There are some minor spoilers in this review.
"A December Bride" was the first release of "A Year of Weddings", a collection of novellas being released by Zondervan/Harper Collins. I have not read anything by Denise Hunter before, so this was a good opportunity to sample one of her stories.
Layla and Seth are brought together because she doesn't want to go to her ex-fiance's wedding without a plus one. Why is she going to her ex-fiance's wedding? It is because her cousin is the bride and she just can't get out of attending. Fortunately for Seth, he has had his eye on Layla for the longest time, and he can't pass up on the chance to go as Layla's date, even though he is basically her last choice. She blames him for not giving her warning that her cousin was poaching her ex-fiance from her. Layla can't find anyone to go with her except for Seth, so even though she despises him, she agrees to attend with him, trying to convince herself that it was better to show up with Seth than showing up alone.
At the wedding, Layla and Seth experience circumstances that conspire to get them to define themselves as couple...as an engaged couple. Layla feels trapped; she is appalled that she and Seth are lying to everyone about their relationship, but needs Seth to continue the charade for professional and personal reasons for a few more weeks until the dust settles in all areas of her life. Seth has only that amount of time to convince Layla to make their engagement a real thing. Will he be able to accomplish that and make Layla his December bride?
Seth did act in a thrilling alpha male way in parts of the story. He was definitely a keeper, and I enjoyed reading about his pursuit after Layla. However, for a Christian romance, I found it a bit strange that the couple carried out a big deception and seemingly got away with it. I can understand why the characters made the decisions that they made, but I cringed when I thought about their situation and choices.
I liked the conversation that Seth had with Layla when he tried to address her insecurities and reminded her that she was special because God made her special and that her identity was not based on her address or parents.
"A December Bride" is a sweet romance, and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to read some of Denise Hunter's work.
Disclaimer: An e-book copy of "A December Bride" was provided by NetGalley for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
