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.

If Lifetime and Hallmark produced a low budget version of Eat, Pray, Love - this would have been it.

This book sounded interesting to me when I first requested it, then I immediately forgot the synopsis and was surprised when it wasn't some lighthearted romance read (completely my fault, the synopsis clearly says her fiancé died on their wedding day). 

Maya Thomas, a 50 year old banker in the UK, meets and immediately falls in love with Jon, a new client of the bank. They easily connect over Jon's world travels - Maya just can't get enough of his stories. Six months later and they're getting married, except as soon as Maya reaches the alter, Jon gets a pained look in his eye and the day ends with his passing.

After the funeral, Maya is given Jon's planner which includes the paper trail of their honeymoon, which Jon was calling their magical mystery tour. Maya, who now doesn't have a job or a home, decides to go on this honeymoon in hopes of finding herself and ways to cope with her loss. 

Horton does an incredible job of world-building. She takes you to an ashram in India and you experience the sounds and smells; you visit Hong Kong and experience the heat and humidity, along with the high-rise skyline. Not only do you experience the first impressions of the destination, but you also get to see it after Maya's experience (this was very apparent in the India description).

Horton also does a fantastic job of character-building. Maya is very obviously deeply upset over her fiancé's death, who wouldn't be? I think Maya is relatable to almost anyone in western society when you visit an ashram and you're expected to meditate for an hour at a time. But you also get to watch Maya learn and interact with other characters who shape her into who she becomes at the end of the book. You get to watch Maya open herself to things she wouldn't have normally been open to. 

I think the only thing I didn't love about the book was how heavily it relied on travel. Yes, obviously it's a book about traveling, but I also felt like there was a piece of Maya and Jon's relationship missing. To me, it felt like Maya was completely in love with a man just because he was well-traveled. I would've liked to see a little bit more into their relationship. 

Overall, Horton did a great job at giving you a travel experience without you leaving your couch or hammock. There was great world-building and character-building. The beginning of the book was heavier than the last half and it was fun watching Maya open herself to different and new experiences.

3.5/5 stars (rounded up to 4) - I enjoyed the book and will recommend it to others.

CW: this was a very clean book - very little explicit sexual detail and the sad, depressing scenes didn't delve into details - mostly just sobbing.

It took me a little while to get into this book. The beginning was a bit confusing, throwing you straight into Maya's honeymoon alone and then slowly giving you backstory about her and her fiancé Jon. I also was surprised to discover that Maya was in her 50s, as the cover had led me to believe that she was a young woman (and the blurb hadn't indicated otherwise). I'm not opposed to reading a book about a woman of that age, I just had to readjust my expectations for this book.
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By about halfway though, I was invested in Maya's journey. I liked how she decided to take the "Magical Mystery Tour" honeymoon that Jon had planned alone, and it was good to see an honest portrayal of her grieving process. She had planned to spend the rest of her life with Jon, and now had to come to terms with her new reality. The post it notes from Jon were a sweet way for her to feel connected to him on her journey. It was nice to see her find healing, and discover how she could still find happiness.
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"This could be a fresh start. I could still hold Jon in my heart but live a whole new life. This could be my chance to move forward and my reason to start to live again."
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Thank you Netgalley for this advanced ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Maya is heartbroken when Jon, her fiancé, drops dead at the altar- she'd waited so long to marry and now this.  And his family is awful to her.  She decides to take the honeymoon trip he planned for them  and that's what made this a fun read for me.  Yes this is about working through your grief but let's be honest, it's also about Maya's travels in India, Singapore, Hong Kong and so on.  In a summer when we aren't traveling anywhere, this was a nice panacea.  There are good descriptions of places and food, as well as interesting characters that Maya meets along the way.  It's not deep, it's got some plot holes (and huge coincidences) but it's fun.  Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.  Oh, and I liked that Maya is a "mature" traveller.

