In The Accidental Bride by Christina Skye, Jilly O’Hara is just on the cusp of success. Her restaurant is packed just about every night and her line of organic salsa is starting to take off. One busy night though, Jilly collapses in her kitchen and is diagnosed with heart problems. Her doctors orders are clear: No stress! For someone who is constantly on the go and feeds off of stress, Jilly is at a loss. Her best girlfriends decide to send Jilly on a vacation to a knitting retreat in Wyoming (Jilly doesn’t know about the knitting part). At the airport she meets the reclusive and sexy Walker Hale and his service dog, Winslow. Walker pretty much keeps to himself after returning home from Afghanistan but there is something about Jilly that is bringing him back to life. Will they find love or are their lifestyles too different?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Besides being a romance, it talks about my other favorite hobby: knitting! Reading about Jilly learning the stitches and how to hold the needles brought back fond memories of when I learned the craft. Skye does a great job of capturing the friendliness of knitters as well. If we see another knitter, we can talk for hours about our passion. Knitters are always ready to help out those learning as well.
I have to say that Winslow stole the book. His love at first sight with Jilly was so sweet and his devotion to Walker even more sweet. Then to top it off that he is a hero having saved the lives of an entire platoon.
In 
I thought the first book in this series was awesome but this book manages to top it! We get to see all of the Buchanan siblings and of course nasty Gloria with concurrent story lines. The chemistry between Walker and Elissa is hot and their story is well thought out. One of the overriding themes of this book and series is family. What makes a family? Mallery showcases the unconditional love of families, the devotion between siblings, as well as the arguments between families that are part of living.
I love Penny’s character in this book.She is a delightful combination of feisty and independent. One of my favorite scenes in the book is when she finds out Cal has been hiding a secret from her for years, one that eventually led to their marriage failing. When Cal sees Penny for the first time after she has learned the secret, Penny throws a meat cleaver at him, barely missing his head, and claiming it “slipped” from her hand.
I was a little worried when I signed up to do this review because I know nothing about country music, but the blurb sounded too good to pass up. Despite my Southern background, as I have mentioned in another review, my musical tastes are more along the lines of rock and metal. The great thing about this book is that you don’t have to be a country music fan to enjoy it. The story line focuses more on Jess and Zane ‘ s healing process and his fame is only a side note.