Sunday, December 18, 2016

4 stars-- A Christmas Bride (Chapel of Love #1) by Hope Ramsay

Ramsay has a lovely way of mending hearts and broken souls. Love, hope, a little humor. A Christmas Bride was a beautiful romance and start to a new series.

The quick of it is that after many years away Willow's life has gone sideways and she's come home to start over. And it's brought her face to face with the world her best friend left behind when she was tragically killed years earlier. A husband and young child still struggling through the loss and a falling apart inn that her friend dreamed of restoring. And they speak to her soul in a way little has for a very long time. A little Christmas magic in the air, a determined spirit, and the strength of family and friends might bring a bit of happiness in time for the holidays.


David and Willow just grabbed my heart. I loved these two.Ached for them and wanted them to get past their hang ups and start healing. He's feeling quite scroogy this holiday season (for good reason) and she's struggling with finding purpose and embracing the heck out of Christmas in the mean time. I loved the way she brought people together and how kind and caring she was. And I loved seeing it rub off on him even if he put up some fight. They were so good together even if it took them some time to get past their hesitations (their connection via his late wife was difficult for each of them) and grumbles. They had fantastic chemistry together but there was just a small amount of on-page heat.

Then there was his daughter. I adored her. She's darling. Kids can be risky in a romance but I thought it was perfectly done and loved seeing both David and Willow with her. She had a lot of healing to do as well and I loved that they were in her corner.

Now the secondary characters. There were so many I just adored and hope to see in future reads and then there were a good handful of them I wanted to run over with a freaking truck! Goodness but David and Willow had a lot they had to deal with. I would have liked a bit more of a smack down--blood thirsty I know!-- with some of them but I was glad to see them each finding their backbone and not letting others run over them.

All in all, Ramsay brought the spirit of Christmas to the pages with an emotionally charged and touching romance that left ribbons of love and hope in the air. Wonderfully done!

'Tis the season in Shenandoah Falls and the first time Willow Peterson has been home in years. But she's determined to fulfill the wishes of her recently deceased best friend and restore Eagle Hill Manor to its former glory-all in time to host the perfect holiday wedding. She just has to get the owner of the historic inn to hire her. Unfortunately, that means dealing with Scrooge himself...

After the death of his wife, David Lyndon has a bah-humbug approach to Christmas. But as December counts down and the wedding planning is in full swing, it's harder and harder to stay immune to the charms of Willow, especially when he sees how much joy she brings his eight-year-old daughter. After a simple kiss under the mistletoe turns into something more, David is hoping he can turn the magic of the holiday season into the love of a lifetime.

  
Challenges: Pick Your Genre (contemporary) | New to You (series) | Goodreads

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