The Wedding Shop by Rachel Hauck, © 2016

The Acknowledgments! I absolutely loved the Acknowledgments. This author's heart extends past her story in reference to those who helped her along the way. Research in unexpected places.

The joining of two generations; three actually. The far past bringing a dream in a little girl's heart; the present, standing on what she believed, knowing assuredly what sparked within, not being detoured by what her own mother's heart held at the time. For we do stand with our own path before us.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 ~
‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

Overview:
Two women separated by decades. Both set out to help others find their dreams when their own have crumbled.
   It's the early 1930s, but Cora Scott is walking in stride as a career woman after having inherited her great aunt's wedding shop in Heart’s Bend, Tennessee, where brides come from as far away as Birmingham to experience her famed bridal treatment. Meanwhile, Cora is counting down the days until her own true love returns from the river to make her his bride. But days turn into months and months to years. All the while, Birch Good continues to woo Cora and try to show her that while he is solid and dependable, he can sweep her off her feet.
   More than eighty years later, former Air Force Captain Haley Morgan has returned home to Heart's Bend after finishing her commitment to military service. After the devastating death of her best friend, Tammy, and discovering the truth about the man she loved, Haley is searching for her place in life.
When Haley decides to reopen the romantic but abandoned wedding shop where she and Tammy played and dreamed as children, she begins a journey of courage, mystery, and love.
   As Cora’s and Haley's stories intertwine through time in the shadow of the beloved wedding shop, they both discover the power of their own dreams and the magic of everyday love.



A dream come true. A little girl envisioning her knight in shining armor coming to whisk her off into the sunset to a land full of promise and lack of gray skies, at least weathered together as she becomes a young woman and continues on her path. Joining together into a oneness drawn separate from recognizing a beau in sight as she leans to the Lord in understanding and hope. Discouragement comes when she tries to start down the path alone ~ all heeding set apart, "I can do it myself."

The parallel of the Depression era and the nowaday shop owner brings this story alive. Each generation is the same in having to decide each day in the accumulation of their life. Written between two women's lives, this story engages both so well. I especially liked the 1930s part of the story highlighting the current age like a continuance. The two women would have been good friends!

I liked how others came around to help. There was no disparity in motive, each being open to what their heart held. I loved this story! So heartfelt by each of them in believing in what they were doing while fulfilling dreams for others as well as themselves, unknowingly. The author's backstory and Pinterest photos weave into this story. A place to gather; mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, and cousins. A generational burst of love and care for each other.

This story is true for today. Friends being a special part of continuing life together. Encouragement and coming alongside; not isolated from each other, but retaining memories and futures alive with hope and acceptance. Shoring up, building together in strength. Upholding dreams that live on, healing that can come to open hearts. Tenderness bursting forth into newness available to change those near and forthcoming ~ a lifetime of continuance! Live your story.



***Rachel Hauck, thank you for authoring this beautiful story; and to BookLook Bloggers for inviting me along, sending me a review copy of The Wedding Shop. This review was written in my own words. No other compensation was received.***