May Bride - A Review

Published - April, 2014, Zondervan

Series - A Year of Weddings Novella

Author - Meg Moseley

Title - A May Bride

Format - ebook

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Ellie Martin has been planning her wedding for years. She's even got a wedding fund. Only thing she's missing is the groom. When she meets Graham Whitby one morning while gardening at a church, she thinks he's handsome. He starts to pursue her. Before long, they are in love. But with an overbearing mother in her family, will they find happily ever after?

Of all of the novellas in the Year of Weddings Series I've read so far, this one is by far my least favorite. Maybe it's because it's told in first person narration and the others aren't. I normally don't have a problem with first person narratives. But for some reason, this one kinda grated on me.

I really didn't care for Ellie much at all. It seemed that she was determined to do everything that her mother didn't like and the scenes between them were filled with tension. I thought that Gray was smooth talking and moving way too fast.

Still, the wedding scenes were beautiful and the pastor was a surprise delight.

And while I didn't particularly care for the novella, others may find it delightful, especially if reading this series.

I received this novella for free from the Booklook Bloggers Program for the purpose of reviewing. I was not required to like the book, only give my honest opinion. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of weddings, Love Inspired, novellas

Rating - 2 stars - I didn't really care for it.

Gone South - A Review

Tish McComb learns that the Civil War era ancesteral family home in Alabama is up for sale and jumps at the chance to leave frosty Michigan and start over in the deep South. Yet once she's there, she finds that old sentiments are hard to overcome because of her name. To make matters worse for herself, she takes in the local prodigal Mel. Mel's got quite a few issues and as Tish shows her love and compassion, changes start to happen. Yet with everything going against her, will Tish be able to call the small Alabama town home or will she wish she's back in Michigan?
The cover of this book is what captured my attention when I first saw it on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and some emails. In fact, the cover of this book alone has intrigued a co-worker of mine enough that she asked to borrow it from me! I'd never read anything by Meg Moseley before. And while I read a lot, most of what I read is historical romantic fiction, so I thought "Sure, I'll give a contemporary fiction novel a chance."

Overall, the story itself was good. There were some humorous moments mostly pertaining to the dog that kept escaping. I saw several parallels to some of the parables that Jesus told. The one that I thought was the most noticable was that of the Good Samaratian. Tish is the outsider who shows kindness and compassion to Mel, the native, that the residents of the town refused to help because she was the "bad girl."

I didn't find that I connected to the characters like I'd hoped. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book and it was a pleasant read, but I didn't have the heart connection that I get with some characters. While this story may not be a favorite of mine, I did pick up on the truths that the author tried to get across. From reading several of the reviews, I'm seeing that others did connect with the book, so please don't just take my opinion on the book!
I received this book for free from Waterbrook/Multnomah's Blogging for Books program for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.


Recommended to fans of contemporary fiction, Marybeth Whalen
Rating - 3.5 stars - which on Amazon will be a 3 star rating.

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