Rating: 58% | ★☆☆☆☆
Synopsis (from NetGalley): Hollywood screenwriter Sawyer Walsh knows a good love story when he sees it. But when it comes to real life romance, he’s a mess. That’s how he finds himself standing at the altar…as his ex-girlfriend ties the knot with his very famous best friend. The pressure, the resentment, the media coverage—it’s all too much—and before he knows exactly what he’s doing, he’s making a run for it, leaving a shocked congregation and flashing cameras in his wake. Needing to lie low amid the media fallout, Sawyer lands in the charming town of Canoodle, California, where he crosses paths with Fallon Long, who runs the Canoodle Cove Cabins, a family-owned business and Sawyer’s new short-term residence. Overwhelmed with renovations and her long list of responsibilities, Fallon is struggling to make ends meet while attempting to bring the cabins back to their original glory. So when Sawyer arrives, she is grateful for the income, but immediately writes him off as just another vapid Hollywood hack, until he begins to prove her wrong at every turn. As Fallon comes closer to saving the family business, an undeniable bond forms between her and the handsome screenwriter. But the pressures of her family obligations and Sawyer’s notoriety might prove to be too much for anyone to handle. Could Canoodle be the setting for a new romance—or is true love just a Hollywood cliché? Non-Spoiler Review: In the past few days I have come to recognize two types of romance readers: those who scrutinize the 90% breakup, and those who accept it as a condition, in all forms. Runaway Groomsman taught me that I am, apparently, the first kind of romance reader. The novel’s premise is great—a punny small town, a redemptive meet-cute—but where Meghan Quinn loses her edge is in the execution. What starts as a playful critique of Hallmark romance quickly turns into a generic love story. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall prey to instalove that can’t be affirmed until 70% into the book. Boy and girl go on repetitive side quests until instalove can be affirmed. The 90% breakup crashes into them and dissipates at 91%. Quinn’s writing is stilted and overly sentimental, adding to the struggle of writing (and reading) first-person narration. The pacing of the plot fluctuates wildly; the first two acts drag and the third act races ahead, introducing and resolving multiple major conflicts within the span of just a few chapters. But the true standout facet of the story is Quinn’s nuanced and compassionate depiction of Alzheimer’s. Under her direction, Sully’s condition is not another plot device but an integral part of the plot—and one even more meaningful than the main romance. Ultimately, Runaway Groomsman wasn’t for me, but I’ve never been a Hallmark Channel kind of consumer—or, as Sawyer might say, a Movieflix one. Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for giving me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Runaway Groomsman is out October 11, 2022.
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