The Southern Bride by Lenora Worth

From Goodreads:

Melissa Sonnier is desperate to find her own happily ever after as she helps her sister celebrate her beach wedding in Driftwood Bay, but it’s difficult to move on and find love when she can’t let go of Judson Duvall, a boy she’s loved since middle school, even after their last break up in their on again, off again relationship. But as she watches her sister exchange her sacred vows, she sees Judson, waiting for her asking for one last chance. He vows he’s changed. Can she risk her heart one last time?

After his latest rodeo related injury, Judson Duvall is ready to hang up his spurs and always a man of action, defies doctors and drives all night to reach the only woman he’s ever loved. He begs for one last chance and is prepared to do anything to win back Melissa’s love. He claims he’s changed, but is it enough or is it too late?

My Take:
This one's been sitting in my kindle for a long time. It was a short read, and I think that hurt the storyline for me. I wanted more from the characters and their journey to their happy ever after. It felt too much like a summary. There were missed opportunities to build on this painful history that Melissa and Judson shared. It would have been really good to see them working harder to build trust and love but they just decided to do it and then months have passed and they're engaged again.

I really wanted to like this and give it a higher rating. The writing was good, but I didn't feel the emotional payoff at the end.

I give it a 3.5 and Clean rating.

1-5 scale and what it means:
1: I couldn’t even finish it / just plain bad
2: I hope I didn’t pay for this / disappointing
3: I didn’t hate it, but it was still missing something / forgettable but inoffensive
3.5: On the line between good and ok / like, not love
4: Solid mind candy / worth reading
4.5: So very close to perfection! / must read
5: I could not put it down and I’m still thinking about it! / a true treasure

Movie Ratings in relation to my review:
Clean--Hallmark movies, some kissing, no nudity, no sex on or off "screen"
PG--Some innuendo but nothing kids don't hear every day, sex is all closed door
PG-13--some language (swear words not related to sex), more talk about sex, heavy petting, removal of clothing on screen, but sex is closed door.
PG-14—somewhere between PG-13 and R. Not erotica, but at least a paragraph of on-screen sex
R--swearing (F-bomb, on “screen” sex, sometimes feels like the whole story is about the sex and not the relationship or some other plot, but not always