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Shay Brandenberger's life has been filled with shattered dreams, disappointments and heartache. Her childhood was filled with hurt since she grew up poor and without. This was compounded because of being raised in the small town of Moose Creek. Now an adult Shay still struggles with feeling that everyone looks at her as a charity case, and whispers about all the bad things that have happened to her. Deep down Shay has a feeling that she is not special at all and she struggles constantly with trying to prove that she is worth more than people think.

A single mom struggling to make ends meet and keep her parent's ranch afloat after she was left by her husband Garrett this proud and spirited woman tries to keep her head held high. However, things are about to change for Shay when she agrees to play the bride in the town's Founders Day play. What should have been a pretend event turns into a real, legally binding marriage through the mistake of the absent-minded minister. How will Shay handle the town gossip when she finds herself now married to her one true love - the one that had left her at the alter 14 years before.

Travis McCoy is Moose Creek's golden boy. However, the Travis McCoy that left Moose Creek and the love of his life 14 years earlier to pursue a career in the rodeo is not the same man that has come back to take care of his parent's ranch. His heart longs to have a second chance with the girl he left standing at the alter so many years before, but after such a devastating hurt will she allow this man back into her heart and life? Then things suddenly change when at the last minute Travis is asked to play the groom - will he have the patience and endurance to prove his love to Shay?

This is a sweet story of love and life - of change and forgiveness.

Thanks to the publisher and B&B Communications for this review copy.

The Accidental Bride by Denise Hunter
Thomas Nelson/January 3, 2012/ISBN 978-1-59554-802-3
304 pages/trade paper/$15.99
www.ThomasNelson.com ~ www.DeniseHunterbooks.com ( )

This book drove me mad. I had to DNF at 75% and skip to the end to find out what happens. Frankly, the main character was the problem. Her bitterness, her refusal to communicate and her refusal to turn to God and seek His will in her circumstances drove me to distraction. To be honest, I think the main male lead deserved so much better. On top of that, all of the problems were resolved in the very last chapter, which felt far too rushed and unrealistic (as if everything can be fixed in one conversation with all that hurt involved). The concept for this book is good but it just failed to deliver. ( )

Shay feels acutely the judging eyes of her small town neighbors who witnessed her humiliation over being jilted at the altar and then abandoned by her husband after 14 years of marriage. Add to that a failing farm and a broken foot and Shay is not having a good life. And then the boyfriend who left her at the altar comes back into her life and they accidentally get married and things get complicated. I liked the aspect of Shay's development where she comes to terms with her pride and her need to fear God more than man. It allowed her to open herself up to love. ( )

What a fun and memorable story! I loved the chemistry between the two main characters, Shay and Travis. Travis was so open about his true feelings for Shay and I loved how he didn't mind telling and showing Shay how much he loved her. I had a hard time putting this story down until I finished the book. This is book 2 in the "Big Sky Romance" series and they just keep getting better with each story so far. There are many of the same people from "A Cowboy's Touch" (book one) in this story so I highly recommend you read them in the order they were written.

Shay Brandenberger is raising her daughter in Moose Creek, Montana and trying to keep her ranch from being foreclosed. She agrees to play the bride in the Founders' Day wedding reenactment and finds herself walking down the isle to be met by Travis McCoy. Travis was her childhood sweetheart and the man she left town with years ago to get married to; only to be left standing at the courthouse steps while Travis took off for fame and fortune on the Texas rodeo circuit. It is now 14 years later and Travis suddenly appears back in town. Then the two discover that by a very unlikely accident the make-believe vows resulted in a legal marriage. Before Shay can get an annulment Travis comes up with a crazy proposal. Stay married for 6 months and let him prove to her she can trust him now to love her and never leave her and he will help her meet her financial obligation so she won't lose her ranch. As the back of the book says, "If she refuses his offer, she may lose her home. If she accepts, she may lose her heart".

I can understand Shay's reluctance to trust Travis with her heart again and her resistance to him. But Travis knows her so well and knows how to handle her and he is not shy about letting her know his feelings. It was a great love story and I can't wait to get started on the next book in this series, "The Trouble with Cowboys". ( )