Series: Wedding Veil Wishes

Retro Review: Once Smitten, Twice Shy by Lori Wilde

Posted February 15, 2017 by Holly in Reviews | 5 Comments

Retro Review: Once Smitten, Twice Shy by Lori WildeReviewer: Holly
Once Smitten, Twice Shy by Lori Wilde
Series: Wedding Veil Wishes #2
Also in this series: Addicted to Love
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: December 14th 2008
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Legend claims this antigue Irish wedding veil can grant your heart's deepest desire. But be careful what you wish for...
Wedding videographer Tish Gallagher is at the end of her rope. Her business is about to go bust. She's just spent her last buck on nonreturnable (but oh so fabulous) shoes. And her most sustainable relationship is with a pint of Haagen Dazs. So she makes a wish on the lucky wedding veil to get out of debt...and sees the man she never stopped loving, her ex-husband, secret service agent Shane Tremont. Sure, their chemistry was off-the-charts sizzling hot, but their clashes were legendary, and no amount of longing will change that.
When her dream job of recording the first daughter's wedding appears out of the blue, Tish knows it's her only shot to get out of the red. Just one teensy glitch: Shane is the groom. From the moment they see each other, she knows nothing's changed--the same old black magic is still between them, as irresistible and potent as ever. But he's promised to another and Tish has been burned before. Will she always be...ONCE SMITTEN, TWICE SHY?

******As part of our 10 year anniversary celebration, we’ll be re-posting old reviews that make us cringe, laugh or sigh all over again.

I still have very fond memories of this series. I stopped reading Wilde some time back, but I often think back fondly on these books.

This review was originally published February 02, 2008

This is the second book in Lori Wilde’s Wedding Veil Wishes series. I didn’t read the first book, and don’t feel I missed anything by having skipped it. I think at some point I’ll pick it up, just because I like to read all the books in a series, but I never felt like I missed something while reading this book.

Shane has no idea what he was thinking to propose to the President’s daughter. But she’d caught him in a weak moment, staring at him like he was ten feet tall and bullet proof after he’d put his life on the line for hers. And now she’s concocted some scheme involving his ex-wife – the ex he still cares about more than he should.

Elysee knows Shane needs to make peace with the past if their marriage is going to work, so she hires Tish thinking they’ll be able to heal old wounds if they spend enough time together. But even she couldn’t have predicted just how much history there was between Tish and Shane, and just what they’d need to move past old hurts. And now she’s wondering if she made a grave mistake, because not only has she seen the looks the former couple pass between them, but she’s been getting some looks of her own, from her #1 bodyguard, Cal Ackerman.

I must confess, normally a story where one of the main protagonists is engaged to someone else would immediately turn me off. But in this case, it didn’t bother me a bit. I think the author did a fabulous job of writing an unconventional story that really worked.

This story is a somewhat predictable piece of fluff, but it was engaging and I really enjoyed it. Well, I enjoyed it until close the the end, that is.

You see, Wilde did a fabulous job of keeping the focus on the main trio of characters. Elysee, Tish and Shane were shown in equal light, each with their own demons to battle and insecurities to overcome. I empathized with all three, understanding perfectly their personal issues. Shane, the wounded hero who just needed to be needed. Tish, the independent free spirit who needed someone to lean on. Elysee, the hopeless romantic who wanted nothing more than a knight in shining armor to sweep her away.

But then, more than 3/4 of the way through the book, a new element was introduced…that of a terrorist group who wanted to assassinate a woman who was trying to escape India. The thing is, there was nothing leading up to the sudden twist in the story. For almost the entire book, the focus remained on the three main characters and then BAM, all of a sudden Tish is being attacked and Shane needs to save her and Elysee is involved in an international rescue plot and there’s a murderer out to get them all. But..uh..I must have missed a memo, because that seriously came out of nowhere.

Despite that, however, I liked the book. I loved Tish and Shane together and I’m hopeful that Elysee will get a story of her own someday. Basically, buy this book for the romance, but don’t be surprised if it goes in a strange direction unexpectedly.

