I wasn't that convinced of the plot line. The author sucks you nevertheless but it just isn't my cup of tea and I wish it had been.

I must admit I haven't read any Lauren Layne books before, but just recently her name seems to be popping up around other reviews/books/authors I like and so I was intrigued to read one and see whether her books lived up to the good reviews I'd been reading - and I'm glad to say this one definitely did. I really enjoyed her style of writing, it was very amusing and light-hearted, with really likeable characters.

This is the first in a new series and is about Jordan, a TV producer, and Jack, the 'runaway' groom. Jordan is trying to get Jake to take part in their new TV series about serial runaway grooms and since Jake has managed to get down the aisle three times without marrying he's top of their list. Of course the fact that he's a handsome firefighter from a small town also helps!

So Jordan and Simon (gay friend/colleague/legal representative for the show) head off to Lucky Hollow to try and persuade the very evasive Luke to be on the show. Simon is so funny, I loved his character, very witty, and he was such a nice character, fun and got on with everyone. Jordan and Luke had instant chemistry when they met, but of course ignored it for a while.

I just loved all the characters in this book and really hope this series is going to go on for a long time. There's so many characters in Lucky Hollow I'd like to have their own story. Small town, romantic, funny story-telling at it's very best. Really looking forward to the next in this series.

I loved this book so much! It was as fun light hearted read that I finished in one sitting. Lauren Layne is fast becoming one of my go to authors. I was intrigued once I read the blurb and let me tell you it was better than I expected.

Jordan lives in New York and trying to track down this infamous Luke who won't return any of her calls or emails. He is the perfect candidate for a show she's working on. Leaving the big city behind to head to a small town and find Luke she's surprised she likes it as much as she does.

Luke is a firefighter in a small town and wants no part in the reality show. He doesn't want his past aired for everyone to see. Luke is a private person and is holding onto something from his past that isn't allowing to move on.

There is instant attraction between the two.Neither of them acting on it for some time. Jordan is trying to get Luke to open up about his past and tell him all the reason he's just what the show needs. After getting to know him better sparks start to fly between them. It gets hard to keep what they're feeling to themselves.

This is a great start to a new series and I can't wait for the next book.

I like to give Lauren Layne books a try even when the premise does not sound like my cup of tea, as was the case with this book. I am glad I did give this one a read because it was a very fun. There was a case of insta-lust even as they were preparing to do battle but the rest of the romance was not at all rushed. The plot went in unexpected directions which I really enjoyed. Even though it sounded like it was going to be a typical city girl out of place in a small town story it was refreshingly not that simplistic.

The second book in the series once again does not sound like my thing but I can guarantee I will be reading it.

A must read !

After a lengthy search, Jordan has found the perfect bachelor for her reality show, Jilted, Luke Elliot, who has left 3 brides at the alter.
When despite numerous attempts to pitch him the idea for the show, Luke doesn't respond, Jordan visits Lucky Hollow to convince him in person.
Luke's stubborn reluctance on doing the show convinces Jordan that he is the best candidate, and she decides to stay back in his hometown till she gets him to agree.
The attraction between Jordan and Luke is instant and the constant bickering just keeps adding fuel to the fire.
I absolutely loved ready to run, and think it's only if the best books I've read in recent times. I loved the bickering, the small town meddling, the people, basically everything about the book. And I would definitely recommend it to all.

So, on my Kindle I am about 65% into the book. No where in the description of this book does it say anything about LGBTQ. While I do not mind having a gay guy as a best friend, why are you making half of the secondary characters gay? If I wanted an LGBTQ romance, I would request it. Are you bowing to PC? Why?

My Review - Ready to Run is just as advertised with a delightful mixture of The Runaway Bride and The Bachelor. Jordan’s job as a producer is to convince Luke, a firefighter who left three women at the alter, to be the next big star for the TV show Jilted, a similar concept to The Bachelor. Jordan and her colleague, Simon, go to Lucky Hollow, small town Mayberry, to ask Luke personally to be the first bachelor of the new show. Luke has not responded to Jordan’s calls or texts. Thus, the need to visit him personally.

