Sam@WLABB
Written on Mar 17, 2019
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- ISBN13 9781101885116
- Publish Date 2017
- Publish Status Unknown
- Format eBook
- Pages 215
- Language English
Reviews
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Lynn
Written on Aug 4, 2017
Jordan Carpenter's thrilled when she finally finds an ideal candidate for Jilted, the reality television show she works on. However, after numerous failed attempts to get any responses from her numerous messages, she has no choice but to travel to Lucky Hollow, Montana to get her bachelor candidate to sign the contract. Only, the man she finally meets isn't what she expected and the small town he lives is a reminder of her background she's spent years trying to forget.
Luke Elliott just wants to live his life how he sees fit. He's definitely not interested in taking part in a reality television show, so feels no guilt for ignoring the barrage of messages the pushy reality producer has been leaving. Yet, when a mystery blonde wearing an inappropriate pair of killer heels turns up where he's working, it irks him that it's the woman responsible for hounding him. So he's shocked when a tiny spark of electricity shoots up his arm and generates a physical reaction when they shake hands. It's unexpected and acts as a catalyst to rethink his current attitude to life.
I was pretty much laughing out loud from the very beginning of this novel. Ms Layne is one of only a handful of authors who's romantic comedy books I find funny. Intelligent humour and witty dialogue are her forte and Ready To Run runs true to her writing style. Captivating from the very beginning, there's an amusing collection of secondary characters who collaborate to push the protagonists together. It's entertaining and kept me turning the pages as fast as I could read them.
The overall feel of the narrative was a pleasant surprise. I've loved all Ms. Layne's sexy heroes in suits, so Luke Elliott; fire-fighter is a gloriously desirable book boyfriend and a caring and compassionate gentleman to boot! His attractiveness is amplified when we discover the guy beneath his notorious reputation is nothing how outsiders perceive him.
Jordan is the epitome of an LL heroine; polished, sassy and very ambitious. When the two protagonists combine, the result is combustible chemistry.
Any fans of Lauren Layne will love this novel and it's perfect for new fans to discover the delights of LL's writing too. Ready To Run is fast paced, amusing and I can't wait to delve into future books in this series.
5 stars
***arc generously received courtesy of Loveswept via NetGalley***
chymerra
Written on Jul 20, 2017
The plotline of Ready to Run was very interesting and I could actually see a TV show like Jilted being picked up by a network. I thought it was pretty interesting at the lengths Jordan was prepared to go to have Luke agree to star on the show. I mean, she was willing to go track down his ex-fiancees to get the dirty about why Luke was a runaway groom. She even rented a house in town just to be close to him and hopefully wear him down.
The nuances of small town life were perfectly captured also. It made me want to pack up and move to such a town. I live in a smallish city (population around 40k) and I have always wondered what it would be like to live in a small town where everyone knew everyone. I thought it was hilarious that the townspeople were not only siding with Jordan but were also trying to play matchmaker between them.
I liked Jordan. She was sassy, thought on her feet and wasn’t afraid to show or tell Luke what she thought of him. Her back story was very sad…when she got around to revealing it. She loved the city….with all of its hustle and bustle but secretly wanted to live in a small town again. I think she fell in love with Lucky Hollow before she fell for Luke. The only thing that I didn’t like about her was that she did come off as almost teenagerish at points in the book. But that is such a small detail to the book and overall, she was a pretty fleshed out character.
Luke, I liked but I found it a little hard to connect with him. Understandably, he didn’t want to take about his ex’s but he was really rude to Jordan. He even called her a vulture at one point in the book. But, he did have a reason for being a jerk and it was really sad. Let’s just say that it involves his best friend and his ex and leave it at that. But I did end up liking him towards the end of the book. He did something very unexpected that gave me warm fuzzy feelings inside.
I do have to give a shout out to the secondary characters in Ready to Run. They truly made this book. While Luke and Jordan did a great job on the romance angle, it was the secondary characters that really fleshed the book out. I could only wish to have a best friend as supportive as Simon or ex’s as great as Hailey and Stacey or a family member who wasn’t afraid to tell you how it was like Tawny and all of the other characters.
The romance between Luke and Jordan wasn’t a slow-burn and it did have a touch of Instalove. But it was cute to watch them both fight it and then give in. And when they gave in….the sex was hot. What I liked is that the sex wasn’t overly descriptive (and don’t get me wrong, I like that but sometimes a change of pace is needed) and you got to use your imagination as what happened between the sheets.
The end of the book was perfect and I loved the epilogue. If I was Jordan, I would have been nervous too. Want to know what I’m talking about….read the book!!
How many stars will I give Ready to Run: 4
Why: great storyline, great characters, and a sweet romance
Will I reread: Yes
Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes
Age range: Adult
Why: Language and sex
**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**
Rowena
Written on Jul 14, 2017
Jordan can’t figure out why this guy wouldn’t want to join the show. Who would walk away from that much money? Apparently, Luke Elliot has no problem walking away from the money and her. He just wants to live his life out of the limelight and wants nothing to do with a tv show, a big shot city slicker and he doesn’t want his personal life and the reasons he walked away from each of his exes to be public knowledge. He had a good life and he didn’t want strangers all up in his business.
Jordan is trying to make a name for herself in the television business and her boss is really excited about this new reality show. If she wants to move up the corporate business ladder, she’s got to land a heartthrob that viewers will connect with and Luke is the perfect candidate for that. It’s too bad he wants nothing to do with Jilted.
The romance between these two was kind of more of the same that you normally get from Lauren Layne. She writes a lot of those hate-to-love romances and while I liked Luke and Jordan, they weren’t my favorite hate-to-love couple of Layne’s. Jordan was chasing a guy for a tv show with no good reason for not giving up and moving on. She kept pressing this guy even though he made it plain that he wasn’t going to change his mind. She set up camp in his hometown and infiltrated his family, his friends and expected him to what? Be elated? Come on now…
Luke was not happy about the fact that he was attracted to this woman who wanted to turn his life into a freaking circus but damn, the attraction was there and it was strong as hell. The longer she stuck around, the more pissed off he became because the attraction wasn’t anything he planned on acting on but the more time that he spends trying to dodge her, the more he realizes that there’s more to this city girl than meets the eye. His interest in her grows and feelings creep up because this is a romance novel and even though this isn’t my favorite Lauren Layne novel, it still held the charm and warmth that I’ve come to expect from a Lauren Layne book.
I’m definitely interested in reading the other books in this series and I’ve got my fingers crossed that we’ll get to see some of my favorite characters from this book in those ones. I really did like the small town of Lucky Hollow.
Grade: 3.5 out of 5