Friday, December 2, 2016

Book Review: "To Have and To Hold" by Betsy St. Amant, Becky Wade, & Katie Ganshert



"Love Takes the Cake" by Betsy St. Amant:
Charlotte Cantrell is drawn to Will Martin and looks forward to his weekly visits to her bakery shop. The only problem, he's there to buy cookies for another woman. She already went through being "the other woman" and won't do it again. When she is hired to bake the goodies for the wedding and the parties preceding it, she gets the chance to get to know Will better. Is he the one God has for her? 

I liked how Betsy St. Amant set up the story so that Charlotte and Will had gotten to know each other through small talk during his visits to the bakery before the story even started. It gave them more time to develop their relationship so it didn't seem as rushed. Both Will and Charlotte worked out things from their pasts that they were holding onto, allowing them to move forward. I liked watching their relationship grow.

"The Perfect Arrangement" by Katie Ganshert:
 Amelia Woods runs a small town florist, which she loves. She's only had one boyfriend and they broke up four years ago. She decides to drive by the church on the day of his wedding to spy on the proceedings. Being distracted, she rear ends another car, owned by handsome wedding guest Nate Gallagher. When Amelia sees something that upsets her about her brother's girlfriend, she sends a frantic email to her best friend, only to accidentally send it to Nate instead.

"The Perfect Arrangement" has a definite "You've Got Mail" feel to it with the hero and heroine writing emails to each other (other than the fact that Amelia and Nate had meet, albeit briefly, before they started emailing). The story was cute and fun and quick to read. There wasn't really any spiritual content, but the story was clean with no physical contact other than holding hands and kissing. 

"Love in the Details" by Becky Wade:
Holly Morgan broke up with Josh Bowen eight years ago.  She thought she had dealt with the heartache of losing him , but when he comes to town to help plan his best friend's wedding, she isn't prepared for the old feelings to come flooding back.  Josh has had eight months to prepare himself for seeing Holly again and he only has to make it through a month without telling Holly how he feels. Will he make it?

I enjoyed reading "Love in the Details"  I felt like I was holding my breath waiting for Holly and Josh to get back together, even though I knew they were going to (since they were the main characters!).  The characters grew through the book and spoke of following God.  Novellas are fast paced, but nice for reading in a short amount of time.

"To Have and To Hold" is available in paperback:

  • Series: A Year of Weddings Novella
  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Zondervan; Reprint edition (August 30, 2016)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0310395933
  • ISBN-13: 978-0310395935
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.4 inches

and in Kindle edition:

  • File Size: 2979 KB
  • Print Length: 336 pages
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Up to 5 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits
  • Publisher: Zondervan (August 30, 2016)
  • Publication Date: August 30, 2016
  • Sold by: HarperCollins Publishing
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B01863JLI4

I got a free copy of this book from Booklookbloggers. All thoughts and opinions are my own and given voluntarily. No compensation was received.

No comments: