Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

secrets

Timeless love, family secrets & vacant chapel: Review of The Wedding Chapel by Rachel Hauck

When a wedding chapel in a rural Tennessee town no one knows about is discovered by an architecture magazine, the secrets it holds begin to be revealed. Sixty years prior, a man in love built the chapel for the woman he intended to marry. Then he was sent away to war and forces intervened to keep them apart. Now the chapel  is the gateway to love rekindled for two couples who are bound by more than they know.

wedding chapelThe Wedding Chapel by Rachel Hauck is an endearing story set across decades, with similarities to the popular Nicholas Sparks book The Notebook (but so much better, in my opinion). (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my review.)

Hauck delivers in-depth characters in retired football hall of famer Jimmy Westbrook and soap opera star Colette Greer,  now both in their 80s, whose lives have been separated by misunderstanding and unforgiveness. And the spontaneous and fledgling love between Taylor Branson and Jack Forester, who reconnected in New York after growing up in the same Tennessee town, is gut-wrenchingly realistic. I was drawn into each character’s point of view individually, and was moved by the journey each one takes to heal from past hurts.

Hauck weaves the storylines seamlessly and creates the right amount of drama to keep the pages turning. This story of hope, love, forgiveness and reconciliation is a must-read for romance readers.

When it's hard to move on: Review of The Beautiful Daughters by Nicole Baart

With some authors I love, I’m reluctant to pick up their newest book and read it because I’m afraid this will be the one book they write I don’t like, or I’m afraid I’ll like it so much I won’t want the story to end. That’s the case with anything Nicole Baart writes. Two years ago, she wrote a book that was my favorite of the whole year before the year had even started. Sleeping in Eden is still on my list of all-time favorites.

the beautiful daughtersSo, when this beauty, The Beautiful Daughters, arrived a few months ago, I set it aside. For later, I said. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for a review.) Its release date was set for April, so I had some time.

Well, now it’s April, so I had to take a deep breath and dive in.

As usual, I had nothing to worry about.

Nicole Baart writes some of my favorite words and sentences. She plumbs the depths of human emotions. Her characters are haunted by a decision or a circumstance, and the drama that plays out as a result of their choices is riveting.

beautiful daughters quote pin

So it is with The Beautiful Daughters.

Adrienne, daughter of an Iowa dairy farmer and Harper, the stunning girl from who-knows-where, formed an unlikely friendship in college. With Adri’s brother Will, his friend Jackson and the aloof heir to the Galloway fortune, David, they become The Five, a makeshift family. When a post-graduation trip to British Columbia ends in tragedy, Adri and Harper run from each other and the memories–Adri to West Africa as a nurse for a non-profit and Harper to a hellish existence she thinks she deserves. Five years later, they both return to Blackhawk, Iowa, where memories haunt them and the truth is revealed.

I’ve been reading Baart’s books for a few years, and her stories are better each time. While she used to write for the Christian market, her last couple of books have been in the general market, and her writing is the better for it. Her stories are grittier and more real and peppered with appropriate language for dark circumstances without being gratuitous. Yet, they’re still filled with hope.

The Beautiful Daughters is a story of darkness and light, of identity lost and found, of friendship and love and how choices can change the course of our lives, for worse and for better.

Nicole Baart releasing a new book is good news.

Want more good news? I have a copy to give away!

Leave me a comment here on the blog and I’ll enter you for a chance to win The Beautiful Daughters. (U.S. residents only.) Contest is open until Sunday, May 3, when I’ll pick a winner using random.org.

Have you read any of Nicole Baart’s books before? Check out her website and let me know which of her books sounds most interesting to you. (I wish I could give you your pick of books!)