Manga Maniac Cafe

2 stars

I purchased The Millionaire’s Runaway Bride because it was on sale at Amazon. Sometimes that’s all the motivation I need! Also, I liked the cover illustration. The colors are appealing, and I liked the angular lines of the characters’ faces. So how did I enjoy it? Read on!

Have you ever been pumped to see a movie because the trailers are so good? Only to discover the trailers weren’t representative of the final movie, and that all of the best scenes were in the promos? That’s how I feel about the artwork. The interior pages are nothing like the slick cover. The hands were so out of proportion that it quickly became distracting, and that made me more critical of the rest of the illustrations. Stiff, awkward body positions, blocky arms and shoulders, and unnatural motion made this a challenge to look at. The art literally hurt my eyes. The only good thing I can find to say is that Kate’s hair had all of the graceful motion everything else was missing.

The dialog was just as stiff as the art, but maybe I feel that way because the story was so convoluted. Kate breaks off her engagement with Jack because she doesn’t want to stay in the country and have a flock of kids. She wants to go to London and get an exciting job. Jack can’t move because he’s helping run the family business and he doesn’t want to give that up. Instead, he says adios to Kate, and carries on with his life plan, while she heads off to the big city to follow hers.

Shortly after finding that high powered position she was hungry for, Kate decides she was a tad hasty rejecting Jack. When she goes to ask for his forgiveness, she learns that he’s already married someone else! What a jerk! Not even three months after they broke up. So Kate puts him from her mind, and works like a demon, rejecting suitors left and right (according to Jack, anyway).

After her sister and brother-in-law are killed in an accident, she gives up her career and moves back home to the counrtyside. With custody of her niece Joanna, she is determined to give her the best possible life. Working part-time as a virtual assistant, she somehow has the money to fix up her sister’s old house and send her niece to a boarding school as well. She also meets Jack again, and they are still drawn to each other, but Kate swears she’s going to resist him. We learn later that it’s because of a Deep Dark Secret, but until the reveal, her attitude towards Jack just seems weird.

There is also sleep walking, a big storm, a mean married woman carrying a torch for Jack, and the Deep Dark Secret. The plot bounced around so much that I was confused more than once. There were a lot of irritations about this book. The art, Kate’s manipulative sister, even that mean wife. There are times when a plot just rubs you the wrong way, and this was one of them.

Grade: C-