Boot Camp Bride by Lizzie Lamb

Boot Camp Bride is the perfect weekend read, it’s a light hearted, feel good page turner and once I’d started it I couldn’t put it down. The story sees Charlee Montague, an ambitious, feisty young reporter paired with award winning photographer Rafael Ffinch in order to pose as an engaged couple at a boot camp for brides to be. As far as Charlee is concerned the mission is about gaining an expose on a supermodel and her Russian oligarch boyfriend but it soon becomes clear that there is more to the assignment than she knows.

In Boot Camp Bride, Lizzie Lamb has created a wonderful protagonist in Charlee. She is every bit the gutsy, contemporary heroine and I loved her immediately. Charlee is a fiercely ambitious over achiever and we are given an insight into why when Lamb introduces her difficult, hard to please mother. Charlee’s enthusiasm is the perfect foil for the jaded, been around the block Rafael. More used to working in gritty environments and, having just survived a kidnap attempt in Columbia, Rafael is not impressed by Charlee’s perky approach. And this conflict is where the true delight of the novel lies as the two of them engage in deliciously witty repartee. Lizzie Lamb’s skill as a writer shines through in her clever and often hilarious use of dialogue.

The novel succeeds on many levels; it is a light hearted romp, interlaced with mystery and danger to keep the reader guessing. At the same time both the central characters and background characters are believable and likeable. If you’re looking for a bit of escapism from real life then this book delivers in spades.