Summer Seaside Wedding by Abigail Gordon

Title: Summer Seaside Wedding

Author: Abigail Gordon

Series: Bluebell Cove

Publisher: Harlequin

Line: Medical

ISBN: 9780373067763

More Information: http://www.eharlequin.com

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

My first thought: Betty Neels.  If you are a reader of medical romance or romances, in general, then I’m sure you are familiar with Neels’ work.  The style and tone of the writing is reminiscent of her books with a more updated vibe.  The heroine is plain and thinks no one can love her but crushes on the handsome doctor.  But secretly, the playboy doctor is slowly falling in love with her but isn’t aware of it.  And the trite inner dialogue that I associate with Betty Neels' style is ever present.

Dr. Amelie Benoir was offered a chance to work in Bluebell Cove for the summer.  She jumped on the chance to get away and forget about her broken engagment.  Dr. Leo Fenchurch picks her up from the airport and was disappointed to see a bedraggled woman come off the plane.  Feeling sorry for her, he decides to help her until she adjusted to the village life.  Soon, feelings that weren't pity started to appear and because they both have hangups from their pasts, they tried not to spend too much time together.  But despite everything, they were still drawn to each other.

There was one thing that frustrated me about this book.  They totally misunderstood each other throughout the story and this made up most of the plot.  For example, Amelie told Leo to leave her alone and to give her space, he did.  Then, she became hurt when he was indeed leaving her alone, per her request.  One wonders how these two ever fell in love within 2 weeks if they were constantly seesawing between anger, misunderstanding and attraction to each other all the time.  They never talk to each other and just assume the other’s feelings.  Their romance was juvenile at best.  Due to past experience, Leo hesitated to form attachments. But he declared her as the woman of his dreams, but didn’t have the guts to tell her about his past.  Of course, there were some scenes to balance out what a great guy he was.  However, when he was throwing up roadblocks, you can’t help being exasperated by his Jekyll and Hyde personality.  Amelie was overall decent but sometimes weak.  With her lack of experience and pain caused by her broken engagement, I respect that she was pretty up front with her thoughts to him.  

It may sound like I’m bashing the book but not entirely.  It’s a good continuation of the Bluebell Cove series.  You get to see past characters and see how they are doing.  The writing was decent and everyone was adequately suited to their parts.  There were some cute scenes with Amelie and Leo.  But their annoyance factor brings it down just a bit.  On a side note, this is a clean romance.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Betty Neels.  You will find this book nostalgic.  If you are reading the Bluebell Cove series and very interested in this seaside community, grab it.  Other than that, I would suggest passing this one up unless you can find this book for a very low price.