“Walk with me. We’ll figure out where we’re going later. Ready to walk with me?” Sean

Hello Everyone,

Happy Valentine’s Day! What better day to write about runaway brides than today? So while I gorged on Valentine’s chocolate, I decided to indulge in a rom com by one of my favorite authors Rachel Gibson.

The story begins with the start of the Chinooks Hockey Team series Simply Irresistible, where we meet Georgeanne Howard, who leaves her fiance, a man old enough to be her grandfather, at the altar. She jumps into the car of John Kowalsky, a Chinooks Hockey player, who is unaware Georgeanne is his boss’s runaway bride. Georgeanne and John spend what should be her honeymoon together doing…well, I guess you can imagine what they were doing. Seven years later, they meet again. But Georgeanne has a surprise for John. He is shocked to discover he has a daughter named Lexie. John is determined to be a part of Lexie’s life, meanwhile Georgeanne has loved him all of that time. John has to decide if love is worth the risk to his career if his boss finds out.

The answer is yes, because 20 years later, they are happily married with their three kids. The oldest, Alexis (Lexie) Kowalsky has followed in her mother’s footsteps. She leaves her fiance at the altar live on a reality TV show. She meets our hero Sean (the Irish form of John…hmm, irony anyone?) Knox, who like Lexie’s father, plays for the Chinooks (John is now their coach), while running down the dock towards the waiting seaplane in her sparkly high-heeled shoes. Sean is also a passenger of the seaplane on his way to visit his mother in Canada. Also like her mother, she spends what should be her honeymoon hiding from the paparazzi with John. That’s where the similarities end.

Sean and Lexie are seen together in Canada. To keep her business from going bust and her reputation from being trashed anymore than it already is, they decide on a fake relationship to keep the press at bay. In the midst of this they fall in love.

This book was hilarious. Watching Sean navigate between his coach John’s dislike of him as a player and his hypochondriac mother, all while dealing with Lexie’s own brand of crazy and deny he is in love? Good times people.

Lexie walks a fine line between not disappointing her parents, curbing her impulsiveness, owning a successful business and dealing with the guilt of humiliating her fiance on national television. She is a nice but competitive person, so even though she doesn’t love the bachelor of the reality show she is a part of, she can’t help but want to win. She comes to regret the impulse but doesn’t regret falling in love with Sean.

These characters pulled me completely in. I felt sorry for Sean’s childhood, yet I applauded his care of his mother and following his dreams. Lexie cannot be accused of being entitled and spoiled. She is a strong-willed and compassionate woman. It was fun reading about Sean and Lexie’s exploits in loove. It was also fun revisiting the main characters from Simply Irresistible.

The Art of Running in High Heels is a fun read. Rachel Gibson gave us characters you can relate to. Lexie is a mix of both parents as we got to know them in their book, so she is comfortable with who she is. Sean’s interaction with the Chinooks after being traded to them and his growth as a man and as a team player was a pleasure to witness. Their chemistry was more of a slow burn than a raging inferno, which brought a sense of calm to the romance. That made this a good read on a cold Valentine’s Day.

So snuggle up with your leftover chocolate and enjoy the runaway brides, like mother like daughter books. They are worth learning to run in high heels.

Happy Reading,

The Book Diva

P.S. Running in High Heels should have it’s own spot in the Olympics, just saying.