Review – The Runaway Groomsman

Synopsis

Picture the scene: a screen writer – Sawyer, stands in a church at the head of a crowd as the best man. Sawyer’s best friend is set to marry Sawyer’s ex who cheated on him with aforementioned best friend. Can you feel it – the frustration & betrayal just bursting at the seams? Well, so could Sawyer & he absolutely snapped. Sawyer flipped off the bridge & groom right in the middle of the ceremony, rolled out the front door & drove straight to the Canoodle California’s one & only bar. Sawyer wakes up the next morning with a killer hangover & the realization that he’s going to need to lay low for awhile & thank whoever got him into this cabin for the night. “Whoever” turns out to be a beautiful woman – Fallon – with whom Sawyer had a terrible blind date. Talk about rock bottom. Fallon cannot believe her eyes when she sees Sawyer drunk in a bar in her small town. What are the odds? She already has enough on her plate with a long-distance boyfriend, taking on the full-time care of her grandfather with Alzheimer’s & trying to renovate her family’s cabins before the property goes belly up. She cannot possible deal with Sawyer in the mix as well. Only Sawyer’s plan is exactly that – him staying at the cabins & her seeing him every day. & despite her best efforts to remain decidely not friends she’s having a hard time remembering to keep him at a distance. The man keeps doing genuinely nice stuff like hanging out with her grandfather & fixing up the cabins. Things she’s been trying to get her boyfriend to do without resentment. As time goes on & Sawyer sticks around he starts to help renovate the cabins with Fallon & her best friend Jaz. All this time together makes her see that maybe the man she’s looking for isn’t the one she’s with but the one in front of her.

Break It Down

Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 – 4 Stars
Let’s just start with Sully (the grandfather with Alzheimer’s) is the star of the show. His stories to Sawyer about his great love with his wife Joan made me so happy. I can see why Sawyer tries to emulate it with Fallon. This was a slow burn to get together but once they did it was instantly serious. That felt kinda fast but it also felt right for them. They had such a sweet story & I loved that they built a strong friendship first. I really liked the side characters in this one too. Obviously Sully, but also her bestie Jaz – she was awesome. Even after the ex incident – aka third act misunderstanding – Jaz still made for a great side character. I also thought it was really really fun to have all of Sawyer’s screen writing perspective in his POV. I loved the natural exposition that flowed from his mind – like the way he would describe the people he met or places he went from a movie perspective. It was unique & I liked it a lot. The breakup with Fallon’s boyfriend was a little anticlimactic & the transition to being with Sawyer was fast – I was expecting more angst there, but I did like not having to wait.

Content: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – 4 Stars
There was a sentence in this book that completely threw me off for like an entire day. LOL. It caught my attention because it felt…backwards? Either it’s just how it’s said somewhere else & we say it backwards in the south or someone in editing missed it. It’s probably me though. But other than that conundrum it was written so well. I loved the dual POV. Meghan is the queen of the funny, spicy dual POV. This book was funny while also being sweet & well thought out. It moved forward well & it was a nicely paced story. Both characters chapters moved the plot forward. She did an excellent job writing about someone with Alzheimer’s & what that is like for family. I was impressed.

Spice: 🔥🔥 – 2.5 Flames
This wasn’t as spicy of a book as I was expecting. The slow burn for them to get together was filled with tension & chemistry but no action. Once they decided to be a couple they wait to be physical for awhile so more waiting for the spice. We really only get a small amount of Sawyer & Fallon sexy moments but they are memorable & well written. It could however be read closed door style (skipping sex scenes) & you wouldn’t really miss much content at all. So if you like Meghan’s writing but aren’t as into the spice in her other stories this would be a good choice.

Overall: ✨✨✨✨ – 4 Stars
Sawyer & Fallon had a very cute story. I loved Sawyer. His POV was funny & insightful. His friendship with Sully is *chefs kiss* perfection – I absolutely adored that part of the story. Fallon was okay. I thought I would connect with her more but I didn’t. Overall this is a cute read. Very romcom movie like, which is appropriate considering Sawyer writes romance movies for a living. Definitely a more tame Meghan Quinn book but it was a solid 4 star read. I really enjoyed it & recommend adding it to your TBR if you haven’t already!