I have read some of Mary Jayne Baker's books before and have generally enjoyed them. This one, however, just felt a little flat to me. While I did enjoy the characters of Kitty and Jack, and felt they had really interesting backstories, I also felt that there were some glaring issues in the story, mostly related to mental health. For one thing, Kitty tells Jack that she thinks therapy would be good for him, and mentions that she had been to therapy herself - but her therapist is only mentioned in passing and by name, nothing really to do with the therapy itself. Not only that, but Kitty is subject to pretty extreme gaslighting and emotional abuse from her mom and (ex?) husband...but she admits to being gullible and falls into their traps; I would think that through her therapy, and talking through her past experiences, she would have found some mechanism to help her in these situations. So, while I felt that the characters were interesting and had rich backstories, I didn't feel like they were explored as fully as they should have been.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the direction this fabulous book took, it wasn’t the light hearted romcom that I was expecting, it had some emotional issues that kept me intrigued throughout. It was also deliciously funny too, and the characters adorable and incredibly likeable.
It was a brilliant story that was not at all predictable, which was great and meant that I could not put it down! I relished every page ❤️

Kitty has left everything behind and has run away from her wedding after catching her new husband cheating during the reception.

She is picked up along the way by children’s author Jack, who take pity on the hitchhiking girl in a wedding dress.

Struggling with his own grief can the two of them discover there is more to life than sadness?

I love Mary Jayne Barker novels and this latest one has shot to the top of my favourite list.

A bride on the run minutes after getting married, a sexy Irishman traveling in his minivan with a sweet puppy, and plenty of reasons not to look back. It has all the makings of a good RomCom but it is also a story of two people trying to cope with the loss of a loved one, the pain that comes from surviving someone and the resilience of years of abuse and gasligth that one person can carry over their shoulders.
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Jack and Kitty are two hurted people trying to take refuge from the world that hurts them, fleeing from any place where they do not feel safe. Two people who find a foothold in the other.
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Despite the delusional characters around him and the situations it is a good book worth reading. I learned a lot about other types of abuse and grieving in addition to watching them get to a good place when I had already lost all faith
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Thank to #NetGalley and Aria &Aries to let me read #TheRunawayBride before goes on reales this 06 May 2021

I've read a few by this author lately and have thoroughly enjoyed them. This one is my favourite so far, whilst it is a lighthearted read it does also have serious themes in regards to Kitty's previous controlling relationship with her mother and the new husband she runs away from. Jack also has issues with unresolved grief, both subjects are dealt with sensitively without them overpowering the plot.
I would definitely recommend this book and the author

When. started this. book I had a feeling where this was going to go. But quickly, it went downhill for me with an unbelievable stories and an immature run way bride. Jack was a little too nice and Kitty was not to likable. By 2 percent in I was ready to throw in the towel.

Oh, how I loved this book. Jack and Kitty are wonderful, real characters. Their circumstances are wild but the emotion and struggle behind them are raw.
I didn't want to put this one down.

This was the warm and sweet story of Kitty, who runs away from her wedding after seeing something unspeakable, and ends up stumbling across Jack who scoops her up in his camper van and lots of romance novel tropes and wholesome events ensue. I had a great time reading this book, and it was such an easy and fun read that I completed it in a day.

I have had to mark it down a little bit as some of the plot twists felt a little bit soap opera-ish to me, but although things sometimes felt a little bit silly this definitely didn’t take away from the really enjoyable romance and wonderful chemistry between the characters. I also really liked how Baker touched on the important topics of grief and domestic abuse in a thoughtful way without taking away from the fun tone of the book overall.

Really enjoyed this book and tore through it in a day! A nice story of people growing, overcoming obstacles and coming together. Plus puppies!

There is so much going on in this book when Kitty runs away on her wedding day with only the clothes she is wearing. She is rescued by Jack and his dog in his bright orange camper van. There are lots of laughs but both have serious emotional issues to sort out.

This book is well worth a read and I hope to find more books by Mary Jayne Baker to enjoy

Wow loved the runaway bride!
Two lost souls,an orange vintage campervan, a dog, puppies and the open road! Kitty and Jack meet in very unusual circumstances as Kitty is fleeing from her own wedding and Jack offers her a lift in his campervan!
Kitty and Jack both carry lots of emotional baggage and both need help and support and in getting to know each other as they travel around the country they start to heal and develop a relationship!
Can two lost souls find happiness and love again?
Thank you netgalley for this early read.

The Runaway Bride by Mary Jayne Baker a five-star read to run away with. This was such a glorious read, it was funny and brutally honest and just made me so desperate to read every page that I was sneaking pages in all the time, just to see what those sneaky marionettes were up to. There was something so enchanting about Jack Duffy, especially his reaction to a woman in a wedding dress and wellies. Overall, this was such a pleasant read, there were points that it was troubling, but the author did a great job of dealing with them that left you feeling like it was done well. This was my first read by this author, but it will not be the last I plan to go and check out the rest as what a lovely style of writing.

I received an advance copy of, The Runaway Bride, by Mary Jane Baker. I really liked this book. The characters, the setting, the story line. I laughed a lot.

That was a fun read with a somewhat interesting story. Even though I love the runaway bride concept, unfortunately I couldn't relate to any of the characters and their situations. I will admit that the whole book was funny, followed by witty writing, even during emotionally charged scenes.
All in all, an easy read with a HEA.