I recently re-read Eat Pray Love and this book (The Backpacking Bride) reminded me so much of that book - even the reason she is traveling to these countries seems very similar. The main character herself refers to Eat Pray Love at one point.

Her journey started with India (Rishikesh and the ganges, to be precise). In this day and age, after so many books have been written and movies have been made about India, the author's description of the place seemed caricature-ish and ignorant. The philosophies described by "Swami Nanda" are white-washed bullshit that you would pick up by a quick Google search and there was nothing more to it. It was dragging on for a few pages, and voila! there is a sudden transformation in her for no reason.

I did not like the central character and was unable to finish the book.

The writing in itself was okay.

Thanks to #NetGalley for providing an ARC.

Unfortunately I DNF'd this one, even though the premise sounded really good! The first few pages were a little off-putting to me, where she arrives in India, and reacts as if she hadn't done any research about the country, it felt like a big stereotype. Regardless, I kept reading and stopped about 100 pages in, I had a difficult time keeping myself going. I've heard that other Janice Horton books are really good though, so I'll definitely check those out.

Thank you NetGalley and One More Chapter for the ARC version of this book.

Since this was an ARC version I don't want to be very judgmental but this cover is totally misleading and somehow makes no sense. I hope that publishers are going to take note of this since it's a story of a 50 year old woman that didn't even go to visit Taj Mahal.

To be completely honest Maya got on my nerves very often in the story, especially in the beginning since she couldn't find a sense in life without a man. In today's age and time this seems a little far-fetched even though I completely understand there are people that just can't function in this world without a partner. That's what got me thinking that this book maybe just isn't for me.

Her travel to India? Why did it had to get dragged so much? I wanted to leave the book a couple of times right there when she was India, because nothing at all was happening before the last 2 days.

The writing of the part of the book that takes place in Hong Kong is a little bit better and somehow Maya seems a totally changed woman there but that was also a problem for me. :/

It seemed that the portray of Maya changes a lot and it really kept bugging me and I couldn't get on board with it.

For some reason, I've never had much desire to visit Asia. I'm not sure why, because I love traveling. But that has now changed, since I've read Janice Horton's "The Backpacking Bride."

The story is about Maya, a 50-something financial planner who figured she had passed the age where she could still meet the man of her dreams and live happily ever after. Then one day a handsome, worldly and sophisticated 60-year-old man named Jon walks into her office. He had recently retired and moved back to England from Asia, where he had lived for many years. He wanted advice on how to best manage his investment portfolio. The two of them hit it off immediately, even joking about the actual shock (of the static electricity kind) they gave each other when they shook hands for the first time. After a six month whirlwind courtship Jon proposes and they plan the perfect wedding in a romantic little chapel in Tuscany, Italy, after which Jon has planned a "magical mystery tour" of a honeymoon to all the places he would like to show Maya. They are just ready to say their vows, when suddenly Jon collapses of a brain aneurysm.

Maya is devastated and shocked. Then those feelings progress to anger, and she asks the universe what she did wrong to deserve such a fate--that her only true love was taken from her before they could enjoy life as a husband and wife.

Maya knows she needs to get away for a while, so she can come to grips with the sorrow of losing Jon, and try to think about how she will live the rest of her life without him. When Jon's brother gives her a portfolio filled with the tickets and itinerary for they honeymoon, Maya decides to take the honeymoon herself, hoping it will help her feel closer to Jon as she explores all the places he planned to show her, and checks off the little Post-it note activities in Jon's travel portfolio.

The first leg of the adventure takes her to a ashram in India, where she learns more about herself and the universe through yoga, meditation, and wisdom of an Hindu guru. What happens there sets up divine providence (or karma, or fate), which follows her as she continues the next leg of her trip to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, she coincidentally meets one of Jon's oldest friends, an attractive 50-something man named Henri.

I will stop telling the story because some surprising things happen once she meets Henri, and I don't want to spoil the whole story. But -- hint -- it definitely has a happy ending!

I really enjoyed the story and going along on Maya's journey of self discovery. I definitely shed a couple of tears over Maya's terrible luck in losing her fiance in such a tragic way. I felt her sadness through the pages of the book.

My favorite part of the book was the way the author described Maya's adventures in India, Hong Kong and Singapore. I now want to visit these places and experience an ashram, the outdoor Symphony of Lights in the Hong Kong harbor and enjoy a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel, where that drink originated.

