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suespit 's review for:
Runaway Girl
by Tessa Bailey
5 ARE-WE-EVEN-SURPRISED STARS
Okay y’all....listen this book right here.....this was an experience. It’s no secret that I pretty much would read anything Tessa Bailey decides publish, even her grocery list. Almost every book of hers I’ve read is all around enjoyable, and entertaining despite minor problems I have with a particular plot line or character decision. At the end of the day, I’ve never had a BAD reading experience with any of her books...but Runaway Girl....this blew me away.
Even the chapter openers, with the comments from the amateur crime sleuth discussion board were perfect. I laughed out loud at so many of them. My favorite being:
ReadtheComments.com
Username: LittleMissMorbid
So, okay. Guys. Not trying to be weird or whatever. At all. But has anyone explored the possibility that Runaway Bride was actually sacrificed in a pagan ritual by her bridesmaids?
I went into this like I do with any TB book, knowing I’m going to enjoy it but keeping my expectations in check because I’ve been burned by auto buy authors in the past. From page one, I was pretty much hooked and knew this was right up my alley. I read the previous book, Getaway Girl, also right when it released and enjoyed it. I remember thinking it wasn’t my FAVORITE of TB’s works but I certainly was invested in the story and devoured it in pretty much a day. But even in Getaway Girl, the brief glimpses we got of Naomi in that really interested me at the time and I kind knew that her book was gonna be just as good and in this case it was even better.
Confession time: I LOVE unapologetically feminine, preppy girls in romances. Sure, I’ve enjoyed a wide range of heroines in my vast experience of reading romance that came in different temperaments, interests and personalities. But I feel like so often in romances we always have the “cool girl” heroine-the one that rejects “basic” girly things and “isn’t other girls.” For the most part, I think those type of heroines are fine and all that matters is if they are a good person at the end of the day. But here’s my secret: THE CLASSIC “GIRLY GIRLS” IN ROMANCES ARE BASICALLY ME LOL. The only thing different is that I’m not superficial or judgmental like so many authors try to make these women who *gasp* enjoy shopping and makeup. I’m not saying you have to be “girly” to enjoy these two things but it’s authors that are perpetuating this stereotype that women who like these things are deemed lesser than those who reject them. It’s all so stupid and hypocritical but that’s besides the point.
Honestly, Naomi was really refreshing in that yeah she’s the southern belle, debutante type but she truly has a heart of gold and isn’t superficial at all. She was funny, and sweet and so sensitive that I honestly could relate to a lot of her insecurities. At first I thought I would find her whole “discovering myself” expedition to be stupid but her reasons do make sense and it made it a lot easier to root for someone who actually left someone at the alter. Honestly, I expected it to be hard for me to like a main character who would be capable of doing something so selfish but it helped that Elijah wasn’t in love with her at all and we know his love story with Addison so. And if Naomi never had done this she wouldn’t have met Birdie or Jason.
Jason..... whew, what a man.
Listen I’m gonna be upfront and say Jason is the over the top alpha male type that normally I find myself criticizing in the contemporary romance genre, mostly because authors tend to make them more bullying rather than brooding. But....I’m just gonna say it y’all the overly masculine thing really worked here. Likeeeee I had a clear picture of what this man would look like and...yeah he’s pretty hot. Full disclosure if you’re not a fan of the somewhat gruff, surly very muscular alpha hero then this will not be your thing. I will say that I never found him bullying or belittling to Naomi, especially considering how opposite they are but still I know people don’t always like these types of heroes so just a warning.
Also this man is downright filthy when it comes to sexy times, again just throwing it out there. Not in an actually offensive or harmful way but it in a crude, oh-my-god-did-he-just-say-that way. If you’re a proper Smut Queen like me, you probably won’t have a problem with this. But if you know anything about Tessa Bailey books, you know that graphic, dirty talking in sex scenes is pretty much the common factor in all of her stuff. I will say, after reading almost all of her books, Jason probably takes the cake for the dirtiest one....if that’s not enough of an endorsement to how good this is I don’t know what is. I’m not kidding, it takes A LOT to make me blush while reading a romance novel these days but ...that boat scene tho
The relationship between Naomi and Jason had the perfect balance of slow burn and palpable sexual tension from the first scene. However, the obstacles are reasonable and it makes sense why they can’t just jump right into bed together. I liked the story behind Naomi being Birdie, Jason’s little sister, pageant coach. Honestly even the brother/sister relationship between Birdie and Jason was so touching like I teared up a few times. I don’t want to give anything a way but Jason really is the definition of an epic romance HERO. Just beside him being really hot and one half of the couple, he’s actually a really honorable, genuinely good man. He’s not some millionaire play boy working on Wall Street that we see in almost every contemporary that comes out, which is something I appreciate TB does in a lot of her books. Many of her heroes are just regular blue collar guys, and you don’t see that too often in romances.
Overall, Runaway Girl may be up there as one of my favorites from TB. Again, I enjoy all of her books but this one will be sure to stick with me. I can already feel myself getting into a book hangover because that’s how good this was. I didn’t want it to end! Which honestly is so hard for me to feel while reading romances these days because after awhile they tend to blend together. I wonder if Jason’s Army pal will get his own book because he does have a brief appearance in this, and if he does than I’ll be sure to read it. Also, the epilogue in this was SO CUTE OMG. If you like sexy, slow burn romances with the good girl / bad boy trope, you will probably like this. Or if you’re just a fan of Tessa Bailey at all you’ll probably love this as well. In Tessa Bailey We Trust!