On The Verge Of I Do by Heidi Betts
The Kincaids
Harlequin
Contemporary
ISBN: 978-0373731633
Reviewed by Vanessa

Elijah “Eli” Houghton had decided that he was ready to settle down, marry, and have children. He had looked around him and the only woman fitting all of his criteria was his friend, Laurel Kincaid. Since she looked so good on paper, Eli proposed, and they set about planning their wedding with her wedding planning sister, Kara Kincaid, at the helm of the preparations. Kara has had a huge crush on Eli, but she has never spoken up and reached out for what she wanted. Instead, she waited and waited, and now it appeared that her love would soon be walking down the aisle with her seemingly reluctant-to-plan older sister. However, a month before the big day, Laurel has bowed out and left Kara and Eli to cancel all the plans for the ceremony citing family difficulties as one of the strongest reasons behind her decision. Eli wasn’t too broken up with the demise of his future marriage, but instead has had the blinders ripped off of his eyes. He is suddenly looking at Kara as though she may have been the answer to his dreams all along, but he just never saw her that way. He knows he is going to have his work cut out for him and uses some slick maneuvering to get Kara in his arms. Will he be able to convince her that she should stay within his reach forever, or will her feelings of guilt and remorse push her away?

On the Verge of I Do was an enjoyable read full of chemistry between the two protagonists. I liked that Eli had to work for things with Kara and that she did feel some doubt in what she was doing. Honestly, I didn’t like it that he quickly moved on to Kara after being virtually dumped at the altar in On the Verge of I Do, either. Once all the explanations were given, things explained, and the other characters didn’t truly have a problem with it, then I let it go a smidgen . . . it still bothered me a little though.

I can’t understand how Eli would think who a woman that looked so good on paper would make a great wife, or how he never thought that he should at least be able to bed his future wife. Eli quickly realizes that Kara fulfills all of his hopes and dreams on paper as well as physically in On the Verge of I Do. I did have a huge problem with Laurel’s statement to Kara of not sacrificing your happiness for someone else and their happiness in On the Verge of I Do. Primarily because of the amount of guilt Kara felt about practically being the other woman, it just didn’t sound like very good advice to give to a potential other woman. To me, it sounded selfish when looking at it that way.

Kara and Eli claimed to know each other so well, yet when push came to shove, Kara quickly questioned his motives on many things in On the Verge of I Do. Perhaps she was just looking for a scapegoat to move away from the situation that she had found herself in. I wished that Eli had been more open and honest with Kara, but then I don’t think he fully knew how he felt until later. Yet, it would have saved so much guilt for Kara if he had explained his relationship with her sister earlier on in On the Verge of I Do. Frankly, why didn’t Laurel ever reveal that little tidbit to her younger sister?

On the Verge of I Do had Laurel claiming that she gave Eli to Kara, but I don’t agree. Eli had to work at tearing down Kara’s feelings of guilt and strive to gain every inch that he obtained from her as well. No one was given by anyone else except by themselves. There was an instance of something from Eli’s past cropping up in his potential HEA with Kara in On the Verge of I Do that just felt like some manufactured drama just for the sake of drama, but in the end, it all worked itself out.