Blind-Date Bride

The McKaslin Clan: Series 4 #1

by Jillian Hart

Getting stood up on a blind date was the best thing that could happen to police officer Max Decker. No small talk. No personal questions. No lies. And no pretending he's ready to give his heart to anyone.
Anyone like vulnerable Brianna McKaslin—who was stood up in the same restaurant! The lovely, kind, Christian woman is everything the embittered cop used to dream about in a bride. And Max can't be the one who lets her get away.

Genres: Love Inspired, Christian Fiction, Romance, Christian, Contemporary Romance, Christian Romance, Contemporary

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Jillian Hart grew up on her family's homestead in Washington state, where she raised cattle, rode horses and scribbled stories in her spare time.
After earning her English degree from Whitman College, she worked in travel and advertising before selling her first novel.
When Jillian isn't working on her next story, she can be found puttering around her rose garden, curled up with a good book and spending quiet evenings at home with her family.

Reviews

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This romance is a little on the sappy side, but it’s message is good, and I did enjoy reading it.

[Anna Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you don't mind the deep, incredible, uber passionate, angst-driven, awe-inspiring adoration of two people who are breathless in each others' mere presence... a la Edward/Bella in 'Twilight'? This is the book for you. It's extreme on the love, devotion, depth of feelings, etc.

Also like Twilight, Boseman, Montana is *THE* wettest place on planet earth. There's hardly a scene in this book when they aren't absolutely drenched, water running down their faces, standing in a deluge with literal gumball sized HAIL raining down on them and saturation levels set to extreme. It's... crazy wet, people.

For a first book in a series? This book will drive you crazy, because there are things happening that are carry-overs from ANOTHER series, with characters from ANOTHER series... If it's a first book? MAKE IT a first book. This is annoying to the nth.

Also annoying is the fact that NOTHING is shared with us in this book. Lil is in a wheelchair - WHY!? We aren't ever told. If you don't know from the last series? Tough luck, sucka. Brianna was shot. WHERE?! What kind of recovery? Any lasting effects? We don't know, because the author doesn't tell us. Which is BAD, *BAD* writing. Brandi has it soooooooo bad. We don't know WHY she has it bad, because we're never told, but Hart goes on and ON and *ON* about how bad Brandi has it... WHY?!?!?!? It's ridiculous that she can't explain things to the reader.

Heck, we don't know what half of these people look like, other than 'haggard' or 'glowing with happiness', because THERE IS NO DESCRIPTION. Brandi and Bree are identical twins - he NEVER ONCE mixes them up. How does THAT work?! Just... no description to tell them apart? Everyone knows intuitively? I... it's... I have no words. Hart drives me insane with her inability to write.

And it's not just description. Brianna climbs into Brandi's rusty truck, and settles back in the bucket seat of the car. I kid you not. WHAT is THAT?! Is it a car, or a truck? Make up your mind.

Pg 98: "My mom's retired to Palm Springs. She's popular around Christmastime, especially with the weather around here." ???????!!!!??????

Pg 100: "I don't believe in soul mates. Doesn't exist." That's SUCH bad grammar, I can't even.

Pg 133: "I'm furious someone decided three restaurant workers' lives were more important than a few thousand of dollars... from the safe." READ. THAT. AGAIN. No, I'm not kidding.

Pg 137: "Did you enjoy being with me [tonight]?" His answer? "The truth, Bree." GAH!!!!!

As for the faith, there are prayers, and there are some verses from I-don't-know what paraphrase that are half slaughtered to death, but mostly it's romantic love, all the way. This book is about L.O.V.E. Fathomless, insane love. Which I like, personally, and it bought it another star.

But mostly? I have issues with Hart's writing.
For her, this is a good one, though.

[Debbie Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

because the library is not open i am rereading a lot of my old books. I seem to have quite a lot of jillian hart books. On this one i have to agree with the person that said the two main characters spend way too much time trying to convince themselves that they are not good enough for each other. Also it is annoying that mr tough guy cop does not do a good job showing his feelings so he talks insultingly to the people around him and we are supposed to understand that his being a jerk is another way to show he cares. not really

[Joni-Lee Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story where both the leading characters are kind and loving to each other and others. Max and Brianna were both set on blind dates to other people and both get stood up. Brianna has recently bin through a robbery that went horrible wrong and it's left her uneasy of the world around her. Max is a detective who is raising his younger brother has had a hard time finding miss right after being betrayed by a woman he thought he could trust.

[Sarah TheAromaofBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the characters were likable, they did pretty much nothing except internally angst about how they weren't good enough for the other. This would have been okay if ANYTHING else had happened... but that was pretty much the whole story. Honestly, this is a pretty low 3* read. I'm going to give the next book a go, because I really did like the characters and setting, and hopefully something will actually happen in that story.

[Mariah H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it.

[Sparklin C Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time reading anything by this author. It was a really good book. Max and Brianna cannot see what is right in front of them.

[Michele Benchouk · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too much time spent with our male lead telling our female lead how wonderful she is and how he isn't worthy of her. Page after page... I didn't like this one very much.

[Marcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story

[Viola · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good heartfelt story.

[Betsy McGill]

Slow moving

[Atu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure this author has ever been to Bozeman, MT. I lived there for three years, and I've got to say, considering this book supposedly takes place there, it just doesn't feel like Bozeman to me. Except for the tater tots at the Mexican restaurant, that was authentic.

Brianna gets stood up again. This blind dating business isn't obviously for her. But then, Max Decker is also stood up. He wasn't really ready to date anyway, just felt pressured into it, but as he and Brianna strike up a conversation about their failed dating experiences, he feels drawn to her. But they've both got some issues from their past aside from the dating. Brianna has PTSD from a robbery and Max too has been caught in the line of fire, being that he's a cop. It makes both of them have some serious trust issues.

Brianna was very very timid. Every page you expected her to break. Now granted she had been through a very traumatic experience, so she had reason to be, but she just seemed like she'd blow away in the wind. And then there's Max, who is the exact opposite, except for his worries. He was a little too tough. Actually I think about the worst character in the book was Max's half brother who lived with him. For a kid that went to getting into trouble in L.A. to this squeaky clean do good kid in Bozeman, it just didn't seem realistic. Frankly I can't consider most kids acting the way this one did.

The plot was kind of feeble. And it was way too rushed. Everything happened so fast that it seemed the couple had barely gone out on a few dates before they loved each other so deeply. It takes time to get to know someone, more than a week or two. And aside from them dating and a few minor issues, nothing really happened in the book. It was just them going places with each other. And considering those places were in Bozeman, it didn't even ring authentic for me. I kept picturing real places and the book's just didn't line up. This was a Love Inspired romance, and unlike the other by this author that I read, this one was very preachy. Scripture quoted everywhere and faith turned too outrightly. Granted, its my fault for reading this book knowing what type it was, but the author's other one wasn't this way.

I wasn't a fan. I liked the author's other book about a soldier, but this one was just a little too sappy and fast-paced to take.

Blind-Date Bride
Copyright 2009
208 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2012

More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blind-Date Bride by Jillian Hart
Book 1 in Series 4 of the McKaslin's
Brianna McKaslin and her twin sister, Brandilyn, have come through a lot together. A criminal father and a drunken mother left them with a bleak childhood. Brianna has survived a shooting but she suffers from the post traumatic stress. And now she is facing her third no show blind-date in a row. But she is still optimistic that one day God will give her the family life she did not have growing up. She works in her cousin Ava's bakery and goes to school to become a teacher. Life is still good, even after this third no show and her car being stolen while she waited, because she met Max Decker. Another man with a no show blind date. A man who was probably to good for someone like her.

Max Decker finally gave in and let a buddy from work set him up with another blind-date. Alice was a no show but he got to know Brianna while he waited. And she stayed with him long after he left her. Max had moved to Montana when a Detective job came up. He had his brother Marcus living with him and he believed that Montana would keep Marcus out of trouble unlike in LA. Max was not looking for a relationship. After a betrayal from a woman a decade ago, he learned. Somehow Bree got under his radar but he could never see such a beautiful girl like her seeing anything good in him.

Two people with troubled pasts who believe they are not good enough for each other. Can they trust God with their futures and move forward to where He leads them or will the darkness of the past blind them from a bright future?

Bree and Brandi have been in some of the previous McKaslin books with their cousins. This is the first book in series four. The children of Mick McKaslin. Bree and Brandi are twins, Colbie is a half sister and only child and Hunter, Luke & Brooke are from Mick's first marriage. Jillian will be releasing three books in 2012, Brooke, Luke & Hunter's story. If you like series than for sure you will want to read Blind-Date Bride first.
http://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com/...

(read 2nd time 12/3/12)

[Ausjenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book at Koorong when I was there at Christmas time and had to buy it. This is the first in a new series of the McKaslin Clan. We see Brianna on a blind date which she has been stood up for when in comes Max who is also on a blind date and his date also stands him up. Neither want to go on these dates but there family and friends tend to wear them down so they give in. Brianna is recovering from a trauma that left her fighting for her life and Max is a police officer who has closed himself of from romance. They seem to run into each other and strike up a friendship. When they do try to go on a date what happens is so funny, I have been told the author has used some of her own experiences in these scenes. I felt for Brianna with what she went through and can understand her panic attacks but admire her for pushing through to not let what happened stop her. Good read.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading snippits aobut Bree and Brandi in the 3rd McKaslin series, and am happy to have the chance to read about them and their branch of the McKaslin clan in this 4th series. (Side note, anyone else reading these McKaslin stories really want Jillian to post a pedigree chart/family group sheets for them? I'm having a hard time keeping track of who is related to who, and how! *grin*)
Like with all other Jillian Hart novels, this one is as sweet as a cup of cocoa, and as gently satisfying. I liked how Bree and Max made their way from being unsure about being able to trust that someone could love them, to being sure of God's leading them to each other.
I'm looking forward to 'meeting' Brooke next and reading her story.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jillian Hart is one of the best at making me chuckle and feel a part of the lives of her characters; it seems to be her gift. Some of the things that happen seem so funny, but plausible. This is Brianna McKaslin's story, and I really enjoyed it. Aside from wishing there was some additional tension and/or action at times, I loved the story. The two main characters have very realistic reactions to events that remind them of past traumatic events in their lives, and that makes them very endearing and somewhat vulnerable. A great, and fun, clean romance.

[Jan Mcleod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Max and Bree met when both of their blind dates stood them up. Both of them come from less than desirable backgrounds that have caused relational problems. Bree is the kind of loving, caring Christian woman who is always hopeful and the kind of woman that Max longs for; however, he doesn't know if he can open his heart to her. Bree sees Max as her knight in shining armor and is praying for a loving husband and family after what she has been through. Both have to work through their issues.

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book by Jillian Hart is part of her "The McKaslin Clan" story line. I call it a story line because they are stand alone stories and don't need to be read in any order. Blind-Date Bride is about Brianna McKaslin who is trying to find stability in her life after a robbery/shoting left her shaken to the core.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why, Grandma? Why did you give me a plastic bag of cheap novels to fill my silly little middle school head with? Oh they're clean, they couldn't be otherwise, 'tis a Christian publishing company! But really, not good head-filling material for young girls wondering about love. This can't be all there is to life. Sorry.

[Linnette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! Jillian did an amazing job with the characters, portraying their fears and struggles. I like how the characters struggled with their issues without the hero and heroine being at each others throats - rather, they pushed through and got to know each other and understood each other as nobody else did. Great job, Jillian!

[Joan Arning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brianna's blind date doesn't show up at the same restaurant where Max is stood up by his blind date. The two of them are thrown together but have to learn to trust again. As usual, Jillian Hart has written a touching romance.

[SheLove2Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspirational romance. Borderline cheesy but a good rainy afternoon read.

[Charlenewillems · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book possibly just wasn't my style of book. I thought that the story was drug out way too long.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.5 stars. The title sounds a little cheesy, but the book has something more to it.

[IrenesBookReviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a sucker for romance this book by Jillian Hart will deliver. It was cute and had great lines in it that make you "feel" the romance as it happens. Good writer, fun quick read.

[JoAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice story with just the right amount of unpredictability. Liked the characters and their wholesomeness. Happy ending that was nicely executed. Will have to read the others in the series.

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super cheesy

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bree and Max both have poor experiences with blind dates. Brianna's twin Brandi and step / half siblings all come together to support each other. Will that be enough? Can she and Max make a life ?

[Glenside Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max Decker and Brianna McKaslin both meet because of their blind dates never showed up at the bakery cafe. Will they find love or will they not? Read to find out.