Good Morning Everyone :)
I hope you're all having a great week, and that the weather is bringing lovely spring temps wherever you're reading from today.
Are any of you enjoying any fun vacations during the Easter spring break?
My hubby and I did not end up going away anywhere, and stayed at home, however, I'm hoping that we'll still have time for at least one more vacation of some sorts this year.
For today's post I wanted to share with you guys another review from The Year of Weddings novella collection. It's been quite awhile since I finished the first year of these short stories, and now I've finally got around to starting the second year of stories.
Love at Mistletoe Inn by Cindy Kirk:
Source: Bought For Myself
Publisher: Zondervan
Publication Date: November 25th, 2014
Genre: Christian Fiction/Women's Fiction/Novella
Series: Year of Weddings
Synopsis:
They've helped orchestrate the perfect day for countless couples. Now twelve new couples will find themselves in the wedding spotlight in the second Year of Weddings novella collection. An owner of a Victorian inn and charming rustic barn is used to creating the perfect setting for other couples? nuptials. But when she falls head over heels for the new man in her life, will she be prepared to walk down that aisle?
(synopsis from goodreads)
My Review:
I've had positive experiences with most of the Year of Weddings novellas, with only one or two that I didn't enjoy quite as much as the others. I loved the synopsis of this one being about an owner of a wedding venue facility, and the fact that I'd heard it was a second chance romance. However, this one ended up massively disappointing me, and it's definitely my least favorite in this novella collection so far.
Hope Prentiss eloped with her high school boyfriend back when she was eighteen years old, and immediately ended up having regrets. The "minister" who married them had told them that as long as he failed to send in the paperwork, the two of them would be in the free and clear, and the marriage would be like it never actually happened. Her boyfriend John takes off and leaves, Hope goes on with her life, and all seems right with the world.
Ten years later, Hope is helping her aunt run a successful wedding venue facility, doing payroll for businesses on the side, and is dating an egotistical political candidate named Chet. Her whole world is thrown for a spin when she finds out that her high school wedding is still very much legal, despite what she'd been told, and that her aunt has invited John to come live with them on their property for awhile. Both are reeling from the news about their marriage, and decide with advice from her aunt and their pastor, to see where things can go, and if they can possibly salvage their marriage. Their aunt even throws them together to help her plan an upcoming wedding for a couple that's currently deployed.
All of this should have worked together into a story that I adored, and honestly, the writing is good, I enjoyed both of the main characters for the most part, and I loved the setting, and the fact that it was a second chance romance. However, certain parts of the content really rubbed me the wrong way. When Hope discovers that her and John are still married, she goes to him to talk about it. They end up sleeping together, as in she has sex with the man she hasn't seen in ten years, and only recently even discovered they're still married. And even worse, the only remorse shown on either of their behalves is the fact that since the marriage has been consummated they can no longer apply for an annulment. This felt really out of place in a Christian fiction novel, as they both went into the experience knowing they weren't going to stay together, but didn't see anything wrong with their actions as legally they were married.
While certain parts of this story were enjoyable, that particular scene was massively out of place, and left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Aside from that, I felt like the reader doesn't really get any confirmation of either Hope or John's feelings developing for one another, other than the physical, and I was disappointed by this fact.
Overall, I gave this installment in the Year of Weddings collection a two out of five star rating, and it's not one I will be personally recommending.
Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)
This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.
I hope you're all having a great week, and that the weather is bringing lovely spring temps wherever you're reading from today.
Are any of you enjoying any fun vacations during the Easter spring break?
My hubby and I did not end up going away anywhere, and stayed at home, however, I'm hoping that we'll still have time for at least one more vacation of some sorts this year.
For today's post I wanted to share with you guys another review from The Year of Weddings novella collection. It's been quite awhile since I finished the first year of these short stories, and now I've finally got around to starting the second year of stories.
Love at Mistletoe Inn by Cindy Kirk:
Source: Bought For Myself
Publisher: Zondervan
Publication Date: November 25th, 2014
Genre: Christian Fiction/Women's Fiction/Novella
Series: Year of Weddings
Synopsis:
They've helped orchestrate the perfect day for countless couples. Now twelve new couples will find themselves in the wedding spotlight in the second Year of Weddings novella collection. An owner of a Victorian inn and charming rustic barn is used to creating the perfect setting for other couples? nuptials. But when she falls head over heels for the new man in her life, will she be prepared to walk down that aisle?
(synopsis from goodreads)
My Review:
I've had positive experiences with most of the Year of Weddings novellas, with only one or two that I didn't enjoy quite as much as the others. I loved the synopsis of this one being about an owner of a wedding venue facility, and the fact that I'd heard it was a second chance romance. However, this one ended up massively disappointing me, and it's definitely my least favorite in this novella collection so far.
Hope Prentiss eloped with her high school boyfriend back when she was eighteen years old, and immediately ended up having regrets. The "minister" who married them had told them that as long as he failed to send in the paperwork, the two of them would be in the free and clear, and the marriage would be like it never actually happened. Her boyfriend John takes off and leaves, Hope goes on with her life, and all seems right with the world.
Ten years later, Hope is helping her aunt run a successful wedding venue facility, doing payroll for businesses on the side, and is dating an egotistical political candidate named Chet. Her whole world is thrown for a spin when she finds out that her high school wedding is still very much legal, despite what she'd been told, and that her aunt has invited John to come live with them on their property for awhile. Both are reeling from the news about their marriage, and decide with advice from her aunt and their pastor, to see where things can go, and if they can possibly salvage their marriage. Their aunt even throws them together to help her plan an upcoming wedding for a couple that's currently deployed.
All of this should have worked together into a story that I adored, and honestly, the writing is good, I enjoyed both of the main characters for the most part, and I loved the setting, and the fact that it was a second chance romance. However, certain parts of the content really rubbed me the wrong way. When Hope discovers that her and John are still married, she goes to him to talk about it. They end up sleeping together, as in she has sex with the man she hasn't seen in ten years, and only recently even discovered they're still married. And even worse, the only remorse shown on either of their behalves is the fact that since the marriage has been consummated they can no longer apply for an annulment. This felt really out of place in a Christian fiction novel, as they both went into the experience knowing they weren't going to stay together, but didn't see anything wrong with their actions as legally they were married.
While certain parts of this story were enjoyable, that particular scene was massively out of place, and left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Aside from that, I felt like the reader doesn't really get any confirmation of either Hope or John's feelings developing for one another, other than the physical, and I was disappointed by this fact.
Overall, I gave this installment in the Year of Weddings collection a two out of five star rating, and it's not one I will be personally recommending.
Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)
This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.
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