An April Bride by Lenora Worth ~ A Contemporary Fiction Book Review

An April Bride

A Year of Weddings, Book 5

Lenora Worth

Contemporary Fiction

About the book:

A year's worth of novellas from twelve inspirational romance authors.

Happily ever after guaranteed.

A charming wedding novella set in the spring. What will happen when love and wedding plans come together this April?

War changes everything . . . even their love.

Bride-to-be Stella Carson can't wait to marry her longtime sweetheart Marshall Henderson. But Marshall has been away serving his country and has suffered a head wound. After being diagnosed with post-traumatic disorder, he has distanced himself from Stella, asking her not to visit him in the Washington, D.C. hospital. Marshall returns to Louisiana just four weeks before the wedding, but as the big day draws near, Stella wonders if the man she's loved for most of her life has become someone else.

Can true love conquer all for Stella and Marshall? Even the tragedy of war?

My thoughts:

It is so difficult when someone you love goes off to war. But sometimes it is even harder when they come home. Stella has been patiently waiting for Marshall to finish his tour of duty after which they will be married. Right before Marshall was set to leave the war zone he and his group of soldiers were hit with an IED. The impact killed several of Marshall's buddies and gave him a head injury that has resulted in memory loss.

Once he arrives home he is determined to press on with the wedding. But as it gets closer and closer the idea of Marshall not remembering Stella begins to put up more and more barriers between the two. Can they really build a life together when Marshall doesn't remember where their story began?

War has such far reaching effects and this little novella delves into the results of PTSD and head injuries. I enjoyed this story and liked the story line that was the basis. However I thought that it would have been better told in a longer format. Many of the angst that the characters had seemed to be shallow and self-serving because the story had to move along. Either way it still made me stop and think about how those facing such a trauma without a faith in God could have even a glimmer of hope. For a quick read that will cause you to ponder what it would be like to loose all memory of those you love pick this novella up.