The Reluctant Groom (Brides of Seattle, #1)

by Kimberly Rose Johnson

[phyllish]

“So what do you need from me?”

“Advice. How do we fall in love?”

Author Kimberly Rose Johnson posed this question in her Facebook group, “The Reluctant Groom is a modern day marriage of convenience. If you were single is there any kind of circumstance that would compel you to marry for this reason? Why or why not?” My response was “The idea of a marriage of convenience is so strange, but if the man was committed to the Lord and the need was genuine (and if I was single, which I’m not!), then I would pray about it. If there is a commitment to learn to love and to treat each other with respect, that at least gives the marriage a fighting chance.”

To which she replied “I love your response, Phyllis! You nailed the characters/situation in my book and didn’t even know it.”

After that, how could I not hurry and pick up a copy of the book?

We are so accustomed to the concept of only marrying for love here in America, but not everyone has that privilege. I have a friend from work who is from India and is facing a very real possibility of his father picking a bride for him. I have read other books that have as the plot the marriage of convenience idea, but even that isn’t something I really think of as a reality.

The situation that causes Ray and Katie to consider marrying is believable, though tragic. The author didn’t make things easy for them either, with a meddling mother and an unwanted visitor from the past appearing to stir things up.

While I really liked both characters, I especially liked Katie. She was very shy, yet strong. As I discovered more about her, both personality and looks, I couldn’t get the picture of author Sarah Monzon out of my head. If you read her Songs of Salvation post here on this site, you will see why I say that.

Oh, and there is an adorable 4-year-old in the story. I won’t tell you how she plays in, but she is darling and all stories are improved with well-written children, aren’t they?

I loved The Reluctant Groom. As with the other books I’ve read by this author, it was very well written with compelling characters and an enjoyable plot.

His heart pounded like gloves against a speed bag at The Ring.


This review was originally posted on AmongTheReads.net