This was a book I could not put done.

If I had thought about it enough I knew how I thought it would end but that dind't stop me from reading it in less than 2 days.

The main character kisses her future brother in law a few days before her wedding, this leads to her leaving her finance at the alter and running away.

The book is what happens to her following this.

Does Seth (her finance) forgive her? Did you like Seth?
Does she run away?
Are there Llama's in this book?
Are there more than one medical accidents is this book?
Who is Bisquick?
Did it end the way your thought?
What do postcards have to do with this story?


So many good questions and for the most part a great story, would I change a few things? Yes. Will it stop me from reading her next book? NO!

One thing I loved about this book is the other Christian authors that were mentioned. ( )

My Thoughts:
Meet Seth Rayner. Self-absorbed and selfish, he's so self-assured that he never takes Allison Denman's thoughts or feelings into consideration.

Allison Denman, the lucky bride-to-be who is looking for safety. But is Seth the one to give it to her? After one kiss shared with his brother, Daniel, Alli's not so sure.

With Seth around, you never had to think...

Tough decisions face Allison as she leaves her groom-to-be standing at the altar with his mouth hanging open. Marrying Seth was what everyone expected. It was what Alli wanted. Or so she thought. Until she had to do it. Now, all she could see in her ruined future were lists of regrets and apologies she owed everyone. There was no un-doing her choice. She hadn't thought of all the consequences.
Such is the conflicted state of Runaway Bride, Allison.

Guided by her wise friend Meghan and the gentle leading of the Holy Spirit, Allison faces her confused future. Would it have been right to go through with the marriage? While the kiss shared with his brother had at first been innocent enough, was she right to have enjoyed it so much? Would it be possible to share a future with her fiance's brother? These are just a few thoughts troubling Alli.

If you can stop controlling your life, maybe God will finally have a chance to get a word in edgewise and be able to tell you what He wants for your life.

How many of us could have that statement uttered to us? Meghan, Allison's maid of honor and best friend, is a lighthouse of wisdom as she helps guide Alli back to reality and pull the pieces of her broken life back together.

Are we just the sum total of our past mistakes? Would it be possible to say sorry for a mistake so huge that it would take God's grace to forgive it totally?

This isn't a story about freedom-seekers who have everything under control. This is a story about real people dealing with real situations. Hurting, bruised, broken people. People who make mistakes and people who they've hurt with those mistakes. Although this book is fiction, it packs a punch and is loaded with wisdom. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and am looking forward to more from Beth Vogt.
Highly recommend!
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I liked this story. The title fit in really well, especially with the ending. It is one of those stories that I know I can just sit back and have a good time reading after the first few pages. I was disappointed that I had to set the book aside a couple of times, because I would have loved to read it straight through. I enjoyed the story line. Allison finds herself dating someone for 6 years, saying yes when he proposes, and then bolts on her wedding day. The fact that she "accidently" kissed her fiance's brother the week before and liked it started her wondering if she is making a huge mistake. But Allison must come to realize that maybe Seth and her being the "perfect match" wasn't so perfect after all. As her good friend told her, "If you can stop controlling your life, maybe God will finally have a chance to get a word in edgewise and be able to tell you what He wants for your life."

Daniel was the brother of the groom and was very different from Seth. He was a man of adventure and lived life to the fullest. Seth was a man who knew what he wanted and assumed what he wanted was what was best for everyone, especially Allison. (You will have flashbacks of the movie "Runaway Bride" when you read this book.) I appreciated the fact that both men loved Allison, but only one really knew the real woman and wanted her to spread her wings and fly. It is a story that makes you enjoy reading and leaves you with a good feeling when you close the book. ( )

I just discovered Beth K. Vogts and she is now one of my all time favorite authors of Christian fiction. Seriously, this is one outstanding book.
Within mere pages (!) her characters seemed like real people to me. That is a wonderful ability for an author to have, to be able to flesh their characters out so well that they seem like real people.

Allison Denman has dated Seth Raynor for 6 years and one week before her wedding, kisses his older brother Daniel. What? What is that all about? Allison has always wanted a happy ever after, but now she has doubts that marrying Seth will qualify for that happily ever after status.

Allison has some painful episodes in her past and now she is used to controlling every aspect of her life. Can she find it within her to surrender that control to God? Can she really believe God wants the best for her? Sometimes we as Christians must step outside our comfort zone, only to find that God has a much better definition of comfort than we do.

If you miss this book, you are missing a wonderful time. ( )

Alli is getting ready to marry her high school sweetheart. What could be more romantic? Everything is going according to plan. When the groom's older brother Daniel comes to help Alli pack her things to move, one moment turns into a kiss which turns into a major crisis. Suddenly Alli isn't so sure about her "perfect" life. Alli soon leaves her old life behind as she tries to decide exactly what she wants to do with herself. As old habits threaten to surface, she will have to learn to rely on her faith to keep her life from derailing.

This was a sweet book. You can completely tell that Alli is getting in over her head from the start, so it's almost a relief that she soon becomes a runaway bride. I appreciated the author's ability to balance some serious subjects with the more light-hearted fluff in the rest of the book. This can be difficult to pull off, but I felt that it worked well in this book. Another good point was that Alli never wallowed in the bad things going on, and she certainly had plenty things to be in a funk about. Daniel seemed like a great travel partner. He was also a very swoon-worthy guy.

If there was one small thing that bugged me, it was that the characters talked out-loud to themselves a lot. Some of that I felt could have made more sense as internal dialogue. The other thing is that I really wanted more backstory on Alli. She had a lot of very interesting stories in her life, and I just wanted to read more about all that. Those are small things though, and overall this is a really fun book. It has loads of romance and introspection. It's a super fast, fluffy read. It'll be perfect for relaxing on the beach or at home, so check it out!

Book provided for review. ( )