Don’t Kiss the Bride by Carian Cole
I guess you could say I was a damsel in distress, and he was my knight in shining armor.
But more accurately, I was a girl with a lot of bad luck, and he was a guy with a lot of muscles and tattoos.
Jude “Lucky” Lucketti wasn’t just a sexy, brooding construction worker. He was my own personal hero who seemed to be in all the right places at the right times. Like when my car broke down and I needed a ride home, and when I face planted on the sidewalk right in front of him and had to be taken to the emergency room.
Those weren’t exactly my best moments, but they were his.
We became friends, and it didn’t matter that he was sixteen years older than me. We had a lot in common—like our love of old rock music and vintage fast cars, and our aversion to relationships.
When he approached me with a crazy idea to help me out, I couldn’t say no.
The arrangement was supposed to be temporary. A marriage on paper and nothing else.
It should’ve been easy, but it wasn’t.
Because here I am, eighteen years-old, still in high school, and married to a man I was never supposed to fall in love with.
We had just one rule—no kissing the bride.
But we broke that rule, and it sealed our fate forever.
- File Name:dont-kiss-the-bride-by-carian-cole.epub
- Original Title:Don't Kiss the Bride: An Age Gap, Marriage of Convenience Romance
- Creator:Carian Cole
- Language:en
- Identifier:MOBI-ASIN:B08VH1C4Q5
- Date:2021-01-29T18:30:00+00:00
- File Size:778.857 KB
Table of Content
- 1. Title Page
- 2. Copyright
- 3. Dedication
- 4. Contents
- 5. Lucky & Sparkles
- 6. Chapter 1
- 7. Chapter 2
- 8. Chapter 3
- 9. Chapter 4
- 10. Chapter 5
- 11. Chapter 6
- 12. Chapter 7
- 13. Chapter 8
- 14. Chapter 9
- 15. Chapter 10
- 16. Chapter 11
- 17. Chapter 12
- 18. Chapter 13
- 19. Chapter 14
- 20. Chapter 15
- 21. Chapter 16
- 22. Chapter 17
- 23. Chapter 18
- 24. Chapter 19
- 25. Chapter 20
- 26. Chapter 21
- 27. Chapter 22
- 28. Chapter 23
- 29. Chapter 24
- 30. Chapter 25
- 31. Chapter 26
- 32. Chapter 27
- 33. Chapter 28
- 34. Chapter 29
- 35. Chapter 30
- 36. Chapter 31
- 37. Chapter 32
- 38. Chapter 33
- 39. Chapter 34
- 40. Chapter 35
- 41. Chapter 36
- 42. Chapter 37
- 43. Chapter 38
- 44. Chapter 39
- 45. Chapter 40
- 46. Chapter 41
- 47. Chapter 42
- 48. Chapter 43
- 49. Chapter 44
- 50. Chapter 45
- 51. Chapter 46
- 52. Chapter 47
- 53. Chapter 48
- 54. Chapter 49
- 55. Chapter 50
- 56. Chapter 51
- 57. Chapter 52
- 58. Chapter 53
- 59. Chapter 54
- 60. Chapter 55
- 61. Epilogue
- 62. About the Author
- 63. Connect with Carian Cole
- 64. Books by Carian Cole
- 65. Newsletter
**Trigger Warning: Eating disorder, mental health issues, child abandonment, child neglect. Don’t Kiss the Bride was about Jude “Lucky” Lucketti, a 34-year-old owner of a construction company, and 18-year-old Skylar Timmons (and her cat named Fluffle-Up-A-Gus). Jude was working at a residential construction site across from the local high school. On the first day of school, his attention was drawn to a girl getting out of a vintage Corvette. When her car won't start again after school, Jude offered to help have her car towed to a mechanic he knew and to give her a ride home. Unknown to him, Skylar's living conditions weren't great, and she did her best to hide it from him by waiting until he drove away before entering her house. However, after getting to know her, taking her to the hospital when she passed out on the sidewalk in front of the school and then learning about her living conditions and health issues, Jude decided to offer her a marriage of convenience, and then later divorce when Skylar was able to stand on her own two feet and take care of herself. Skylar made the rule that he would not kiss the bride. Sounded simple, right? You know what they say about the road to hell, right? Right, 3 weeks later, they were married in Jude's backyard, and after the officiant pronounced them husband and wife...he kissed the bride when told to do so, twice. Then he immediately left to go somewhere to play pool, leaving Skylar alone on the day of their wedding and into the night. When he returned, he fixed her some toast, patted her on the head, and said, "Happy wedding day". Wow...smooth, right? And he was thinking all she felt for him was a childish crush. Skylar had some major issues with eating (the medical terminology was Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, or ARFID, for short), and Jude was very patient with her, even though he didn't understand it. Jude was determined to help her get better, knowing she had no one else to lean on while going to doctors and getting therapy for her issues. But what he wasn't willing to admit was that he was beginning to feel something other than just friendship for her. He, a guy who didn't do relationships, was starting to want more. However, he had also been tempted to cheat on her while playing pool with his buddy, except thoughts of Skylar kept getting in his way, causing him to turn down the advances