Ready to Run- I Do, I Don't by Lauren Layne

 A Review by Wendy

 4 Everything is Not as It Seems Stars
* * * *  

Spoiler Free

I cannot keep up! Lauren Layne is a Writing Machine and she keeps putting out books with a culturally media savvy eye. As the blurb so aptly states... think The Bachelor meets the Runaway Bride and you have an idea of how this book should feel. With the solid crafting Layne does... this read was easy to pick up, dive in and enjoy.

With the Layne touch to this premise, there is chemistry, plot points and emotional questions which are answered in the end.

Jordan Carpenter is a reality producer. She is on her way up the career ladder and this new series is her way to be recognized and promoted.

Jordan is a small town girl trying to make it in the big city. Jordan's formative years were nurtured in Small Town America. She didn't have a driving need to leave until she lost her parents. Somehow all the memories she had became too much for her... so off she went to New York City. There she started at the bottom with an entry level position. Over time she became the go to person when smart ideas needed to come to life.

In order to have the latest greatest thing, the production company and producers have decided to do a new series based on an idea from social media. A small story came out about men who just can't seem to marry and run more than once just before the wedding ceremony. It piqued the curiosity of the production company and the next thing Jordan knew... she was scouring the web, Facebook and small town newspapers looking for the perfect Runner.

Jordan thinks she has found Bachelor Runner Gold. She has found a hunk of a man... a fireman, for God's Sake in a small town who has skipped out from the alter 3 friggin' times. He is gorgeous, he has a normal open look...not that crazy look she had seen from all the other candidates...He was the type of guy who looked like the camera would love him...Hell, the viewing public would eat him up with a spoon.

There is just one tiny problem...this fireman is ignoring all of Jordan's attempt to contact him.

She has sent him emails.
She has left multiple voice messages.
She has even mentioned the crazy, stupid amount of compensation the show is willing to pay him...

And she has received NOTHING BACK...

Which is why she is on the road with her favorite production attorney driving to the small town where her fireman lives. Jordan has decided this fireman was the perfect candidate and she was going to get him for the show - period.

Luke Elliott has a life he likes. He has grown up in this town and all of its inhabitants look out for each other. He may have been involved in relationships which ended at the church... but no one in town thinks of Luke as a bad guy...

In fact, everyone is very protective of him and this human wall of silence is what Jordan must climb...But she's not put off, because at her core... She is a small town girl and understands how to play this game...

If you can't beat these people... you join them... and she does.

Luke Elliot is a very special character... he is all guy and puts up a wall of No to Jordan's request. Doesn't matter how much the show will pay him, he wants nothing to do with it...He does have a problem with Jordan staying in the town and continuing to ingratiate herself with locals....

The problem is he cannot stop thinking about her... how she looks and talks... how her skin looks so soft, imagining how silky it must feel...This is not good... Somehow he will have to get her out of his head...

Maybe they should just get this itch scratched...

There was a lot to like about this story. Luke has hidden depth and Jordan has been running from her pain by hiding in the big city. These two are fun together and when things get complicated... they fight to figure things out and make each other their main purpose.

This is a new series for Layne and it looks like it will be a fast paced ride. There will be a show with lots of characters who are looking for love... Something Layne is great at writing.

A gifted copy was provided by  Author/Publisher for an honest review.

 About Lauren Layne
Lauren Layne is the New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen romantic comedies.

A former e-commerce and web marketing manager from Seattle, Lauren relocated to New York City in 2011 to pursue a full-time writing career.

She lives in midtown Manhattan with her high-school sweetheart, where she writes smart romantic comedies with just enough sexy-times to make your mother blush. In LL's ideal world, every stiletto-wearing, Kate Spade wielding woman would carry a Kindle stocked with Lauren Layne books.