If you like books where you follow along with the heroine's growth and discovery of herself, check out this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and One More Chapter for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Loved it
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and Janice has left me hoping for a sequel. I was transported to India, Hong and Singapore and hope that Maya’s story will continue. Thank you Janice for yet another wonderful adventure.

This was a whistlestop tour of Asia and the setting and descriptions were lovely and detailed. It doesn't make me want to visit an ashram, though, but it worked for Maya in that she was able to find an inner peace and relief from her grief. 

The book delivers the powerful message that life is short (and becomes progressively shorter the older one gets!) which is why Maya grabs a second chance of happiness despite only being 'widowed' an incredibly short time ago.

Enlightenment and moving on are the two major themes in the book, with a smattering of romance and drama to give it added bite.

Such a great read! Loved every minute of it. It's got some sad parts, but so well written that you know they were necessary.

I was fortunate to receive a copy of this ARC from NetGalley.

Maya suffers an horrific experience on her wedding day but decides to continue on the honeymoon; visiting India, Singapore and Hong Kong. Her experiences at the Ashram were very entertaining and in India she meets Belle and Maddy who help her to focus on her future with their own experiences.

In Hong Kong, she meets Henri. I found it difficult to understand their personal situation in light of the first part of the book, but that could be personal prejudice.

My favourite quote:
"I imagine cosmic ordering works the same way as when you order something from Amazon. You simply decide that you want it. You order it. Magically, it arrives!"

I didn’t realise this is the 3rd in the Backpacking series (although the characters are different) so I now need to read the first two!

This was a really fun read! I was a little worried that I hadn’t read any other books in this series, but I loved this from start to finish! One of my favorite aspects of a book is growth through travel and this was right up my alley. Janice Horton did an incredible job. I loved watching Maya come to terms with her new reality as she travelled across Asia. I will absolutely be reading the other books in this series.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

While the premise behind this book sounded fun and interesting, unfortunately the execution of the book was a little lacking. The main character wasn't super likable, there was just a little too much coincidence and there was so much detail about her time in India, but the other cities seemed to be a lot shorter and the ending was quite abrupt.

I liked that she was more mature.

Also, the cover and the book don't match. She never goes to the Taj Mahal yet that's on the cover!

Thank you #netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read it in advance in exchange of an honest review

I expected so much from this book and then it turns out a little bit boring and with a start that seemed a little bit rushed. The main character seemed to love her future husband principally because he travelled a lot and encouraged her to do the same. We saw that and then her grief. Since he's the only man she have loved and they decided to marry fast, I think there should have been more time to explain their chemistry and feelings toward each other, so the reader could understand why she fell in love with him.
Her rediscovering journey is cute but yes, I think it could be more blended with all the rest. Maybe it's just not my cup of tea, however the writing style is fluid, so you can enjoy the reading.

Maya’s fiancé unexpectedly passes away on their wedding day, just before the big kiss. Against her family’s advice she decides to go on the Asian backpacking honeymoon as a tribute to him.

Very reminiscent of Eat, Pray, Love.

This book just wasn't for me. The main character got on my nerves spoke so badly about herself and 'her boring life' till she met a man then everything changed. The book seemed to drag on and then suddenly something interesting will happen but it will only last two paragraphs then drag out again over detailing environment, food and even ingredients in drinks. I just didn't mess with the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Backpacking Bride
By: Janice Horton

REVIEW ☆☆☆
I wanted a light fun romance, but The Backpacking Bride was not what I expected. It's heavier because of the tragedy at the beginning, and I'm not sure the book recovered from that. It was too coincidental and a bit ridiculous at times. It was an okay story but not great.

What an...odd book. I don't really know how else to explain this experience I've just had. It was a roller coaster, which I say a lot when explaining an emotional journey, but this time I mean it more in the sense of I was rolling my eyes and then on the edge of my seat. It was so odd!

The first half of this is very Eat, Pray, Love. It alternates between present-day India and a week earlier in the aftermath of Maya's fiance's death. She harps on about being middle-aged pretty incessantly and can't get to grips with a yoga retreat place having rules to keep the place serene. I found her pretty insufferable. She's grumpy and then like a light switch she's having a miraculous time in India and I found the ping ponging of emotions a little unbelievable.