Thank you to One More Chapter and Janice Horton for an advanced copy of this book via netgalley! This book took me away to India and I could put myself in Maya’s shoes. A heartbreaking start to the story, but Maya is thrown out of her comfort zone and grows from the experience. A book about self- love, growth, and just how short life is.

Thank You NetGalley, One More Chapter and Janice Horton for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
If you have ever wanted to follow in the footsteps of the women in the books such as Eat, Pray, Love and P.S. I Love You, then this book is also a book you will want to follow Maya and her adventures on her honeymoon throughout Asia. This book took me on the adventures of a woman, Maya, who after suffering a great loss decides to go on her honeymoon alone. Her honeymoon takes her through the countries of India, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Throughout Maya travels, she begins to face her feelings of grief, angry, sadness, friendships, self discovery, and the possibilities of new love. I found Maya to be a well developed and realistic character. I believed her emotional growth throughout this book were reasonable and heartfelt. I enjoyed her willingness to step out of her comfort in order to really find peace and a new outlook on her life, which included the next chapter of her life. It seems the author had a special connection to India because it seemed most of the beginning of the book took place in India, while the rest of her travels and time spent in the other stops on her honeymoon journey moved more quickly. I was well satisfied with the ending of the book. It had me almost tearing up! I was able to finish this book in less than one day because I really enjoyed the writing, I can't recommend this book enough to those who love travel stories. I look forward to reading more books by this author!

Today I’m pleased to share my review for The Backpacking Bride. Thank you to One More Chapter and Harper Collins UK for the digital proof copy via NetGalley – my thoughts are my own and not influenced by the gift.

This book starts with Maya arriving in India on the honeymoon planned by the love of her life, Jon, who collapsed and died at the start of the wedding ceremony just one week earlier. She is middle aged, grief stricken and suddenly in a bustling foreign country trying to find peace, to practice yoga and mindfulness and to come to terms with how quickly her life has changed.

We spend a week with Maya in India, before continuing the journey to Hong Kong and beyond. Maya meets a variety of people on her way, including other travellers and local people. However meeting Henri in Hong Kong, organised by the post it notes in Jon’s folder, makes Maya reassess her life yet again.

I enjoyed the travel aspects of this story – India and Hong Kong sound amazing. I didn’t understand why the financially astute Jon wouldn’t have organised travel insurance but then we wouldn’t have had the story.

The story moved slowly during the week in India, then suddenly the pace picked up in Hong Kong. Looking back I’m confused by the timelines – was the end of the book really only about three weeks after the tragedy at the wedding? I enjoyed lots of elements of the story but found the timings very far fetched. A 3.5 star read for me.

This book is filled with heart, hope, and healing. It sucks the reader in from the start and is unrelenting in holding on.

This author is a new read for me so i was surprised to find i really enjoyed it. 
The story is about Maya’s journey through her honeymoon without her fiancé who decided to not take those vows. It was cute and a nice easy read, but I had some smaller issues with the how it was paced out. It seemed like her time in India was dragged out and then boom, everything enlightened on her final day. Felt a little unusual rather than it being spaced out so it was a little confusing for me.  Honestly, you could have cut out most of the part where Maya was in the Ashram, kept the last day or two, and taken the story straight to Hong Kong and I think the book would have read mostly the same.  It just didnt gel well with me but i dont know if thats because im new to this author. 

It was not until about the halfway point that this story started picking up for me and I started really enjoying it. I usually give up quite quick but i didnt want to pout it down and once we reached halfway I was pleased with the way it turned out and felt like the major plot was resolved nicely. 

Thanks to HarperCollins UK for providing me an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Maya is the backpacking bride. She unfortunately has to live through her fiance dying during their wedding ceremony. She goes on their honeymoon on her own to help her move on and rediscover herself. Unfortunately I had a hard time sticking with this book. It moved too slow and I was honestly bored after the first 2 chapters. I tried to make myself finish the book, but I was unsuccessful.