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If you’re a married woman, do you look back on your wedding day with fond memories? Of course, most of us do, even if those memories are tainted by later experiences. In The Last Bride by Beverly Lewis, we meet Tessie Ann who starts out her marriage with a bit of a snag. Her father won’t give his blessing and flat out forbids the wedding to take place. Since Tessie Ann is the last of her sisters to wed, plus she’s Amish, she’s a little bit anxious to tie the knot. There are a lot of expectations and traditions brought forth in this book that I wasn’t aware of before. I was especially curious about the rise in genetic defects in Amish babies; that’s a topic I haven’t read about in other Amish fiction.
Beverly Lewis is a wildly popular Christian fiction author but I haven’t read many of her books yet. This title really got my attention because I wanted to find out how it ended. The characters grew on me; the situations seemed not so distant from the modern “Englisch” reality. Sadly, it was so evident that Tessie Ann fought her battles alone even while surrounded by her loved ones. There were a few unexplained mysteries that went unresolved by the end of the book. I haven’t read the other Hickory Hollow books so perhaps Lewis works those out in other titles. The romance part of this book seemed to drag on for ages and it was difficult for me to stay interested in that storyline. The rest of the book, though, was quite interesting.
The next book I focused on this weekend was Rival Hearts, the newest book from the Quilts of Love collection. This book was night-and-day different from The Last Bride! In this novel, two competitive magazine editors go head to head in a joust for a promotion. I wasn’t really sure who I wanted to win. Both of the characters were vulnerable in their own way; seeing the situation from the outside made them even more endearing. I had no doubt that author Tara Randel would come through with a strong, if predictable, ending.
Rival Hearts sends a huge message about perception. There’s always another side to the story and sometimes it’s easy to get tied up in our own point of view. By learning more about the characters and their backgrounds, it’s simple to fall in love with Rival Hearts. Wrap yourself up in a cozy quilt and enjoy this book on a rainy day!
Wish I had EVERY book in the Quilts of Love series!
Family is important…however you define it or it means to you. I hold my close and love them dearly. It’s hard when things don’t go as you planned and these books seem to deal with that.
I recently learned that my mom has been reading a lot of Christian books with main characters that are Amish. She has enjoyed learning about their culture, so I’m sure she would like the Beverly Lewis book.