the h's parents, how they died. Out of curiosity, I looked at reviews of the previous book to find out, but it's annoying that the reason wasn't mentioned here.
The book also sets things up for the next one, as the h keeps a secret from both the H and her best friend, because the guy who's going to be the H in the next book (an old friend of hers) makes her promise not to say anything. Since it had nothing to do with her personally, she could have told the H that fact, instead of acting all stubborn and insisting she would NOT tell him what the guy said, making it sound like a deep dark mystery that may have involved her. And it was really crummy of the guy to insist she keep the secret from her BFF (who's to be the h in the next book). The jerk asked her (the friend) to marry him for convenience's sake (he needs a mom for his son), and meanwhile she's been in love with him for years (even after he married someone else) and she actually says yes when she should have told him to get lost! She had a right to know the whole story before she marries the guy.
The h should have told her friend the truth and to heck with that dumb promise, which Jerk had a lot of nerve asking her to make.
The truth was pretty dumb, anyway. But it made sense of why the h had seen the guy with his son in the church on what was supposed to be her wedding day, and her psychic powers made her see another man in his place, while the boy stayed the same.
My advice: check out this book but skip the next one because the H and h in it will both be really TSTL!
May 11, 2022
Always a Bridesmaid!
Mills & Boon Intrigue - 199
Silhouette Shadows - 56
Mills & Boon Intrigue - 199
Silhouette Shadows - 56
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews