The synopsis glowed at me from my laptop. Reality TV star. Golden, glittering life crashing down around her. Running away. Finding an Amish inn. Meeting new friends.
Unique, interesting. Of course, the title made me nervous—Runaway Romance. With a title like that, it’d have sap and mush… great, heaping, gobs of it. Could I take it? Well, if I could get past a few dozen “stick-your-head-in-the-freezer” kisses from a certain other author, I could choke down a bit in this one, right?
And besides, I convinced myself I could take a Claritin or three before reading, right?
So, before I could change my mind, I clicked the link and filled out the blog tour request form. I mean, who can resist a runaway reality star stranded at a Kentucky Amish inn? Apparently, I can’t.
So what did I think about Runaway Romance?
Um… okay. The storyline is a clever idea. I liked the idea of someone getting fed up with Hollywood and the sham of reality TV. One of the things I liked most was the idea of the juxtaposition of reality TV star with the Amish.
I’ll be honest. I wanted to love this book. There was so much about it in its favor. I just didn’t. It didn’t take long before I was rooting for liking it. By midway… I settled for finding it just “okay.”
And that’s all it ever became. “Okay.”
Usually, when I read a book I don’t love, I do love the characters or the setting or the humor… the writing… something. But this time… well, I still love the premise. It’s an interesting idea. I don’t dislike the book, but none of the things that draw me into a book happened in this one.
Romance? Oh, yeah. It was there. And it wasn’t even too sappy! I didn’t need Claritin at all. But the relationship was crazy fast. Look, my parents met and married in six weeks. I have read lots of books where people fall in love in just a couple of weeks. But seriously, everyone in the book seemed to have instant attraction and connection that went way too fast. Chemistry—non-existent.
I’m working hard here to find something that I really liked about the book. And honestly, it’s the concept. I just can’t rave about the execution.
Who might love this book?
Romance junkies—folks who just love to see a girl finally get a decent guy. Folks who love to see the Amish in a bit of a different light. People who love happily-ever-afters.
And based on a couple of reviews, I’ll be checking out a couple of Miralee Ferrell’s books. It sounds like they might be more my speed. 🙂
Oh, and why is Annie running from romance? Well… some romance should be run from, and the one she ran from is definitely one.
I didn’t read the book, but I saw the movie. It was nothing to write home about. I also dislike the whole “whirlwind romance” thing where people “fall in love” for a lifetime in 4 days, 6 hours, and 45 minutes. Meh. Not so much.
By the way, this isn’t to say I haven’t run across *true* stories of people who fell in love very quickly and continued to fall in love for a lifetime. But it’s the rare exception in real life, not the norm. 🙂
I agree it isn’t the norm. But my parents met and married in 6 weeks. And 49 years later…
This book does have an interesting setting, but it doesn’t sound like my cup of tea.
Stereotypical. Every person in it, actually. Odd. I hadn’t noticed that until I thought of it today.
Missing pieces in Ann’s life feel like the embodiment of what I feel and I can’t tolerate deception like Hunter.