Wedding countdown

It is only four more 'sleeps' until The Wedding.

We have arrived in Norfolk, after a hectic weekend of lovely visitors and preparing the house for our absence and kind friends coming to look after Pickle Dog. The summer has been absolutely fantastic, so the joy of sunny days has seemed endless. It has been too wonderful being outside to write a blog.

But still, I have written in my mind as I have dried rose and flower petals, gathered childhood photos for creating bunting for the marquee and gathered Jonny's belongings to bring over.

He is marrying and leaving his home, his father and his mother to be united with his wife. How good, how right, how happy...

My mind and heart are full to overflowing.

A June Bride: book review A Year of Weddings

Our June Bride, Wynne Hardy, suffering from rejection when Callum broke her heart, agreed to let her friend Picky send a video clip of her to reality TV show The Rejection Connection. Surprisingly, she is selected and on it, she meets Andy, who, catching her unawares, proposes to her on air. She accepts, and the wedding machine, accompanied by a huge amount of publicity, is set in motion.

Yet Callum suddenly reappears, and Wynne's life is thrown into confusion. Add in interfering Meredith, a 'star' from TV programme Marathon Mom, hectic plans for a very public beach wedding, lots of conflicting feelings and a 'June wedding' is thrown into doubt. Will it really happen, in spite of all the plans?

Wynne is surrounded by secrets and intrigue, particularly from Meredith, her new-found friend. Can she unravel and understand what is happening, not least, within herself as both Andy and Callum claim her affections?

I enjoyed MaryBeth's writing, though I worked out what would happen fairly early on. I found the clues rather too obvious and would have liked to have been kept guessing a little more. Still, what did I expect? This is a light-hearted, short, romantic novel, perfect for whiling away a couple of summer hours on the beach. Good fun.

About the author: Marybeth Whalen is the wife of Curt and mom of six children. She is the director of She Reads, an online book club focused on spotlighting the best in women's fiction. Marybeth is the author of The Mailbox, She Makes It Look Easy and The Guest Book. Marybeth spends most of her time in the grocery store but occasionally escapes long enough to scribble some words. She's always at work on her next novel. Marybeth and her family live in North Carolina. You can find her online at www.marybethwhalen.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLookblogger program. I was not required to write a positive review.

Four Weddings and a Kiss... #notTheWedding #justabookreview

Well, yes, I do have weddings on my mind at the moment. One particular Wedding, as beloved son and beloved daughter-in-law get married in a couple of weeks' time.

Yet marriage, as we know, is both fairytale and in-real-life, romantic and prosaic... just so with the four stories gathered together in this book.

The book opens with a conundrum: a preacher in love with an Unsuitable Girl finds himself on the receiving end of wise advice from four older preachers, sitting round a fire, telling stories...stories of unlikely marriages to similarly Unsuitable females.

Each story has a happy ending for its unlikely heroine: a girl who behaves like a boy - until she has to help her neighbour with womanly tasks, thereby discovering her femininity while demonstrating her strength. A clever, independent woman is more than competent at running a newspaper. A plucky victim of a tornado, unwillingly accepting help to rebuild her ranch and her life. And a vulnerable woman, unjustly accused of murder, who nevertheless comports herself with winsome dignity.

The women are not 'rescued' by a handsome prince -whether that be a hard-working rancher, an ambitious editor, a wandering cowboy or a conservative lawyer - yet each one discovers strength in herself and in the relationship. There are five happy endings in this book: the four stories, and the story of the confused preacher who finds... yes, he finds that his Unsuitable Girl is, in fact, eminently suitable to be a preacher's wife.

Although written by four different authors - Mary Connealy, Robin Lee Hatcher, Margaret Brownley and Debra Clopton - the stories form an agreeable whole. For an enjoyable, light read, it is well worth looking out for more from the same authors.

Western romance is not my particular interest, but I was given this free of charge by Booklook Bloggers, who always offer quality books. This was no exception.

Lists. #wedding

Just over three weeks to go. Jonny arrives for a few days next Friday, so we'll be able to catch up.

Meanwhile, I am writing lists. And lists of lists. Ticking items off - hat, shoes and bag sorted, thanks to the kindness of a dear friend.

So far the list looks like this:

Wedding necessities

Electrical

Small gazebo for generator

Protective netting ditto

Protective red and white tape

Plastic stakes

Duck tape (? Maybe it's actually called DUCT tape. I know it as Bodge Tape. The silver stuff, anyway.)

Screwdrivers  pliers etc

Warning signs – car triangles and laminated signs: no entry and electrical hazard

Scissors. And The Toolbox - you never know...

4 x RCD lights

Christmas lights

Long string of fairy lights

4 x coloured lights

Portable LED light

Fripperies

Dried rose petals

Printed and cut up photos

As for everything else...it's all in hand...

Lights! #wedding

Hmmm... generators.  How much power/how little power.... quotes from companies for all amounts of power...

Meanwhile, we have or have planned:
tea light lanterns and jam jars
garden solar-powered lights
strings and strings of fairy lights
battery-powered lights...
and...disco lights!  Remotely controlled in a myriad of colours. Richard is fascinated by them....

It will be BEAUTIFUL.

Holidays...and the countdown begins. #wedding

Sunday, July 6th.  In four weeks' time, Jonny and Adele's wedding will be over and they will be married.

So much to do, so little time.

But actually, all is well in hand. The church is booked; the music and service and all those helping; the venue: a marquee in a country field; the dresses: sorted. Even mine: I whizzed into town yesterday and, with the decisive help of Hero Husband, found two dresses (in the summer sale: bonus) after trying on six in three different shops, all in fifty minutes from start to finish. Result.

Now it is tying up the details. A friend and I have dried rose petals and poppy seed heads. Adele, my beautiful lovely daughter-in-law-to-be, has created and collected all kinds of artistic decorations. Her mum, Judy, and I have had The Hat conversation. (Yes, we will.) And Hero Husband is busy investigating all the electrical needs....

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.