Why should Young Adult novels corner the market on coming of age stories? This was an adult coming of age story for our heroine Naomi and I loved watching her journey to find herself.

Let me just say, runaway brides are not my usual jam. There have been a select few I’ve truly enjoyed and I can say that Runaway Girl is now a part of that select group. Naomi ran away from her big southern wedding with a little bit of cash, her honeymoon suitcase, while still wearing her wedding dress. She ends up in Florida where she meets Jason Bristo and his surly little sister.

Are you a fan of big, sexy, hairy hero? Of course you are. Well, Tessa Bailey has written the hero for you. I’m not saying that I pictured our scuba diving, special ops hero as Jason Momoa in the new Aquaman previews, but I’m also not saying I didn’t. Jason (the character not the actor) was so sexy and gruff. I love a man that knows what he wants and he wanted Naomi from the first.

Naomi was an interesting character. As I mentioned, she had a lot of growing to do as a person. I think her parents were borderline abusive and it took a crazy amount of courage to shake the societal and personal expectations that were put on her. I think she handled the obstacles that came at her with grace, poise, and a sly sense of humor. I really wanted to be her friend by the end of the novel.

It did take me a little while to really get into the story. The beginning was a little slow but I loved the direction Tessa took the novel. Runaway Girl gave me major Susan Elizabeth Phillips vibes (if SEP had MUCH steamier sex scenes). That’s one of the highest compliments coming from me. I loved watching Jason’s sister grow almost as much as I loved the actual love story. There was depth, character development, the right amount of angst, gosh I want to reread this book already!

Side note: THAT EPILOGUE. Tessa threw it in there just to make me burst into an ugly cry… I’m sure of it.

**I received an ARC of this book in order to provide an honest review**

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