The Wedding Shop
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15
Ratings1
Average rating3
In this sweet romance, the wedding shop offers a chance at love for those who think it might be gone for good. Two women separated by decades. Both set out to help others find their dreams when their own have crumbled. It's the early 1930s, but Cora Scott is walking in stride as a career woman after having inherited her great aunt's wedding shop in Heart's Bend, Tennessee, where brides come from as far away as Birmingham to experience her famed bridal treatment. Meanwhile, Cora is counting down the days until her own true love returns from the river to make her his bride. But days turn into months and months to years. All the while, Birch Good continues to woo Cora and try to show her that while he is solid and dependable, he can sweep her off her feet. More than eighty years later, former Air Force Captain Haley Morgan has returned home to Heart's Bend after finishing her commitment to military service. After the devastating death of her best friend, Tammy, and discovering the truth about the man she loved, Haley is searching for her place in life. When Haley decides to reopen the romantic but abandoned wedding shop where she and Tammy played and dreamed as children, she begins a journey of courage, mystery, and love. As Cora's and Haley's stories intertwine through time in the shadow of the beloved wedding shop, they both discover the power of their own dreams and the magic of everyday love. "I adored The Wedding Shop! Rachel Hauck has created a tender, nostalgic story, weaving together two pairs of star-crossed lovers from the present and the past with the magical space that connects them. So full of heart and heartache and redemption, this book is one you'll read long into the night, until the characters become your friends, and Heart's Bend, Tennessee, your second hometown." --Beatriz Williams, New York Times bestselling author "The Wedding Shop is the kind of book I love, complete with flawed yet realistic characters, dual timelines that intersect unexpectedly, a touch of magic, and a large dose of faith. Two breathtaking romances are the perfect bookends for this novel about love, forgiveness, and following your dreams. And a stunning, antique wedding dress with a secret of its own. This is more than just a good read--it's a book to savor." --Karen White, New York Times bestselling author This sweet, split-time romance is a standalone novel that can also be read as a companion novel with New York Times bestseller The Wedding Dress. Includes discussion questions.
Featured Series
2 primary booksThe Wedding Collection is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2012 with contributions by Rachel Hauck.
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FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. A positive review was not required. These are my honest thoughts.
Oh, how I wish I could have loved this story! The cover was pretty and grabbed my attention. The fact that a wedding shop and renovation were featured tickled my heart.
But I just could not get past the wonky theology.
Comparing a “magic” wedding dress that never needed to be altered to fit a variety of women over many decades to the Gospel (which was not capitalized in the story, but my personal preference in respect to the Holy Word of God is to capitalize it) twice and to God Himself once rubbed me the wrong way and seemed very disrespectful to the Almighty. Examples from the book: “Try [the dress] on? I want to see how God fits on you.” “This dress is like the [G]ospel...” “[The dress is] the [G]ospel... the trick is to believe.”
After a lady “imagined she saw a glow emerging from [the preacher's] mouth every time he said the name Jesus,” she “decided that night to follow Jesus.” I wasn't shocked when her faith later got “snuffed out” since her initial experience with it was based on magical, glowing words.
“You keep believing for us both, won't you?” This line was a request so that the asker didn't have to try to have faith in God for herself. That isn't the way faith works. Each person has to work out their own faith in Jesus (Philippians 2:12).
Other reasons I struggled to enjoy this book...
I had a hard time finding any reason to like Birch. He seemed like a lovesick puppy who was stuck on a girl who couldn't care less about him. It was so obvious that she didn't care one iota about him as more than a friend, yet he pined for her through the entire story to the point of annoyance to this reader. Why he thought she'd “led me to believe, given time, you'd consider me” was beyond my ability to understand since the gal had claimed her love for this other guy the entire time, including to Birch's face on a number of occasions. Then, to top off my dislike for Birch, when courting failed to win her over, he decided to attempt to buy her love with promises for a new stove and a generator for electricity and other material things. This was disheartening, because buying one's love takes the meaning right out of it.
There was some awkward and explicit sensual content, such as, “The soft curve of her breast pressed his arm and his pulse snapped like a firecracker.” Ew. I'd rather not have had that image seared into my brain, thanks.
A character's mom encouraged him to let another guy extort him rather than reporting it to the authorities. I don't see how extortion (which is illegal, by the way) is the answer to solving problems in a positive way. Yet, there it was, one of the magic answers to solve the leads' problems. I cannot condone doing something illegal to get what a person wants.
So, there were some things I enjoyed about this book. I enjoyed most of Haley's story. I wasn't a fan of her promiscuous background, but I did love her devotion to a promise she made her best friend and her dedication to revitalizing the wedding shop. I liked that she wanted to bring a freshness to a place most of the town thought should be razed. The shop itself was amazing. I wish it existed in real life. I imagine it would be stunning and the talk of any town, if it were run the way Jane and Cora and Haley did it. Despite her complete naiveté, I liked Cora. I think she was way too naïve for having not known in a gossipy small town that the guy she loved was a heel, but I admired the way she ran her shop and wanted every bride to have their special dress for their special day. And trousseaux! I have always loved the idea of a trousseau, and I'm glad this was featured in this book.
I think I'm done with Mrs. Hauck's books. I have read eight of them now, hoping to find some keepers. Unfortunately, all but one of them had “magic” and/or wonky theology, which just doesn't cut it in the Christian fiction market for me. I'm so disappointed that I couldn't enjoy them as I had hoped.