Luke is not the guy Jordan expected. He is a gentleman, trustworthy and loyal without being arrogant. And, he avoids her for the half of the book. Luke does not want his life opened up to the television viewing community. But, he cannot help but fall for Jordan. Their connection is immediate. He begins to see her as truly a small town girl with a big heart. Yet, he is struggling with trusting her completely.

To make matters worse for Luke, the whole town is helping Jordan, including two of the women he left at the altar. The third ex no longer lives in LH. Jordan, too, is trusting and loyal, more so than Luke. She fits right in with his small town community.

This is another sensual Lauren Layne book that is super enjoyable. Layne is one of my favorite authors writing with a good combination of heart, love and true feelings. What I did not like is that Layne may be trying to be too PC. About half of the secondary characters are LGBTQ, nothing more than light kissing, but if I wanted an LGBTQ book, I would request one.

I've read a couple of books from this author, and I really enjoy them. I was excited to be invited to review one of her books on NetGalley, and although it took a bit to finally develop, I really enjoyed Ready to Run. Loved the sleepy town of Lucky Hollow and all of the great people who made it a hysterical place to live. Luke was a gentleman who put the feelings of the three brides he supposedly left at the alter first. Jordan was a pushy producer from New York who was just what Luke needed. Loved Weston and Luna, could definitely picture Luke's house sitting there on the lake front property. The story definitely took turns I wasn't expecting, totally had the storyline going in a different direction, so that gave some intrigue for me. Really great start to the series.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC copy of this book.

Everything Lauren Layne writes is pure genius :) This series is no exception.

In the market for a light, humorous and romantic read. Then pick up Ready to Run. Trust me, you will not be disappointed by this book. I giggled from page one and this book did something that most romance/humor books don’t do to me….got belly laughs. Between Jordan and Simon’s witty banter to the townspeople of Lucky Hollow pushing Luke into accepting Jordan’s offer, I was amused almost the whole book.

The plotline of Ready to Run was very interesting and I could actually see a TV show like Jilted being picked up by a network. I thought it was pretty interesting at the lengths Jordan was prepared to go to have Luke agree to star on the show. I mean, she was willing to go track down his ex-fiancees to get the dirty about why Luke was a runaway groom. She even rented a house in town just to be close to him and hopefully wear him down.

The nuances of small town life were perfectly captured also. It made me want to pack up and move to such a town. I live in a smallish city (population around 40k) and I have always wondered what it would be like to live in a small town where everyone knew everyone. I thought it was hilarious that the townspeople were not only siding with Jordan but were also trying to play matchmaker between them.

I liked Jordan. She was sassy, thought on her feet and wasn’t afraid to show or tell Luke what she thought of him. Her back story was very sad…when she got around to revealing it. She loved the city….with all of its hustle and bustle but secretly wanted to live in a small town again. I think she fell in love with Lucky Hollow before she fell for Luke. The only thing that I didn’t like about her was that she did come off as almost teenagerish at points in the book. But that is such a small detail to the book and overall, she was a pretty fleshed out character.

Luke, I liked but I found it a little hard to connect with him. Understandably, he didn’t want to take about his ex’s but he was really rude to Jordan. He even called her a vulture at one point in the book. But, he did have a reason for being a jerk and it was really sad. Let’s just say that it involves his best friend and his ex and leave it at that. But I did end up liking him towards the end of the book. He did something very unexpected that gave me warm fuzzy feelings inside.

I do have to give a shout out to the secondary characters in Ready to Run. They truly made this book. While Luke and Jordan did a great job on the romance angle, it was the secondary characters that really fleshed the book out. I could only wish to have a best friend as supportive as Simon or ex’s as great as Hailey and Stacey or a family member who wasn’t afraid to tell you how it was like Tawny and all of the other characters.

The romance between Luke and Jordan wasn’t a slow-burn and it did have a touch of Instalove. But it was cute to watch them both fight it and then give in. And when they gave in….the sex was hot. What I liked is that the sex wasn’t overly descriptive (and don’t get me wrong, I like that but sometimes a change of pace is needed) and you got to use your imagination as what happened between the sheets.

