A Wedding Invitation by Alice J. Wisler

A Wedding Invitation by Alice J. Wisler


A Wedding Invitation
Alice J. Wisler
Contemporary Fiction

Back of the book:

After returning home from teaching in a refugee camp in the Philippines, Samantha Bravencourt enjoys her quiet life working at her mother’s clothing boutique near Washington, D.C. When she receives an invitation to her friend’s wedding in Winston-Salem, NC, she’s excited to reconnect with her college pals.

But the wedding turns out quite differently than Sam expects. A chance encounter leads to a reunion with Carson Brylie, a fellow teacher and the man who once broke her heart, and Lien, a young Amerasian girl who desperately needs Sam and Carson’s help.

But working with Carson might put Sam’s tender heart at risk once again. Is she willing to forgive the past and take another chance on love?


About the author:

Born and raised in Japan, I love sushi! I also enjoyed walks to the stationer's store to purchase notebooks, scented erasers and pencils when I was in elementary school. With each purchase, I was sure I was going to write a bestseller!

Now, I live in Durham, North Carolina, USA with my new husband Carl and three kids. I write, blog and enjoy crafting fun characters. All of my novels are set in North Carolina. Rain Song (Christy Finalist 2009) is my first novel and How Sweet It Is was released in April 2009. (Also a Christy Finalist in 2010). Hatteras Girl made her debut October 2010. My fourth novel, A Wedding Invitation, set in Winston-Salem, NC, is out, and this is exciting! For me, this newest novel represents the need we all have to belong and be accepted, just like the Amerasian girl Lien, one of my characters, feels.

In addition to speaking at conferences and retreats across the country, I teach online grief-writing classes---Writing the Heartache---and design and sell remembrance cards. Since my four-year-old son Daniel's death in 1997, I've written articles on coping with grief. Many of these can be read at the Open to Hope website at opentohope.com. Be sure to visit my website at alicewisler.com and my blogs: Alice Wisler and Writing the Heartache  as well as twitter.


My thoughts:

This is a delightful novel about being in the right place at the right time. The irony is that often we do not even realize that we are in the right place at the right time. Hindsight is often the only way we see this.

As with the rest of her novels, Ms. Wisler has brought to life a cast of characters that cause you to examine yourself and your own motives. One of my favorite quotes from the book comes from chapter forty-two:

“Yes, I think, the stories of our lives are never simple. There are complicated feelings and situations, and humans with complicated feelings in complicated situations. Like Thuy and Lien. There has to be more to their history than I will ever grasp—those hidden components, things that have gotten ‘pushed underneath all the living.’ Those components are what chronicle our lives, providing the vibrancy, sorrow, and frustration that can sound illogical to an outsider but make sense to the people involved.”


I highly recommend that you grab this book and settle in for a thought provoking journey. It is one of those pieces of work that will linger with you for days. Enjoy!


“Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or
Services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it
on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally
and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance
With the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides concerning the
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