Something Blue by Lena Hart
Series: Brides of Cedar Bend, #4
Contemporary Romance
Released: March 31, 2018
Maroon Ash Publishing

Reviewed by Sheena

Favorite Quote: “You are my priority, Quinn. You always were. Even when I didn’t show it.” Tears welled in her eyes and he was taken aback by it. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her cry and he didn’t think he could handle it if she did because of him. All he ever wanted was to be with her and make her happy.

Runaway Bride!

Only not nearly as endearing as Julia Roberts.  Though, much like the movie, I was team #JiltedGroom all the way.

Quinn, pregnant and hormonal, jilts her fiance, Eric, the day of their wedding after he failed to get to their wedding rehearsal the night before. Feelings of doubt and a determination not to come second in his life spurned her on to leave Eric and their small town in her dust.  Eric, in the heat of his mayoral race and nearly tied in the polls, didn’t make her feel as if she were his number one priority and she ran off to hurt him because she was hurting.

And it was pretty selfish and dramatic of her. Especially considering she was pregnant, and hadn’t told him yet.  By all accounts, Eric is a great guy, passionate about making a positive difference in his small town community where he was raised and frankly, he deserved better.  Yes his times was strained with the campaign, but even then, the impression was never given that he was a deadbeat fiance’.

Six months later and running out of time, Quinn slinks back into town to tell him she’s preggo and that she has papers for him to sign absolving him of any responsibility to her or her baby. (Yikes!) Needless to say, that didn’t go over well and within a day Eric and Quinn marry and begin their marriage for show.  Not only did Quinn’s runaway bride stunt hurt Eric’s campaign, it prolonged it and now he is in a run off and even more is at stake for him to win the election.  Only this time Quinn is his wife and their relationship picks up as tenuous as ever.

[Eric] seemed committed to making her and their baby a priority. In turn, she would try to survive the next five weeks until the runoff election. Once they knew what the results were, they could truly plan their future.

If he loses, then I win.

It was hard for her not to think about that possibly and feel a little elation. If Eric lost the runoff election, then they could move back to Atlanta and start a true new chapter of their lives. One that didn’t include politics or this humdrum town.

But if he wins, I lose.

Quinn bit her lip at that alternate possibility, before she shook the thought away. She couldn’t stress about things that were out of her control. She would just have to wait until the election before she decided what to do next. So long as Eric held to his promise of putting her and their family first, she would compromise in her new role…

98% of the novel is Quinn being more than a little selfish and it caused me to feel a disconnection from her and less inclined to empathize with her.  She wasn’t a small town girl, she is ambitions and went to law school and she shouldn’t have to apologize for that, but her consistently negative attitude toward the town Eric loved and wanted to make a better place rubbed me the wrong way.   A few times I mulled over the merits of Eric taking his baby and letting HER move to Atlanta all by her lonesome and schedule visitation on his terms and see how she liked the fit of that particular shoe.  Harumph!

He’s hurt, she’s hurt and all anyone wants is for these two to figure it out somehow, because despite their mutual pain, they both harbor a strong connection and love for the other. Though neither is ready to be vulnerable so soon after Quinn’s desperate act. And so they question, and speculate, and yearn for one another despite their faux marriage facade. Until the dam breaks and circumstances and truths are reveled that make it impossible for them to deny their true intentions and feelings.

Past characters from earlier series novels (this is book 4) make an appearance, though if this novel is any indication, they all can be read as a standalone, I didn’t have that “missing something” feeling while reading this at all.

Overall, it was a little too tame for my tastes. I can handle closed-door smexy times, if the story is strong enough, but it isn’t my preference and the heat factor was sorely missed in Something Blue. Quinn and Eric’s story was….sweet. They have a nice conflict and resolution and there is an epilogue that was lovely. In a word, it was ok.  If sweetly, ok is your speed, then you may find this to be a surprise gem of sorts. Just put away the fans and pearls.  There will be no panting and clutching while reading this one…

Grade: C

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