The end of the book was perfect and I loved the epilogue. If I was Jordan, I would have been nervous too. Want to know what I’m talking about….read the book!!

How many stars will I give Ready to Run: 4

Why: great storyline, great characters, and a sweet romance

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Language and sex

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

<a href="http://laurenlayne.com">Lauren Layne</a> is writing a Bachelor type series and <em>Ready to Run</em> is the first book. It follows our heroine Jordan Carpenter as she makes her way to a small town Lucky Hollow in Montana to try to get firefighter Luke Elliot to join the cast of her upcoming Bachelor type reality show called Jilted...as the bachelor. Jilted is a reality show that will help runaway grooms find true love.

Jordan can't figure out why this guy wouldn't want to join the show. Who would walk away from that much money? Apparently, Luke Elliot has no problem walking away from the money and her. He just wants to live his life out of the limelight and wants nothing to do with a tv show, a big shot city slicker and he doesn't want his personal life and the reasons he walked away from each of his exes to be public knowledge. He had a good life and he didn't want strangers all up in his business.

Jordan is trying to make a name for herself in the television business and her boss is really excited about this new reality show. If she wants to move up the corporate business ladder, she's got to land a heartthrob that viewers will connect with and Luke is the perfect candidate for that. It's too bad he wants nothing to do with Jilted.

The romance between these two was kind of more of the same that you normally get from Lauren Layne. She writes a lot of those hate-to-love romances and while I liked Luke and Jordan, they weren't my favorite hate-to-love couple of Layne's. Jordan was chasing a guy for a tv show with no good reason for not giving up and moving on. She kept pressing this guy even though he made it plain that he wasn't going to change his mind. She set up camp in his hometown and infiltrated his family, his friends and expected him to what? Be elated? Come on now...

Luke was not happy about the fact that he was attracted to this woman who wanted to turn his life into a freaking circus but damn, the attraction was there and it was strong as hell. The longer she stuck around, the more pissed off he became because the attraction wasn't anything he planned on acting on but the more time that he spends trying to dodge her, the more he realizes that there's more to this city girl than meets the eye. His interest in her grows and feelings creep up because this is a romance novel and even though this isn't my favorite Lauren Layne novel, it still held the charm and warmth that I've come to expect from a Lauren Layne book.

I'm definitely interested in reading the other books in this series and I've got my fingers crossed that we'll get to see some of my favorite characters from this book in those ones. I really did like the small town of Lucky Hollow.

<strong>Grade: 3.5 out of 5</strong>

Great story of a hot firefighter/runaway groom and a television associate producer determined to get him to agree to a reality show. They meet in small town Montana and sparks fly. Will he agree to the show or will her career take a hit?

This was a very fun story. I loved the concept. Admittedly, I liked Jordan more than Luke. I never quite warmed up to him all the way. That being said, the secondary characters more than made up for that fact. I adored everyone in Lucky Hollow, as well as Jordan's friend Simon. Jordan's character development was great. This was a cute read, and I would definitely read the next book in the series.

"Small towns were different. They could reach inside of you and demand everything."

I love, love, love, loved this book. Did I mention that I loved this book? Ready to Run was such an incredible and fun read, it's honestly one of the most fun I've had reading in a very long time. From the moment I read the synopsis and got my hands on this book, I just knew this was going to be a fun and different read. The story-line is totally unique and I loved the idea of having a runaway groom. It was so refreshing and different. The plot sucked me in and I devoured this book in just a few short hours. 

Ready to Run is a fabulous read from beginning to end. From an original plot to the small town setting. To the broody lead male and scorching hot chemistry. To the sweet, sweet romance, entertaining banter and just the right mix of angst, this book is the perfect summer read.

Ready to Run is the first book in the exciting new series I Do, I Don't from author Lauren Layne, and I can tell you that she definitely knocked it out of the park with this one. Simply put, this book was a really enjoyable read and I am super excited to see where this series is going to go next!

