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Northbridge Nuptials #5
Back in the Bachelor's Arms
Chloe Carmichael hadn't set foot in Northbridge, Montana, for years. Fourteen years, to be exact, since her parents had forced her from everything she knew and
Her childhood home.
Her best friend.
And the love of her life, Reid Walker.
Now she was back, and seeing Reid again truly felt like coming home. She may have returned for business reasons, but it was their very personal history that kept getting in the way. Chloe knew she should keep in mind their painful past, even if being with Reid in the present still gave her such incredible hope for the future….
Her childhood home.
Her best friend.
And the love of her life, Reid Walker.
Now she was back, and seeing Reid again truly felt like coming home. She may have returned for business reasons, but it was their very personal history that kept getting in the way. Chloe knew she should keep in mind their painful past, even if being with Reid in the present still gave her such incredible hope for the future….
- GenresRomance
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 2006
3 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Victoria Pade
351 books45 followersVictoria Pade is the bestselling author of numerous contemporary romances, six historical romances and two mystery novels. She began her writing career after leaving college to have her first daughter. That daughter was seven years old and there was a second daughter, before Victoria had her first book accepted for publication. That novel and the three that followed it were historical romances. But the exit of her husband and the urge to do more contemporary writing that explored the kinds of problems she was facing inspired a switch.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 2, 2025
Chloe Carmichael returns to the town of Northbridge after fourteen years to finally sell the family home. It has been bought by Reid Walker, who she was in love with when she was 17 and he was 18. The relationship fell apart when Chloe got pregnant and her strict (borderline psychotic, it seems) parents dragged her out of town. Reid still seems to resent her, but the relationship between them begins to thaw to the point that their romantic feelings resurface. After all, neither has gotten over the other. But can things work out with so much baggage in their pasts?
This story was fairly boring and I didn't like Reid. We have another insecure man-baby here, folks! Reid has held on to his anger for 14 years. He clearly hasn't let go of it. He seems to think that Chloe leaving and not having the baby (she lost it; he thinks she aborted it) completely ruined his life. He's a successful doctor now, but hey, might as well keep thinking "what if" for 14 years and keep punishing the woman you blame for everything! It didn't seem healthy. When Chloe is telling him that she miscarried and didn't abort, his response is to say, "I can check this information out, you know" - and he does!!!
Am I supposed to like this toad? How can this relationship succeed with that level of distrust?
I liked Chloe. She rightly recognises that Reid has held onto this anger this entire time and calls him out on it. He had always thought he loved her more than she loved him, and is that way of thinking every going to change? It's only now, 14 years later, that Reid is thinking to himself, "Oh, yeah, maybe Chloe went through some stuff too" and that it's actually not all about him. Chloe is right in thinking that Reid can fall back on this way of thinking any time he feels she's not as committed as he is - which he does!!!
This is an interesting approach to a romance, as it means that, no, the relationship would never work out. So, it unfortunately means that Victoria Pade has written herself into a corner and has to undo that with some claptrap about Reid being an insecure man-baby and hiding his hurt and love with resentment. Or something. It means that, in the end, Chloe is the one doing the groveling so that this insecure, distrustful man-baby will take her back! It curdled my stomach. Chloe deserved better.
The story around the hero and heroine is dull, with large chunks frequently and bizarrely taken up with discussions about a 1960s scandalous crime where a reverend's wife abandoned him and their children to take off with two bank robbers. I thought that might be connected with the boxes Chloe is going through up in her attic, but nope. That story strand goes nowhere. Why was it here? We get the usual recaps of the romances of Reid's siblings (I think he has four.) That reminds me; I also didn't like Reid's brother, Luke. Luke bizarrely keeps trying to lodge seeds of doubt in Reid's thinking about Chloe leaving him again. What an asshole. I guess distrust must run in the family.
This will be my first and last time visiting Northbridge, I think!
This story was fairly boring and I didn't like Reid. We have another insecure man-baby here, folks! Reid has held on to his anger for 14 years. He clearly hasn't let go of it. He seems to think that Chloe leaving and not having the baby (she lost it; he thinks she aborted it) completely ruined his life. He's a successful doctor now, but hey, might as well keep thinking "what if" for 14 years and keep punishing the woman you blame for everything! It didn't seem healthy. When Chloe is telling him that she miscarried and didn't abort, his response is to say, "I can check this information out, you know" - and he does!!!
Am I supposed to like this toad? How can this relationship succeed with that level of distrust?
I liked Chloe. She rightly recognises that Reid has held onto this anger this entire time and calls him out on it. He had always thought he loved her more than she loved him, and is that way of thinking every going to change? It's only now, 14 years later, that Reid is thinking to himself, "Oh, yeah, maybe Chloe went through some stuff too" and that it's actually not all about him. Chloe is right in thinking that Reid can fall back on this way of thinking any time he feels she's not as committed as he is - which he does!!!
This is an interesting approach to a romance, as it means that, no, the relationship would never work out. So, it unfortunately means that Victoria Pade has written herself into a corner and has to undo that with some claptrap about Reid being an insecure man-baby and hiding his hurt and love with resentment. Or something. It means that, in the end, Chloe is the one doing the groveling so that this insecure, distrustful man-baby will take her back! It curdled my stomach. Chloe deserved better.
The story around the hero and heroine is dull, with large chunks frequently and bizarrely taken up with discussions about a 1960s scandalous crime where a reverend's wife abandoned him and their children to take off with two bank robbers. I thought that might be connected with the boxes Chloe is going through up in her attic, but nope. That story strand goes nowhere. Why was it here? We get the usual recaps of the romances of Reid's siblings (I think he has four.) That reminds me; I also didn't like Reid's brother, Luke. Luke bizarrely keeps trying to lodge seeds of doubt in Reid's thinking about Chloe leaving him again. What an asshole. I guess distrust must run in the family.
This will be my first and last time visiting Northbridge, I think!
Displaying 1 of 1 review