THE GOODBYE BRIDE by Denise Hunter

Zac Callahan fell in love with Lucy Lovett from the moment he saw her.  She felt the same way, or so Zac thought.  Three weeks before their wedding Lucy took off without a word about why she left or where she was going.  Seven months later, Zac is starting to live with the new normal; a life without Lucy.  Then he gets a phone call from her saying she hit her head and could he come and get her.  A brain injury has left her with no memory of the last seven months, of leaving Zac before their wedding or even being engaged to another man where she was currently living.  Lucy can only remember loving Zac with ever fiber of her being.  Zac helps her out by bringing her home where he can look after her while she recovers and hopefully gets her memory back.  Zac hopes that’ll be soon because he’s vulnerable where Lucy is concerned.  Could  this be the second chance he’s so desperately prayed for?  What will happen if he does take a chance and her memory returns, will she leave him again like before?

The Goodbye Bride is one of those stories that just compels you to keep turning pages to see how everything works out.  We met Zac in ‘Falling Like Snowflakes’ and hear about Lucy leaving him so I was anxious to find out what happened. The whole amnesia thing was an interesting twist because Lucy didn’t lose all her memory only the last 7 months.  You sympathize with her knowing how difficult it must have been.  I mean everyone in town, including Zac, are giving her the cold shoulder because she left Zac, but she doesn’t remember why.  I wasn’t sure I liked Lucy at first but must admit I changed my mind as I kept reading.  She really was a  nice person.  Zac is a great guy.  A guy you could easily fall for.  I enjoyed learning a little more about Aunt Trudy and the Sheriff as well as catching up a little with Riley.  Beau and Eden are very much a part of this story, which I loved!  Trusting God with the unknown and forgiveness of things past were both encouraging messages woven throughout the story.  Denise Hunter is a master at writing romantic fiction.  She evokes such emotion with her wording that you just feel it, like it’s happening to you. To me that’s great writing and the reason why her books are always on my ‘must read’ list!  This is the second book in A Summer Harbor Series.  You could probably read it as a stand alone but I highly recommend starting with “Falling Like Snowflakes” to get the whole family background.  Now I will anxiously await Riley’s story.

*This complimentary copy was provided by Thomas Nelson through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Some favorite quotes:

“I guess we just do the best we can and trust God with the rest.  Life will always have troubles.  It’s what shapes and molds us and makes us into the people He wants us to be.”

“All she knew was she wanted him to keep looking at her that way.  She wanted his mouth on hers more than she wanted her next breath.  She wanted his arms around hers, his ring on her finger.  The plain gold one she’d never gotten to wear.  The one she’d never wear.”

“He was confident, comfortable with himself, but he didn’t wear it with arrogance like so many other handsome men.”

For more information about this book or other books by Denise Hunter, I encourage you to visit her website at www.denisehunterbooks.com/