4.5 stars!
When I need a really good “Calgon take me away” kind of book. You know, the kind of book that you can completely escape your own world, and jump into a romance novel world kinda book? Well that author for me has always been Lauren Layne. She has been one of my very favorite authors for a long time, and continues to be my favorite with her fabulous writing and story telling skills. She draws you completely in with her characters and story. I own and have read almost all of her books/series. (With the exception of this book, which is an advanced copy). If I haven’t read one, it’s definitely on my “to-read Goodreads” list.
At first when I started reading this book, I wasn’t so sure I’d like the characters… glamorous blonde, New York girl with gay male best friend… I’ve read that story a hundred times. But this one was refreshing and totally different from all the others I realized as I kept reading.
The characters aren’t so perfect as you might think from the beginning. They are real and flawed. After I read through one-fourth of the book I just didn’t want to put it down. I was hooked quite simply. The story was new and fresh, and had some added humor, which made me smile. The characters, whom some of them I didn’t really like in the beginning, I fell in love with by the end, and finally understood them.
I loved this first book in this series and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next one.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys contemporary romance and is looking for a great book to read.
*A special thank you to NetGalley, Random House-Loveswept Publishing, and the author Lauren Layne, for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.*

I have terribly mixed feelings about this book. The premise: A television producer (Jordan), in effort to cast the lead in “Jilted,” a new reality show about runaway grooms, swoops down from Manhattan to Little Hollow, Montana to convince firefighter (Luke) to bare his three matrimonial near-misses to all of America. In exchange Jordan promises he’ll get to date a couple dozen women “hand-picked” for him. And to find True Love, Reality TV-style.

Little Hollow and it denizens are of course charming and mystifyingly welcoming to Jordan, who is struggling to reconcile her own small-town roots and its bittersweet memories with her current big city life where she’s supposedly livin’ the dream.

I struggled with Jordan. Not only because she was willing to stalk a stranger and broadcast his romantic pain to the world in order to secure her job, but because she’s kind of boring. Her friends—her boss, her colleague Simon as well as the besties she makes in Little Hollow—were way more interesting. And Luke is funny in a mildly sarcastic way, riddled with pain from his past relationships, undeniably sexy and entirely too tolerant of this invasion of his privacy. It’s clear from the beginning that he’s not the bad guy and that things are seldom what they seem, even if Jordan doesn’t get it. Before we reach our HEA both must confront their pasts but for me at least, that wasn’t particularly compelling.

As I said, I struggled because Lauren Layne is a favorite of mine. But not “Ready to Run.”
ARC provided for an honest review.

I almost filed READY TO RUN into my 'your hero is my zero' shelf but.. said hero wasn't quite <b>that</b> terrible. But it was a close call.

"<i>These people already adore you. I know, because I asked.</i>"
"<b>I've barely even talked to them.</b>"
"<i>Yeah, but they can smell your small town roots.</i>"
"<b>Yuck.</b>"

Wow, so, I completely did not expect to be so unmoved by this story. It's got a great premise and it surprised me by the direction it went. Which, I mean, sometimes surprises are good. And this one was. However it was everything else that bugged me. The constant city vs country stuff which, okay, fine, a few times but.. ease up a bit on it. And then, basically, Luke always.

"<i>Want to talk about it?</i>"
"<b>Yeah, absolutely. But first, do you think you could put on some Celine Dion? Someone that can best express what I'm feeling in a nice ballad?</b>"

Between the constant little jokes about writing in his diary, listening to sad music, and trying to identify with his feelings, I was over it. Yeah you're a big strong fireman. You're hot. You have this mystery around your three ex women. Move along. Actually maybe that was just my problem with the whole story. Repetition over convincing Luke to do the show. Repetition over Jordan reconnecting with the small town life she left behind. Repetition over Luke being broody and misunderstood. Repetition over Luke being an asshole to Jordan, sometimes outright mean (and one stunning moment of him throwing something in her face and then saying 'they aren't done', I mean, really? fuck off) and accusing her of all sorts of underhanded or shady things.

