Aussie Book Review: Boomerang Bride by Fiona Lowe #aww2012
Fiona Lowe- Boomerang Bride Format- Paperback Source- Review copy courtesy of DMCPR Publisher- Harlequin (Mira) Publication date- republished July 2012 Synopsis- Matilda Geoffrey had risked it all for love.She'd left Australia to be with Barry—the man who had swept her off her virtual feet. Now, wearing a wedding dress, she's alone on Main Street in small-town Wisconsin, and things aren't working out exactly as planned….In town for his annual family visit, Marc Olsen had never seen a bride quite like Matilda—staring into a storefront window, holding a tottering wedding cake and looking desperately in need of a groom. He doesn't have many warm feelings for his hometown, but meeting Matilda just as she discovers she's been scammed by her online "fiancé" stirs something in him.Matilda is not the kind of woman Marc imagined himself with, and Marc is anything but the romantic hero that Matilda has always dreamed of. But as unlikely circumstances throw them together, can they let go of their misconceptions and risk their hearts for love. Book Discussion- I'm doing something a little different for this review. I've teamed up with Marg from The Intrepid Reader and we've created a discussion style post to discuss our thoughts on Boomerang Bride. Stop by Marg's blog to view the first half of our chat and then read on below for the rest.Jayne: Marc seems to be Matilda’s complete opposite, what did you think of him as her love interest?Marg: I thought Marc was an interesting character, albeit one who was quite set in his own agenda and couldn’t see much past that. He had grown up in the small town in a close family. When his dad died when he was 17 he stepped up and took care of the family until he escaped to New York in his early twenties, and he really hadn’t looked back. He was also a bit ignorant of how his family had moved on from the loss of their father, especially his mother. Given that he only ever spent a few days at home each year, and that was begrudgingly I guess it isn’t all that surprising that he really doesn’t know what’s going on. Despite his emotional absence he still expected to be integral to his family and so he didn’t really get why his relationship with his nephew isn’t as good as it used to be.I did find it interesting that his sister, Lori, chose Marc to be the one who she confided in when she had health issues.Why do you think that Matilda was able to see what was going on in Marc’s family much more clearly than he was above to?Jayne: Being an outsider, Matilda was able to provide an objective outlook on Marc’s family (while being in denial about her own situation!). Marc was obviously hung up on the ‘burden’ of becoming the ‘man’ of the family when his father died, that he completely cut himself off from any emotional connections with his family members. I did find this odd, usually those caregiving qualities are quite entrenched but it seems he just switched them off and moved away and when he returned he had no idea how to be of any use to his family. I also think it was an interesting choice for Lori to disclose to Marc and not her mother and sisters- because he hadn’t been a very reliable brother since he became a success. Although, on the other hand, maybe that was exactly why she chose him. He wouldn’t feel sorry for her and he wouldn’t get too emotional about it all- Lori didn’t want to be pitied!The romantic subplot between Lori and Brian was quite sweet, I felt the conflict was quite well set up and resolved naturally as a backdrop to Matilda and Marcs’ temperamentality. What are your thoughts on this subplot- did it hinder or enhance the overall story?Marg: I loved the secondary romance between Lori and Brian, especially the way he courted her and the way he interacted with Lori’s son. His dependability was an interesting contrast to the way that Marc lived his life.One of the standard features of a romance is the conflict that occurs between the two main characters before they get their Happy Ever After. Without giving too much away how did you find the conflict in this novel? And how about the resolution?Jayne: To be honest, I think the conflict was probably the weak point for this novel. I did really enjoy the characters in Boomerang Bride but sometimes I didn’t quite understand them- particularly Matilda and Marc. The conflict that keeps Marc and Matilda from pursuing a relationship wasn’t entirely believable from my point of view. Matilda kind of sworn off men after Barry’s betrayal and this sets up the reason for her hesitation in pursuing Marc- that and the fact that they drive each other insane. But then on the other hand, she starts a wedding business?! So it kind of undermined that reason. As mentioned before, Marc’s attitudes towards his family was difficult to grasp, but this then represents his reluctance to get involved with Matilda who he views as high maintenance and family-oriented, precisely the kind of woman he had been avoiding since he left town. That being said, I did enjoy the way their different personalities complemented each other. Marc provided flighty Matilda with some grounding and she challenged him about his values. I liked how things were wrapped up in the end, the time apart was realistic and it gave them both time to reflect on what was important in life.Marg: I was happy with the ending as well, especially the way that the author managed to show a bit of cross cultural development in the epilogue. This was a new to me author. Lowe normally writes category romances in the medical lines which isn’t something that I normally read. I liked this one enough to give one of those books a try, and I will definitely be keeping a look out for her next full length contemporary romance.Thanks Marg, I've had a lot of fun discussing this book and look forward to doing something like this again in the future.
My overall rating for Boomerang Bride:
3.5/5 rating
Purchase book @
Fishpond/ Amazon
About the author: Multi published with Harlequin Mills &Boon and a Carina Press, Fiona's been the recipient of CataRomance Reviewer’s Award and has been nominated for the Australian Romantic Book of the Year, RT Reviewers' Choice Award, Australian Romance Readers Award and the RITA. She loves creating characters you could meet on the street and enjoys putting them in unique situations where they eventually fall in love. Fiona currently lives in Australia, which is a lot warmer than Wisconsin, and she attempts to juggle her writing career with her own real life hero, a rambling garden with 80 rose bushes and two heroes in the making. Fiona loves to hear from her readers and you can contact her at her website.
This book was read as part of the AWW2012 challenge: