The Secret Bride

The Secret Bride by Jeannie Watt is the fifth and final book in the multi-authored Secrets of Cherry Lake series and is about another Jackson cousin, Brett, and the girl he almost married ten years ago, Jacie Rose. This is a mix of two well-loved tropes: second chance romance and friends to lovers, although Brett and Jacie were nothing more than friends as teenagers and their mutual crushes on each other were unknown to the other until their little reunion. Brett's an honest-to-goodness good guy who wants nothing more than a chance to re-kindle his friendship with Jacie and see where it could lead, but Jacie is very wary and her over-protectiveness toward her daughter becomes her constant and convenient excuse to not pursue anything with Brett even though she really wants to, so there's a lot of back and forth between these two.

I admit that I much preferred Brett over Jacie, and I think a lot of that had to do with her running from her problems and underestimating her own daughter and what Darby was capable of understanding and accepting. Children see more than we think they do, and Darby was no fool, being highly aware of what was going on and being far more mature in how she viewed it all than how her own mother handled it. I did like that Jacie was trying to be a good mother, but it got to the point where she was trying too hard. I'm glad that what happened between her and Brett was handled the way that it was because I would have honestly been rather upset if, after the choices that were made, the aggrieved party was the one who had to make amends. Sometimes, the other person has to prove they're just as invested in the relationship.

But, while I was not a Jacie fan, I did enjoy the story of a woman struggling to stand her ground and look forward instead of constantly looking back on the past. The theme of family remains consistent in the series and it's one of the things I loved best about it. And while this was a pretty quick read, there was no rushing whatsoever in the story. Readers get to see the hesitance and misgivings about beginning any sort of relationship and we're able to read about the experiences Brett and Jacie go through as two individuals who try to have something more than friendship but one isn't as prepared to be an actual couple in public. There's always drama in this series, but there's also always that lightheartedness leaves you with a smile on your face. I've enjoyed the Secrets of Cherry Lake series and I'm giving The Secret Bride five stars. ♥

The Secret Bride is a story of empowerment, understanding and forgiveness. A drastic choice made in her youth left lasting consequences for Jacie. In the aftermath she had to make some touch decisions. Brett saw himself as Jacie's protector no matter what. But when she disappeared without a backward glance, he was left heartbroken and confused. Ten years later, Jacie returns to confront her past and maybe claim her future. Jeannie Watt has written a story that is full of emotion, big on secrets and a beautiful read. I received an ARC of The Secret Bride in exchange for an honest review.

This is the fifth book in this series, all written by different authors but based in the same community with characters, events and key plot events shared or alluded to in them all. I continue to be so impressed with how the authors collaborate to produce series like these, maintaining a very high standard in integrating plots and characters between them yet writing from their own points of view and in their own inimitable manner to put their individual stamp on their own book contribution to the series.

This story concerns Jacie Rose who is returning to Cherry Lake to help renovate the historic hotel which appeared in the earlier books. Jacie grew up in here but ran away when she was a pregnant teenager and this is her first time back in ten years. She’s bringing her daughter with her. With many events from a decade ago impacting on current events, meeting up with some of her old friends may well be welcome but what about the man she left waiting to marry her, Brett Jackson, and her conniving, manipulative and vicious bullying ex stepdad? Life’s never simple but it is sure to be more complicated now!

This is a great addition to the series but could still be read as a standalone. The characters are well developed, the emotional turmoil of Jacie deciding whether to dare to give their love a second chance yet being torn by loyalty to her daughter because of her traumatic teenage experiences with her step father all add to the drama. A great story, well written, enjoyable and engaging – a lovely romantic read to relax with!

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley, too, for letting me read an ARC of this book in exchange for this, an honest review.

Jacie returns to Montana for a job. She left 10 yrs ago, pregnant and alone but not only vowed to keep her child safe, but became a successful businesswoman. Brett always planned to return and finding out Jacie was back was good news for him. The dynamics in this romance was cute and I was happy to see this happy ending.

A second chance for love.

Ten years ago, Jacie Rose left Cherry Lake. Before doing so, she left Brett Jackson waiting at the courthouse where they were supposed to be getting married.

Jacie has returned to her hometown to oversee the Montreau Hotel renovation. Jacie didn’t expect to be renting a house right next door to Brett. Brett has always wondered why Jacie stood him up on their wedding day without any explanation.

Jacie's daughter, Darby, starts attending horse camp with Brett's cousin Molly, which leads Jacie and Brett to seeing each much more than expected. Then, one night Brett kisses Jacie. Everything changes after that. Will this finally be their time to be together? Or is it just too late for them?

This was an easy book to get hooked on. I enjoyed how Jacie and Brett got reacquainted and seeing Jacie’s friendship with Lil and Molly grow. Georgia and Clinton drove me nuts and I could feel Jacie's tension with dealing with them on the renovation job. All around, this is a great book.

I absolutely adored this book! The main characters of Jacie and Brett worked wonderfully together. This is a very well written story with a pace that is perfect, a friends to lovers story with a wonderful twist. Reunited after 10 years it appears that now is the time for the two of them to explore the chemistry between them. Brett's all in but Jacie is much more cautious considering she has a daughter to think of. Grab a copy of this one and enjoy their wonderful story. I highly recommend it!

Sometimes the choices we make for the good of the ones we love turn out to be the worst decisions for ourselves. Jacie didn’t want her daughter, Darby, to ever feel that her mom wasn’t in her corner first and always. Not like her own mother who had taken Jacie’s stepfather’s side always even when his actions were abusive or just simply wrong. She would never, ever give a man the chance to do to her daughter what had been done to her.

The trouble with that kind of logic is that you also miss out on the awesome things that letting another person be a part of your life could bring. It’s going to take Jacie a while to see that. Maybe once some of her own ghosts are laid to rest. Perhaps with the help of a horse crazy nine year old who sees all too clearly what her mom wants but is afraid to reach out for. And just possibly with the security of the man who loves her and has always had her back Jacie can make that commitment.

Brett has always been attracted to Jacie. So when she’d asked him to marry her in order to keep her from even more trouble from her stepfather he hadn’t hesitated. Unfortunately, he’d never had the chance to see if they might have made their unexpected marriage work since Jacie never showed up at the courthouse on their wedding day. Now here she was, back in Cherry Lake and looking even more tempting and being even more stubborn. The spark was still there between them. If only Jacie could see that Brett would protect Darby from hurt and harm as much, if not even more so than he would Jacie.

The Secret Bride is a lovely story, one of those happy and sad ones, where what could have been almost messes up what should have been. With drama caused by Jacie’s former stepfather and his minions at her new position – and with Jacie blocking just about every advancement that Brett makes, well it’s going to be a long hot summer as these two figure out that the past is just that. And the future could be theirs if they take the risk.

I enjoyed The Secret Bride very much. And I’m hoping that there will be many more stories from Cherry Lake in the future. It happened in Marietta, so why not here. *hopeful grin* I would recommend this one for any romance reader who enjoys a really good love story, with family and heritage at the forefront and a happy ever after.

*I received an e-ARC of The Secret Bride from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*

Love the Secrets of Cherry Lake. Jacie has returned home to Cherry Lake after ten years of being away. She is over seeing the renovations on the hotel. She left home pregnant and leaving her best friend, Brett at the courthouse alter. Upon return home, she finds out that Brett is her neighbor. The sparks are still there, but Jacie is afraid to let her guard down for her daughter's sake. Jacie also needs to deal with her demons, her stepfather.

A great page turner, that you can read in one afternoon. This is the fifth book in the series, but all can be read as stand alones. I am so hoping for more books in this series. I received this boo from Netgalley fro an honest review.

Oh how I loved The Secret Bride! I have loved every one of the Secrets Of Cherry Lake series, so no surprises there. Yes this is part of a series but you know what? It stands up just fine all by itself!
There were so many times in this book when I felt like taking Jacie Rose and bashing some sense into her, yet even though she frustrated the bejesus out of me I couldn't help but like her. In every possible way, she's bright, smart, and confident, yet when it comes to Brett Jackson, she is a dithering wreck. She knows she likes him ... A lot. She knows that when she touches him her insides go to mush, and she knows that he's a good guy. But she just can't being herself to trust him enough to have a proper relationship.
Brett is gorgeous. Of course he is, but he's also one of life's good guys. A born protector, Brett had Jacie's back years ago when she found out she was pregnant, and he's right there looking out for her now she's back in Cherry Lake. Brett and Jacie have both had a "thing" for each other since way back when though neither has owned up to it. Throw in Jacie's matchmaking daughter, who wants a lot more of Brett in her life than Jacie is willing to agree to and you have the makings of a good story. I'm pleased to say author Jeannie Watt delivered the goods. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book!

Jacie is a strong character. She makes it in a profession usually held by men, she has raised a good daughter, all by herself, to avoid the mistakes she thought her mother made, while she was young. Her mother married a man, who was a bully and abusive, not surprisingly the mayor of Cherry Lake, Clinton.
When Jacie's rebellion against the heavy handed step dad gets her pregnant, she asks her good friend Brett to marry her. But instead of going through with the wedding, she runs away. And now she is back, for the first time in ten years, in Cherry Lake.
Brett is as kind, supportive, understanding, and solid person, as he has always proven to be. And he admires Jacie as much as he did when they were in high school.
While Clinton, the mayor, is doing everything in his power to ruin Jacie job in town, Brett is doing all he can to convince Jacie to give them a chance, try to make it work, to have a relationship with him.
I liked Brett, he is nearly impossible not to like. I adored the relationship he was able to build with Jacie's daughter, no matter how much Jacie was trying to avoid that from happening. Even though I admire Jacie's commitment to rear her daughter differently than her mother, I think she went too far. To compare, to put Brett on the same line as Clinton, the abusive former stepfather, just... I don't think he did anything to deserve that. I would have liked to see much more growth, deeper conversations, and more focus on the end, to understand why did he take her back, after the insult, and the way it seemed she had used him. I also missed the old cast from the previous books. I understand that this is a different family in town, still Nate's grandchildren, and he did appear shortly couple times, but the Cherry Lake feeling was less in this story, and because of that, didn't bring so much more into the series as the previous books. It was still a good read, but more stand alone novel than the rest. So maybe this wasn't the end for the Cherry Lake Series?
A homecoming that turns out to be more than just a summer job, small town politics, lots of broken vehicles, horses, and construction problems... Another good story from Cherry Lake
~ Three Spoons

I liked this book enough that I've hunted down the rest of the Cherry Lake books. It's a sweet story with good pacing and characterization. It's a second chance story, so if that ticks your boxes definitely pick this up.

The Secret Bride (Secrets of Cherry Lake Book 5) by Jeannie Watt is a wonderful book to add to the series. Nate has only a small role in this book and I don’t remember Pansy Oppenheimer making an appearance at all. So it seems not as closely tied to the first books in the series. Still it is an enjoyable story with drama and more than a few mother issues driving it.

Jacie Rose is returning home after ten years. She is a likable and wonderful mother. I could easily identify with how she felt about dating since I have seen mothers similar to Darcy’s friend, Isabella’s. This gave the story a true realism to it. However, Brett Jackson is the kind of man she should take a chance on. I appreciated the author’s timeline so that Jacie stayed in character needing the time and distance to decide his very thing. I also like how thorn-in-the-flesh Clinton is finally put in his place. I did have some confusion on why hotel owner Georgia suddenly changed. Perhaps that will be another story entirely.

Though secretly, myself, I am hoping for more stories to come. Nate has other grandchildren that also need a happily ever after, and like Darcy I believe Lil Reynolds certainly does too.

The publisher through Net Galley provided a copy.

Second chance at love. When Jacie was scared and pregnant, Lillie and Jacie hatched a plan. That involved Brett and Jacie getting married. Brett was ready to marry Jacie but when Jacie's conscientious got a better of her, she left him at the court house and ran away. Ten years later, she comes back to Cherry Lake, for a job renovating a hotel as an engineer and she finds herself next to Brett again. Jacie has been busy keeping herself away from her evil step father Clinton and raising her daughter. She promised herself, she will only look after her. Her daughter Darby loved horses and her love of horse puts her in Brett's cousins's camp while she is working on renovation. Brett and Jacie keep running into each other and they finally get their chance at each other. They rekindle their love for each other but she keeps stopping herself from falling love again because she was unconsciously comparing Brett to Clinton. Will Jacie run away again?? Will Brett wait for her again after all those years???
Story was sweet and I was happy to see Jacie having a strong professional woman and really good at what she does. I was happy to see Jacie finally enjoying companionship other than her daughter. I didn't understand why Jacie's mom couldn't help her daughter. She was her flesh and blood. But I was happy she was standing up to Clinton. I can't wait to read other series...

Jacie Rose has come home to face her demons. She had runaway when she discovered that she was pregnant at 18. That was ten years ago, but the bad memories haven't faded. When she sees Brett Jackson who was to be her groom and savior, she feels the same attraction. Can they put the past behind them and find their way back to each other? I found The Secret Bride was an emotional story. Jacie was traumatized and physically abused by her stepfather, Clinton Calloway. His actions have made her protective of her daughter. She won't let any man hurt Darby the way that she was. Brett is a strong and loving man. He's a hard worker and honorable. He's fallen for both mother and daughter and wants to love and protect them both. It was impossible not to fall for him. He's definitely a keeper. It was easy to be drawn into this story. I cared for the characters and was charmed by Cherry Lake. The people who lived there added so much to the story. Jeannie Watt did an excellent job. I loved the romance.

The Secret Bride is part of the Secret of Cherry Lake series, about the small town of Cherry Lake and all the hidden stories about one of the founding families of the town. In The Secret Bride, its Jacie Rose and Brett Jackson on center stage. Ten years ago, Jacie and Brett were supposed to wed secretly but then suddenly Jacie upped and left leaving Brett stranded on the courthouse steps. Now Jacie Rose is back in her hometown to head a restoration project. She was prepared to face all her detractors including her vile ex-stepfather who unfortunately was the town mayor. She wasn't prepared to face Brett after leaving him at the altar without any explanation why. Brett never imagined he'd come face to face with Jacie Rose again but he wanted answers and was prepared to ask for them. But time hasn't diminished the attraction they've felt for one another and it seems to be getting stronger.

So this was a delight to read, I loved how a simple story was turning out to be a whole lot more complex than initially thought. Jacie was defnitely a deeply layered character. Brett is her good guy, her hero but she is simply a woman who has a lot of issues when it comes to relationship. She is admirable as a mother putting her daughter first in everything. But I like how her daughter, Darby, was the one to actually open her eyes regarding relationships, the mother-daughter kind and most especially the man-woman one (Darby is a smart 9 year old!) Brett has his own issues to resolve but its also an enlightening look with regards to how he proceeds to dating a single mom. The Secret Bride is definitely worth a read.

I received an ARC copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I loved the twists and turns in this story, it was written in great detail as how Jacie Ross struggles in the small town she grew up in and then returns with her daughter and falls back or still in love with Brett Jackson. It is well written with plenty of detail and it really lets you connect with the characters and love them all.

Jacie Rose and Brett Jackson were always friends. When a rebellion against her abusive step-father leaves her pregnant, she turns to Brett who agrees to marry her. At the last minute, Jacie decides to leave town, and Brett is abandoned with no explanation. Ten-years later, Jacie is back in Cherry Lake, the lead engineer on a big restoration job. She worked hard to finish school, get a good job and raise her daughter, never wanting Darby to question her importance. Which also means no relationships for her. Brett is back in Cherry Lake as well, making a go of a ranch that also houses his cousin's riding school. Of course, Jacie ends up renting next door, and Darby is excited about learning to ride...at Brett's ranch. Brett is determined to find out why Jacie left him behind and convince her that he can love her and her daughter.
I love that Jacie was determined to be successful and find a career that she could grow in, taking care of her daughter. The flip-side is that she is so determined to do things differently than her mother, that she is afraid to give a relationship with Brett a shot. The characters are well-written, the story flows, and I was so involved in the story, I didn't notice time passing until the end. Another fun small-town romance by a new-to-me author.

Traumatized by her childhood, Jacie runs away when she's about to marry. Ten years later, she returns to renovate a hotel and her neighbor is none other that the man she left at the altar when she left.
Brett is a good man, but Jacie is adamant that she won't ever trust a man, much less in her house, being a father to her little girl.

Will she ever give up that rule?

This was a short enjoyable read, with a smooth build up and good secondary characters.
The end was rushed, but overall, it was a good book.

A very well-written and sweet friends to lovers romance that will delight readers of contemporary romance! Good reading!

I loved this book it s a great read from start too finish, the characters are well written the story line is spot on and it is an easy and enjoyable read Jeannie Watt is an incredible writer.

This entire series was ridiculously excellent!