For sixty years, a wedding chapel sat silent, waiting for love. But times have changed and the hour has come when it just might be too late.
Retired hall-of-fame football coach Jimmy “Coach” Westbrook never imagined anything would come of his labor of love—the wedding chapel he built for Collette Greer, the woman he fell for back in ’49. But now an offer has come to turn the chapel into what it was meant to be—a place for love—and Jimmy sees no reason to hang onto his dream any longer.
Photographer Taylor Branson is trying to make a life for herself in New York. Leaving her hometown of Heart’s Bend, Tennessee, she put a lot of things behind her, including her family’s abysmal marriage rate. But love surprises her when she falls head-over-heels for Jack Forester, a top ad man. Their whirlwind romance results in an elopement, and a mountain of doubt. Jack, while genuine in his love for Taylor, can never seem to overcome his own demons to find the words of his heart.
When Taylor takes an assignment in Heart’s Bend, the job does more than send her back to her hometown, but into a world of family secrets buried beneath the sands of time.
When Taylor’s journey intersects with Coach’s, they rediscover the heartbeat of their dreams and that the love they long to hold is right in front of them. And worth every waiting moment.
Rachel Hauck rules the field of romance writing. She is one of the few writers whose books I could pick up at any time and read over and over again, no matter my mood or external circumstances. In fact, I don’t just reread them, but I’m ready to flip back to the beginning immediately upon reading the final words. They’re that good – I’m never ready to leave the characters.
The characters themselves are one of the reasons why. Hauck writes amazingly loveable characters with big, glaring flaws – and that’s precisely why I like them so much. They may be externally beautiful, but they don’t have it all together, and neither do I. Their problems with love, family situations, and faith journeys are ones that I can relate to. I understand them and their problems, and since they all seem to have a bit of the friend-next-door quality to them, I feel a part of their lives. I feel as if I know them, and that makes the story all the more exciting.
Another reason Hauck always comes out on top is her writing style. She’s smooth, concise, and vivid. Her word choice always paints brilliant pictures in my mind so that I can literally see the scene as if I were really there. She brings emotions to life and plumbs the depths of love, despair, and joy as no other writer does. I love the way that her books span decades to tell a story that’s years in the making. She makes me think about the spiritual lessons the characters learn and the analogies that the book events make for character traits and life events. I hate to put them down.
What really puts Hauck on top, though, is the way that she wraps all of these traits up in a romantic story. I think romance stories can be dangerous because they can inadvertently cause us to expect our husbands or boyfriends to behave in the same romantic, awesome ways as those leading book men – and no man can live up to those imaginary standards. Hauck’s books aren’t like those others, though. I think it’s because her characters and her stories are so compellingly authentic. They’re really flawed – not like having an extra five pounds but like being bitter and heartbroken – and they make big mistakes in the love arena, too. Ones that are bigger than the I-don’t-wanna-be-with-her scenario that are featured in many books. These big, lasting-for-decades problems seem real. The characters seem real. Their situations are real, and because these people don’t seem like poster people for love, I can read them without worrying that I’ll push the romantic actions of the character onto my husband.
I realize that The Wedding Chapel just released, but I’m not ready to put it down. I see more rereading of Hauck’s books in my near future ….
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Rachel Hauck is an award-winning, best selling author of critically acclaimed novels such as The Wedding Dress, Love Starts with Elle, and Once Upon A Prince. She also penned the Songbird Novels with multi-platinum recording artist, Sara Evans. Booklist named their novel, Softly and Tenderly, one of 2011 Top Ten Inspirationals. She serves on the Executive Board for American Christian Fiction Writers and is a mentor and book therapist at My Book Therapy, and conference speaker. Rachel lives in central Florida with her husband and pets.
Connect with Rachel: website, Twitter, Facebook
I received a free copy of this book from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review.
