Review Tuesday: The Right Choice by Fiona McGier -- #SecondChanceRomance #ReviewTuesday #RunawayBride

The Right Choice by Fiona McGier

Extasy Books Inc., 2020

Veterinarian Pamela Wilson is about marry a handsome, prosperous lawyer with great prospects. Donald’s pretty good in bed, too. She should be thrilled. Certainly her status-conscious parents are delighted. As Mel goes through the motions preparing for the wedding, though, she can’t help but have doubts. Donald’s so focused on his career that she worries she’ll always take second place. And honestly, she’s not the person he and her family want her to be. She’s informal, unimpressed by wealth, and a bit rebellious. How can she ever fit in Donald’s world of high-rollers, movers and shakers?

Still, she stifles her worries and allows herself be led to the altar. Then, in the middle of the ceremony, her groom insists on taking a phone call from a client. For Mel, that’s the final straw. Before anyone realizes what’s going on, she races away from the altar, hijacks the wedding limo, and heads out of town.

But where can she go? She needs a place to hide out, to make a plan for escaping her parents’ schemes and building a life of her own. The only option that occurs to her is a remote cabin on a Michigan lake – the cabin where years before she’d spent blissfully passionate time with her first lover Eric.

Eric is a working class stiff, a lowly car mechanic with nothing to recommend him, at least from the perspective of Mel’s family. Still, Mel has always been able to be herself in his company, while their sexual chemistry is off the charts. Over the years, she’s run back to him again and again, seeking his support and love when she couldn’t deal with the demands of the world. The last time, though, he sent her away, unwilling to be hurt any further by her on-again, off-again behavior. She doesn’t know if he’ll be at the cabin. And if he is, will he offer her shelter or slam the door in her face?

The Right Choice is a breath of fresh air in a world of stale romance tropes. Mel’s a delightfully distinctive heroine, passionate, resourceful and contrary. I loved the details of her escape, the way she works through the possibilities and makes split-second choices.

Her relationship with Eric has the ring of truth; their painful history is highly believable. Drawn together by instinct, torn apart by society, they struggle to find common ground. Still, Ms. McGier manages to convey the deep sense of comfort Mel experiences in Eric’s presence, even when he’s trying to keep her at arm’s length.

I also appreciated Mel’s relaxed attitudes toward sex. Like most of Ms. McGier’s heroines, she’s confident in her physicality, without any hint of self-judgment or prudishness.

The twist at the end surprised me. That’s a good thing. I won’t add any spoilers except to hint that taking a call during the wedding isn’t Donald’s worst sin.

I greatly enjoyed The Right Choice. After all, that’s what romance is all about: connecting with the person who’s right for you.