The Accidental Bride by Denise Hunter

Thomas Nelson (January 3, 2012) 304 pages

Description from Amazon:

When a wedding reenactment turns real, Shay finds she's an accidental bride.

Shay Brandenberger is raising her daughter in Moose Creek, Montana, on her childhood ranch, nestled against the Yellowstone River. Despite the hard work, she can't seem to keep her head above water-and now the bank is threatening to foreclose. She prays for a miracle, but the answer she receives is anything but expected.

Having agreed to play the bride in the Founders' Day wedding reenactment, Shay is mortified to be greeted at the end of the aisle by none other than Travis McCoy, her high-school sweetheart-the man who left her high and dry for fame and fortune on the Texas rodeo circuit.

Then the unthinkable happens. Thanks to a well-meaning busybody and an absentminded preacher, the make-believe vows result in a legal marriage. But before Shay can say annulment, Travis comes up with a crazy proposal. If she refuses his offer, she may lose her home. If she accepts, she may lose her heart.

Shay isn't sure if the recent events are God's will or just a preacher's blunder. Will trusting her heart to the man who once shattered it be the worst mistake of her life? Or could their marriage be the best accident that ever happened?

My Review:

I read A Cowboy's Touch last year and really enjoyed it, so I'd been highly anticipating the next chapter with The Accidental Bride! Unfortunately, my memory was a bit vague on the characters, so it took a little while to place who I was actually reading about. I did finally put everyone in their rightful place, I THINK!

While I didn't like this one quite as much as A Cowboy's Touch, I still really liked it. I couldn't help but like Shay, but she did get on my nerves at times. She was just SO INCREDIBLY STUBBORN! This one was a good bit more edgy than I remember A Cowboy's Touch being. I know a great deal of you will love that about it, but others not so much. :)

I had a difficult time believing the whole "accidental marriage" part of the story. As a contemporary novel, it just didn't seem realistic. If I had been "accidently" married, it would take a great deal more for me to be willing to consummate the marriage, so I cringed at that whole part. In the author's note at the back, Denise admitted to "breaking a few laws" to make the story work. I actually feel better about that. :) I've mentioned before that as historical books, I LOVE "marriage of convenience" stories. As contemporaries, I just have a harder time with them. Despite that, I think Denise did a great job of making it work!

*I was provided a review copy through Booksneeze in exchange for my honest opinion.