Here Comes The Best Man

by Angela Britnell

• ISBN10: 1444840045
• ISBN13: 9781444840049
• Publish Date: 1 February 2019 (first published 10 July 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: F A Thorpe (Publishers)
• Imprint: Ulverscroft Ltd
• Edition: Large type / large print edition
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 312
• Language: English

Reviews

[zooloo1983]

This book was quite a cute little read and you can totally lose yourself in it. It is apparently the fifth book in a series but none of the books are linked (although there is a prequel to this one which I might go and just pick up). I picked this up because of the word Nashville just rang out to me and with all the psychological thrillers, I needed to read something, dare I say it, fluffy (and I do not mean this in a derogatory way), so this book was perfect for me.

So the story picks up with the American Chad marrying the English girl Maggie (from the prequel) and Josh, the older handsome brother, is the best man, returning home for the first time in years. He spots Louise, another English girl, and instantly they fall in love.

The story is predictable in a way that boy meets girl and they fall in love, what made this story different, and appealed to me, is Josh went against his father and did not run the family business but joined the army. Being an army wife I sit on a knife edge so to speak, I love to read things about soldiers but I find it quite hard at the same time. Not too much detail was given, which I thought was a shame as I felt more could have been explored with PTSD. However, saying that, the dream that Josh had, once Chad nudged him in the right direction, of music and ex-military was actually quite serene and beautiful. I actually wanted to know more about this and what happens but alas that is not the story here.

I did enjoy the story of Josh and Louise, at times though I felt like it was a bit rushed and that conversations were missing, everything was 50 mph. Even when we discovered what happened with Louise, the way it was resolved was so quick and a tad bit easy, but do you know what I didn’t care for a change. I was rooting for them from the beginning, so what if a few steps were missed. It was just refreshing not to have the whole miscommunication, stop talking to each other and makeup at the end. (P.s I do love those as well)

Instead, we had two characters, who didn’t mince their words and had amazing chemistry and banter. They were honest with each other, both had their baggage but as long as they could just take one day at a time with each other and be honest when the time was right, it would work. You know what…it did. I loved reading a romance book (set in Nashville and it’s “honky tonk”) where it was just quite simple. I also quite enjoyed that a lot of this book had a leading man instead of a woman. Josh took up quite a lot of the reading time and it was quite a welcome attribute to have in a book, and not just be in the woman’s head.

It was boy meets girl and boy loves girl and a happy ending they both thoroughly deserve.

Josh is definitely the best man in this story.

[Lynn]

Discovering and enjoying novels by new authors is always fun especially when you finish a great book and want to read more from the series. Here Comes The Best Man is a Nashville Connections novel and standalone. I'm eager to read more of them.

Veteran, Josh Robertson promised his younger brother he'd come home for his wedding even though Nashville is the last place he wanted to spend any time especially when his old family house is full of guests. So he's surprised when the assistant of the bride's godmother catches his eye and makes him realise it's time to make peace with his past.

Louise Giles is more than happy to help out with last minute wedding preparations for her employer's god daughter’s wedding. It means joining forces with the best man, someone who has caught her eye. However, with flights booked back to England a couple of days after the wedding, is it worth getting to know Josh or should she walk away?

I particularly enjoyed the blend of Southern charm and Britishness as the two cultures collide in Nashville, Tennessee for a wedding. Set during the run-up to the nuptials, emotions run high as everyone pulls together to give the bride the wedding of her dreams. With a best man who oozes southern charm, I enjoyed the interactions between the protagonists and loved how Josh manages to pull Louise out of her protective shell to take a chance on him. In return, Louise helps Josh to put his past into perspective as an opportunity surfaces for him to find a worthy purpose in his life which enables him to pursue his passion for music. As I've come to expect within small community-based novels, there's a flamboyant ensemble of secondary characters to enhance the light-hearted and amusing narrative.

Overall, this is a fast-paced, well-written and quick to read novel with a short time-line plot. Whilst the relationship between Josh and Louise escalated quickly, the fact they are both mature adults made their happy ever after believable.

***arc generously received courtesy of Choc Lit via NetGalley***