Even though I had a major issue with the latter half of the book, I’m still giving this:

4.5 out of 5

Because I really, really liked the rest of it.

The series:

There Goes the Bride
Once Smitten Twice Shy
Addicted to Love
All of Me

You can buy it here in paperback or here or here.

four-half-stars


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Review: Addicted to Love by Lori Wilde

Posted September 30, 2008 by Holly in Reviews | 7 Comments

Review: Addicted to Love by Lori WildeReviewer: Holly
Addicted to Love by Lori Wilde
Series: Wedding Veil Wishes #3
Also in this series: Once Smitten, Twice Shy
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: October 1st 2008
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 400
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Growing up in Valentine, Texas, can make anyone believe in happily ever after. But newly declared recovering romantic Rachael Henderson has decided that love stinks. After having not one but two grooms ditch her at the altar, she announces her disenchantment in an uncharacteristic act of rebellion. She feels liberated...until she's arrested by Sheriff Brody Carlton.
Once upon a time, being hauled against the taut, rippling body of her first crush would have had Rachael planning the wedding of the year. Now it spurs her to created Romanceaholics Anonymous, a twelve-step program for love addicts. Soon all of Valentine is divided as die-hard romantics clash with antilove cynics. But when Rachael starts fantasizing about a lust-filled affair with Brody, she goes against everything the program stands for. Should she protect her fragile heart...or find a way to have her wedding cake and eat it too?

 

This is the 3rd book in Lori Wilde‘s Wedding Veil Wishes series about 4 friends who find a magical wedding veil that has the power to offer one wish to the person who owns it (see my review of book 2, Once Smitten, Twice Shy here). Despite the magical undertone of the veil, however, this is not a paranormal romance – nor does it have paranormal undertones. It’s just a fun, straight contemporary.

I think that blurb does a pretty good job of summing things up, so I’m just going to go right into my review without writing a synopsis.

I really liked Rachel’s character. Although she’s been left at at the alter – twice – she isn’t really bitter about it. It’s more that she’s lost faith in herself and her ability to choose men who aren’t losers. So her reasons for giving up on love and starting Romanceaholics Anonymous actually really works. I was afraid when I started this that Rachel would turn out to be one of those man-hating women, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Brody was more complex than Rachel, I think. He’s suffered through real tragedies in his past. He was in the World Trade Center when the towers collapsed and he lost his best friend there, which prompted him to join the armed forces. While on tour in Iraq, he lost his leg and his wife left him. He settled in Valentine and ran for sheriff, but struggles to keep his injury (he has a prosthetic leg) from hindering his job or causing the town citizens to think he isn’t capable. I liked that he had concerns about being with Rachel, but didn’t let that stop him from pursuing her anyway. I also felt that though he suffered in his past, he didn’t let that color how he viewed the world now. He didn’t let Rachel get away with anything, either. He really called her out when she was about to fall into a bout of self-pity.

There are actually two other stories that run parallel to the main story – that of the town mayor and his opponent and that of Bree’s parents, who are separated after 20-something years of marriage. I found both to be extremely well done and I couldn’t decide which story I wanted to read more of first. In the end I think the three balanced each other well and worked in the theme of the book.

I did have a few issues. I don’t want to spoil it, but something happened that was never explained or resolved (involving Rachel’s dad) and it left a really bad taste in my mouth. I really disliked his old high school flame, too. She was just annoying. Actually, now that I think about it, I didn’t really like the whole situation with her dad at all. Although there were flashes of good in him, and I was rooting for him and his wife to get back together, there were of things left open in that storyline. There were also a lot of characters introduced, which I understand since it was set in a small town, but I think it was almost too many.

Otherwise it was well done. A light, fun novel filled with humor and romance.

4 out of 5

There Goes the Bride
Once Smitten Twice Shy
Addicted to Love
All of Me

Book CoverBook CoverBook Cover
This book is available from Forever. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

four-stars


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