But then we go to Hong Kong and honestly, if the whole story had taken place here or if the book had just started here and been a novella, I would have liked it a lot more. I really liked the way this story turned around when she got to Hong Kong. I think it has a lot to do with this destination having meaning to her as well instead of only being about Jon reliving his journey but with a sidekick which is how the trip was originally supposed to work. Parts of this time in the journey really had me at the edge of my seat. She seemed almost youthful again. It was hard to believe she was a 50-year old woman at points. You could feel her healing as if you were healing with her.

I just want to end by saying this cover is absurdly misleading, though. And not at all because she's wearing a wedding dress; that play on the title works for me. But she doesn't go to the Taj Mahal? Why is this on the cover? And she's 50 so why does this cover look like a really happy go lucky contemporary romance of a 20-something year old? I feel many people will be sucked in by the cover and the description and get an entirely different story that has its good parts but it doesn't start with them. I feel many readers will feel deceived and this might be a DNF for many who find the cover and blurb not matching up to how they are feeling throughout the first half of this story.

I am sorry, but I just didn’t feel for this at all. It felt like a poor imitation of other books, the main character wasn’t likeable to me and it was overly descriptive for a short book. It kept losing my interest and I was just bored a lot unfortunately

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

The Backpacking Bride is a heartwarming story about how to reconnect and move on after tragedy.

What I Loved

I loved watching Maya’s journey through the grief process as she took her planned honeymoon alone. It read so genuinely and naturally that I felt like I was on the trip with her.
The beginning is one of those situations that is unbelievably bad, but what took place afterward is what makes the story the inspirational tome that it is.

The setting is exotic and beautiful, as Maya lands first in India and spends five days at an ashram. First, she only focuses on the things that make it dirty and undesirable. Still, once she decides to give it a real chance, she discovers the beauty in the spirituality reflects on the land so that the positives begin to stand out. Her next stop was Hong Kong, China, where Maya’s new, positive outlook enhances the exotic beauty. I was then able to experience Macau and Shanghai as she traveled on to those places as well. It’s not the vacation I ever wanted to take, but I cannot help but admire all that is beautiful about the locals.

Through first point of view, the narration is done by Maya, who is delightfully developed into a relatable and genuine teller of her tale. The support characters are intriguing and intricate, from Belle, who can never see the positive to Henri, who taught tai chi in the park and competed in sailing races. All the support characters serve a purpose on Maya’s journey, and that purpose is evident without ever feeling that you are being told rather than shown what their importance is.

To Read or Not to Read
If you are looking for a heartwarming and inspirational story and exotic locals, this is a book you won’t want to miss!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 25%, skimmed through almost all of it. I don’t necessarily think this is a bad book, the writing isn’t horrible. There’s too much description for such a short story and the main character comes off as ignorant, judgemental and clueless. I understand she’s going through something extremely hard but I didn’t get that on an emotional level. The book was unbelievably similar to “Eat, Pray, Love”. The character seems to be going on a journey of growth but was unlikeable from the beginning, everything seemed to happen in a simplistic way. Not for me!

The story was very good and the characters were likeable. Unfortunately for me I was very distracted by so many errors in the book. I know we get the books before the finished book is released so I won't let this change my review score as the story was good but very hard to follow and read when there were so many mistakes. Page 2 had 8 on it alone!

🎒Maya kept on her journey but kept losing me!😕

2.5🌟 stars
I chose Janice Horton's The Backpacking Bride because the cover was light and attractive, conveying a fun, contemporary women's literature read with some travel mixed in. The story provided the promised travel and a mature woman going through a difficult time as she copes with the sudden loss of her fiance and the future they had planned together.

This book has a few good points, mostly at the very beginning where I really felt a connection to the heroine, but the backpacking journey was pretty much a bust for me. Too many coincidences (not least of which was the other almost-brides she just happens to meet), too much of the spiritual awakening details, and alot of prosaic travelogue stuff that could not hold my interest. The retired heroine also frequently comes across on her journey as immature, something I did not see in her before she took off on her backpacking adventure. Other times she roams intrepidly on her own, braves crowds of strangers and samples local delicacies like a seasoned world traveler (though she is not). Her characterization just seemed inconsistent. And a number of particular scenes and passages, most notably the ashram activities, would have been better with a shorter take.

And let's talk about the book cover! It shows a backpacking woman sitting in front of the Taj Mahal, a sight heroine Maya NEVER visits!

I made it to the hopeful end but I really can't say I considered MY journey with Maya all that enjoyable. This was my first time reading a book by Janice Horton and I doubt I will be searching out and reading anymore by this author.

Thanks to publisher Harper Collins/One More Chapter and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.