A May Bride - book review

Starting to catch up on book reviews. Phew. Takes a while.


A May Bride by Meg Moseley is another light romance in the series 'A Year of Weddings'.  Fun, as Ellie (Ellison) Martin meets the man of her dreams, Gray Whitby, embarks on a whirlwind romance and becomes engaged - quite quickly, it seems to me, as this happens before we have even reached halfway through the  book.

But all is not plain sailing. Throw in some doubts and divided loyalties, as Ellie seeks to placate her controlling mother and keep her younger sister, Alexa, happy. Alexa's wedding looms, but then, when her mother discovers that Alexa and her fiance have put 'bed before the wed', her mother refuses to pay for the wedding and all the plans are thrown in turmoil. Ellie, who has saved for her wedding since she left high school, generously gives her wedding fund to Alexa: without asking Gray first.

He is, understandably, upset that she has made such a major decision - which impacts hugely on their own wedding plans - without asking him. So the road to a happy ever after ending becomes rocky and uneven.

There are quirky details in the book. Ellie meets Gray when he is guest at a 'guerrilla wedding'.  Ellie, a country girl who lives in the city of Atlanta, is secretly 'guerrilla gardening' in a churchyard, pulling up weeds and enjoying the peace when a wedding party arrives. Avoiding fees, the couple are married, unbeknownst to the resident minister, in the churchyard. Gray notices Elllie hiding in the bushes and....so Boy meets Girl.

Ellie's relationship with her mother is one which many girls - particularly eldest daughters - will recognise. Feeling an undue sense of responsibility to keep her single mother happy, Ellie does not always put her relationship with Gray first, causing tension between the couple.  Ellie is also at risk of jeopardising her own happiness while also sacrificing her future plans to her self-centred younger sister.

All works out well in the end: Ellie is married, her mother makes compromises and the story ends with hope for the future. Not just the young married couples, but also for the older generation as Ellie's mom is brought to a different realisation about her daughters' lives.

An interesting, albeit very light, read. My thanks to BookLook Bloggers and Zondervan for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book: I am enjoying this 'Year of Weddings' series and am looking forward to the next one.

A January Bride (A 'Year of Weddings' Novella)

When Booksneeze offered me the chance to read and review A January Bride (for free!), I jumped at the chance. I had already read A December Bride, a gentle romance and this one did not disappoint.

Madeleine Hunter, novelist, has temporarily moved into her sister's house in the small town of Clayburn, Kansas, to housesit while the house is undergoing renovation and finish writing her latest book. The chaos makes writing difficult, so her elderly neighbour Ginny offers the use of a friend's house. This 'house' is, in fact, an inn, closed for the winter season. 'Annabeth's Inn' is a beautiful haven, which Maddie has to herself while the owner, a widower, is out at work during the day.

And so the romance begins. Arthur Taylor, whose young wife Annabeth died of cancer three years previously, leaves a welcome note for Maddie. She replies, and a sweet correspondence begins during which the two start to form a deep friendship. However, each assumes - erroneously - that the other is elderly since they both know that the other is a friend of Ginny's. Deborah Raney weaves a fabric of charming misunderstandings back and forth until, half way through the book, Arthur realises that Maddie is the same beautiful young woman he has already met and been attracted to at the local post office. He introduces himself to his visitor and the two begin their romance.

Yet Arthur is still grieving for Annabeth. We walk with Arthur and Maddie as they examine their feelings for each other, wondering if they can risk possible rejection and hurt. There is, of course, a happy ending for the two of them together.

I enjoyed this charming book - reminiscent of Jean Webster's classic 'Daddy-Long-Legs' - and found it almost too short. Yes, I know it is a novella, so what else could I expect, save that I did not want to leave Maddie's world so quickly. Now, it is onto 'A February Bride'...