"<i>Here's what I'm wondering : how you got three different women to be <b>interested</b> in you, much less agree to marry you.</i>" <--- me too, sweetie.

What I did like was the small town and the closeknit characters. I totally felt the love, the heartbreak, the need to keep certain things secret from outsiders, to protect, even poke fun, even the mystery surrounding the identify of one of the almost brides, the reason why another relationship had failed (basically all of the ones except the most recent which was being built up to have the most baggage and biggest reveal which, I mean, fine, but I liked the first two reasons better). Jordan's gay bestie Simon was also a delight.

"<i>I watered that weird plant in the corner.</i>"
"<b>It's fake, Simon.</b>"
"<i>Shit. Well, okay, I'll try to swing by later, make sure there's not a leaky mess.</i>"

But everything else.. I mean, even though Luke was the bigger more frustrating letdown, I never really liked Jordan much, either. I'll probably read on in the series because they will only be loosely connected by the reality show (I assume..) but if you're looking for the classic kind of Layne chemistry ala WALK OF SHAME or any of the sexy hijinks or hilarity of her <i>Sex, Love & Stiletto</i> series and spinoffs, you might not find it here. I sure didn't.

2.5 "I wish hetero sex didn't gross me out, I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he pushes you up against it" stars

Another perfect read from Lauren Layne. Can't wait to read the next title in the series.

I'm so glad that I was introduced to Lauren Layne by Loveswept! Ready to Run is now the sixth book I've read by her, mostly because I read the Oxford Series and  Walk of Shame. I'm learning that Layne is quickly becoming a go to author. She constantly provides sweet, feel good stories that always keeps me intrigued.

Ready to Run was really fun because of the way Jordan and Luke start out. He wants absolutely nothing to do with the reality show that she keeps trying to recruit him for. He comes off as a brooding hot fire fighter when in fact he's probably one of the most loyal and lovable men out of them all. The banter between these two had me laughing. Jordan didn't want to give up on recruiting Luke. She's persistent and tenacious but she's just as stubborn as he is. They had this delicious enemies to lovers progression with explosive sexual tension that sucked me in from start to finish.

I also really enjoyed the small town feel of Luke's friends and family from where he lives. They are all involved in everyone else's business but they all love and support each other. The way they accepted Jordan into their lives was sweet. I enjoyed the way they latched on to her and kept giving  her small intel into Luke. Subtle pushing on their end.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. If you are looking for some good old small town charm with a sexy firefighter, feisty city girl, lots of sexual tension and some fun laughs, then this is the book for you. And if you haven't read Lauren Layne before, you need to. She has become one of my escape artists that I go to when I want to cleanse my palate from my love of dark books and just read a happy and good feeling book.

Lauren Layne writes such fun stories with witty dialogue and some scorching hot sexy times!

Jordan Carpenter is a TV network producer working to create a show, Jilted, which would be somewhat like The Bachelor, with a twist. Lucky Luke Elliott is considered the top candidate for the show but unfortunately, he wants nothing to do with it and initially with Jordan. As he continues to turn down her offers, Jordan is enjoying the small town and its inhabitants and making friends everywhere she goes. Luke calls her City Girl and assumes she will run back to Manhattan as quickly as possible.

As Jordan questions Luke’s friends and some exes, she learns a few details but some major ones aren’t being shared. It’s difficult to imagine that this gorgeous Montana firefighter has been stood up at the alter three times! There’s a little angst with the third bride but for the most part, the story is mostly a fun read.

Things aren’t what they seem and as the story unfolds, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the town and the characters. Everyone wanted Luke to move on and find love and worked to put him and Jordan together.

Jordan’s friend and co-worker, Simon travels with her for any legal questions and contracts. He’s obviously gay and proud of it and just so hilarious I couldn’t stop laughing.

The end of the story was so beautiful and I couldn’t believe what Luke offered to do for Jordan – pure sweetness and love! Another entertaining hit from Ms. Layne and look forward to the next book in this series.

Thanks to Ms Layne, the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.