Always a Bridesmaid by Cindi Madsen (@adventurenlit @cindimadsen @entangledpub #readingromance)

Through many breakfasts, lunches and dozens of cups of cozy coffee, I felt a fondness for Violet Abrams that was very much like reading my own story. A quirky woman who struggles to pay attention but is amazingly artistic, has her heart broken by the man she devoted so many years of her life to when she catches him in the act of cheating on her.

After that horrifying experience changed the entire course of her life and has put a huge dent in her own creativity, she relocates back to her families hometown of Uncertainty, Alabama. This comes with many challenges as she’s actually the illegitimate daughter of the town’s Mayor and has a very strained relationship with her family there, but it’s the only place she can go.

Her first day back and she’s trying to lay low, but she sets a small fire in her half sister’s bakery and the responding firefighter Ford Maguire is more than she ever bargained for. Navigating their attraction to each other and all the strings that are attached will be the biggest challenge either of them have had to face.

While these characters are part of a contemporary romance, I would say they provided a unique experience of character flaws and quirks that I greatly enjoyed. Violet is presented as this incredibly distracted and quirky woman who likes to experience freedom but has lived this life of always having to fit some expected standard and Ford brings out her more adventurous side.

Ford has his own set of challenges as well and that comes in the form of being scared to death of commitments because he watched his drunken father go through several failed marriages and his brothers didn’t fall far from the family tree either.

These two love interests have a lot of hurdles in front of them and their journey of exploring desire, attraction and longing were a fantastic ride of emotions and excitement. The sex was hot and the attraction palpable through each page.

This is a 2020 romance release you won’t want to miss out on!

Trigger warnings worthy of mention include alcoholism, infidelity and broken families. These are not heavily focused on throughout the story and don’t make up too much of it, but these dynamics are present, so if any of these are an issue for you, I’d say tread lightly with this book but they shouldn’t be a problem.

A huge thank you to Entangled Publishing for thinking of me and sending me a copy of this book pre-release to read and share my thoughts with you all.

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Title: Always a Bridesmaid

Author: Cindi Madsen

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Publish Date: May 26th, 2020

Buy Here: Amazon – Barnes and Noble – Book Depository

Book Synopsis:

Violet Abrams has always been in love with everything love and weddings. Good thing, too, since she’s been a bridesmaid no less than seven times. Sure her turn was next, she’d been planning her own nuptials meticulously in a treasured three-ring binder…until her longtime boyfriend left her for someone else.

Fast-forward to the day of his wedding, an ill-advised match being lit to said binder, and the fire department getting called to her sister’s bakery. Violet’s always been a little impulsive and a lot awkward, but having to explain to the super-cute firefighter, Ford Maguire, why she was setting fire to a bunch of wedding dress photos? Worst day ever.

Except now her bridesmaid expertise has her helping Ford cover his “man of honor” duties in his best friend’s upcoming wedding. Ford may be a “bridesdude,” but forever is the last thing on his mind. And if there’s one thing a perpetual bridesmaid knows, it’s the importance of a happily ever after.

Each book in the Getting Hitched in Dixie series is STANDALONE:
* Just One of the Groomsmen
* Always a Bridesmaid