Review: A Fairytale Bride by Hope Ramsay (Chapel of Love #0.5)

Note: This ARC was provided by Grand Central Publishing (Forever) in exchange for an honest review.

A Fairytale Bride is the prequel novella in the new series from bestselling author Hope Ramsay entitled Chapel of Love. This also happens to be my second Hope Ramsay read and one that provided a feeling of quaintness that is, as far as I'm concerned, a prerequisite to my small town stories. Jeffrey Talbert-Lyndon has made his way to his estranged father's cottage in Shenadoah Falls, Virginia to take stock of what's happened to his promising career as a journalist after the implosion of what was supposed to be the exposé that would skyrocket his reputation to heights reserved for only a few. The fact that his own father virtually disowned him via a scathing press release adds more salt to the wound. Trying to keep a low profile so that his relatives don't know he's in town finds him hiding out in Secondhand Prose, a used bookstore owned by Melissa Portman. There's something about her, her bookstore, and her two supposedly anti-social cats that calls to him, and he offers to become the help she's advertised for on her shop window. Even after she informs him that there is no job and that she can't afford to pay him, Jeff shows up every day. The more time together, the stronger the pull between them. Will their blossoming relationship wither away when Melissa discovers the truth about the man she only knows as Jeff Talbert?

This was a quick and easy read, but one that still covered quite a bit more ground than you would expect in a novella this short. We get a fair amount of back story on both Jeff and Melissa and theirs is the kind of romance that is more subtle but carries with it a potency once it's acknowledged. I envision them as a bookish but cool kind of couple, one that I certainly wouldn't mind getting to know if they actually existed in real life, what with me being obsessed with books and all. The connection between Jeff's paternal side of the family and Melissa and her late grandmother gave this short story an interesting twist to it, especially since Jeff wasn't exactly forthcoming with personal information about himself. The thing is, there was no malice to Jeff's actions, and when you learn why he did what he did, it's far easier to understand why he felt it best to go that route. I am interested to see where the series is headed. I'm not sure if it'll be focused on Jeff's cousins on the Lyndon side of family or if it'll be certain townsfolk from Shenadoah Falls. Regardless of which direction Hope Ramsay decides to take, A Fairytal Bride has given me enough of a glimpse to make me curious and I've got my eye on the first full-length novel due in September. Four stars. ♥

Release Date: 07 June 2016

Date Read: 06 June 2016

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