he was receiving. While Jude and Skylar talked about most things under the sun, they never really talked about the important things, like their emotions, what they wanted from the other, or whether or not they wanted the marriage to work out. That was something they always avoided, which also made the book that much longer and dulled the chemistry between them. While the chemistry was there, the two main characters didn't do anything about it until around Chapter 29, and even then, it wasn't spicy. While the story was good, it was long and full of slang that was as bad to the mind as nails on a chalkboard are to the spine. It was cringe-worthy each time someone said things like "chillax" or "ship" (as in the word "relationship"), and this happened from the opening of the story to the end. It made the book seem as vintage as the car Skylar drove, even though it was new enough to include things like Netflix, iPhones, and TikTok. With one of the main characters being only a senior in high school (Skylar), and the other (Jude) having dropped out a few months before graduating, the author used a lot of "ya's", "ain't", and "gonna" throughout the book. It grated on the nerves. The book took quite a few twists and turns that boggled the mind. Sometimes the path it went down was expected, but at other times, it veered off wildly and into such unknown territory that didn't quite fit with the rest of the plot. It was as if it was two different books that the author somehow meshed together by taking bits and pieces from each story and trying to meld them together to make one very incohesive novel. When the book did that, it was a garbled mess. Too many people interfered with the relationship between Jude and Skylar. Everyone had an opinion, and no two people agreed with the other. That caused a tremendous amount of havoc between them, and it kept tearing them apart. While there was one main villain(ness), there were many antagonists throwing their two cents worth into the pot. But could two people be more idiotic than these two main characters?! I mean, really? 55 chapters and they can't be open about their feelings but, oh, they can talk about literally everything else? The author made these two such pathetic characters and they definitely did NOT make a good hero or heroine. The MMC was such a wimp for much of the story, and the FMC was a doormat who couldn't stand up for herself. I mean, sure she had some medical and mental health issues, but come on you don't let everyone walk all over you like that! The emotions of this book ran the gamut, with angst, heartache, anger, fear, a touch of humor, and love being the ones in the spotlight. The storyline was such a rollercoaster ride with all the different turns the plot took (as previously stated) you never knew when it would change again. But there was quite a bit of confusion because it just didn't gel together as well as it should have. There was also too much fluff n stuff that stifled the flow of the book. The main characters weren't as well-developed as they could have been, and at times they were both too immature for the roles they had. However, it was odd that at times, the author made the 18-year-old FMC more mature than the 34-year-old MMC. Even with her background of emotional and mental abuse she received from her parents, Skylar had a more level head on her shoulders at any given point than the MMC. Everything she endured throughout her 18 years gave her more strength and backbone than most of the heroines I've ever read about in any novel or novella. Sometimes, Jude could be the sweetest, most loving character ever written but, with his background of being a high school dropout, and someone who had been hooked on drugs in his teenage years, his insecurities and his fear of abandonment kept him from developing emotionally and mentally until the very last moment. The other, secondary characters were okay, but they were also quite immature...even the older ones. While this book tended to be long and tedious and, at times, full of fluff n stuff, it was still a decent story. If the author ever decided to rework it, leaving out the excessive slang and too much filler, and possibly cutting back on some of the twists and turns that detracted from the storyline, then this book might have the chance of garnering a higher rating. As it stands, though, I can't give it more than a four-star rating.
Loved it
I read all the hype and decided to read it. It was ok..not what everyone was raving about, glad they did get a HEA in the end though.
Omg I loved it. I cried and felt so much for the both of them. It's a really great read. At times the back and forth of you don't love me and we should end things go a bit much but to get to the end it was worth it. Read it!♥️♥️♥️♥️
This was so GOOD!! One of the sweetest love story ever ❤️❤️
That is some epic, amazing and hands down the best love story ever!♥️♥️♥️ 5⭐👍👍👍👍. Love the pets too.
Agreed ❤️
read it in one sitting. Loved it ❤
All time's favourite❤