A Bride For All Seasons


A Bride For All Seasons
Margaret Brownley, Debra Clopton, Robin Lee Hatcher, and Mary Connealy
Thomas Nelson
I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m just not a fan of novella collections- at least, not when they are romances. The romance aspect just ends up feeling way to shallow, because there is so little time to give the characters a well-done relationship. The stories themselves weren’t terrible; I didn’t find them memorable, but I didn’t feel like it was a complete waste of time (although I admit I would have much rather been reading something else). And I will admit the concept behind each of the novellas was interesting: it’s a about a mail order bride service that “tweaks” it’s clients letters so they sound more desirable- which causes a lot of problems and misunderstandings once the bride and groom finally meet! Out of the four stories, I probably liked the second (An Ever After Summer) and fourth (Winter Wedding Bells) the best; I found they had the more likable and distinctive characters. I thought the first and third stories were on the boring side.

I was familiar with three of these four authors. I've never liked Margaret Brownley's books, so I wasn't surprised that her story, And Then Came Spring, wasn't to my liking. However, I have read and enjoyed one or two of Robin Lee Hatcher's book in the past, so I was surprised that Autumn's Angel was one of my least favorites. I'd never read anything by Debra Clopton before, but I found An Ever After Summer enjoyable- I really liked the sweet main character, Ellie. My favorite story was probably Winter Wedding Bells. I've read a few of Mary Connealy's books before, and though she does know how to make a girl laugh, her books have never really made me a fan, but this story I ended up liking the best. My biggest problem with the stories were the romances themselves- there wasn't really anything inappropriate, but cliched descriptions about handsome, rugged cowboys, or pretty Eastern girls just felt so overdone that I couldn't take it completely seriously, even if the storylines themselves were cute at times.

Overall, A Bride For All Seasons isn't something I'd spend money on. As I mentioned, it's not that the stories are so horrible, it's just that there's a lot better stuff out there to read.

Rating: 5

I received this book for free from booksneeze.com in exchange for my honest review.

Comments

  1. BirdieAugust 13, 2013 at 8:46 AM

    Sigh, the trope of rugged cowboys and pretty spoiled Eastern girls is quite overdone in Christian fiction these last years....

    ReplyDelete

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