A February Bride by Betsy St. Amant ~ A Contemporary Fiction Book Review



A Year of Weddings, Book 3
Betsy St. Amant
Contemporary Fiction

About the book:

A year's worth of novellas from twelve inspirational romance authors. 
Happily ever after guaranteed.

Allie left the love of her life at the altar---to save him from a lifetime of heartbreak. When a Valentine's Day wedding brings them back together, she struggles against her family's destructive history. Can Allie ever realize that a marriage is so much more than a wedding dress?

History repeats itself when Allie Andrews escapes the church on her wedding day---in the same dress passed down for generations and worn by all the women in her family---women with a long history of failed marriages. Allie loves Marcus but fears she's destined to repeat her family's mistakes. She can't bear to hurt Marcus worse. 

Marcus Hall never stopped loving Allie and can only think of one reason she left him at the altar---him. When the two are thrown together for his sister's Valentine's Day wedding, he discovers the truth and realizes their story might be far from over. Can Allie shuck expectation and discover who she is as a bride and in the Bride of Christ? And if she ever walks down the aisle, what dress will she wear?

My thoughts:

Even though this is a short novella, it contains so much! This is the beautiful telling of the story of Allie and Marcus. Match made in heaven, destined to live happily ever after . . . except Allie thinks that it just isn't possible. Allie comes from a long line of women with failed marriage after failed marriage. Why should it be any different for her? So at the very last minute she decided to toe off one shoe, then the other. Dig her painstakingly pedicured feet into the carpet for traction, grab the hem of this cursed dress, and just . . . bolt. And so she did.

Four months later her best friend and also Marcus' sister is getting married and Allison is to be the maid of honor. That's all fine and good but how can she show her face to Marcus and his family? She humiliated the whole family by leaving him at the alter. How in the world is she ever going to be able to make amends and perhaps recapture the friendship she lost?

While this is a delightful tale of a Valentine's wedding, it is also so much more. The story is really about redemption and restoration. I loved the contrast between Allie's family and Marcus' family. Betsy St. Amant did a marvelous job of showing how something damaged can be made whole again. A restored car, a refinished workbench and even a remade dress all capture the imagery of how each of us can also be made new. The dings and dents may still be visible in a few areas but when covered in love they hardly show at all.



A Year of Weddings Series

A September Bride by Kathryn Springer
An October Bride by Katie Ganshert
A November Bride by Beth K. Vogt







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