Title: Every Bride Needs a Groom

Author: Janice Thompson

Publishing House/Publication Date: Revell/2015

Genres: Christian Fiction; Inspirational Romance; Comedy

Time Period: Modern Day

Number of Pages: 368

Series: Book #1 in the ‘Brides with Style’ series

You should read this book if… You are looking for a story of “Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters”. As Ms. Thompson states on her website, “I hope you love to laugh, because I make it my goal to tickle your funny bone at every turn in my light-hearted tales.” One more little delight is that each chapter opens with a quote by a different, famous country singer, and each chapter title is named after a song by country singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn (who also plays a key role in the novel).

Tone and Mood: Written in an easy-breezy style, this book overflows with personality, humor, and quirkiness. Nearly every scene is permeated with a comedy created by placing a humorous spin on ordinary situations. Yes, the hilarity is sometimes over-the-top silly, and no, the book does not always remain 100% realistic and commonsensical… But who says every book has to be serious?

Characters and Point of View: Katie Fisher is a small-town Texas girl, surrounded by her family and all of the many, MANY, traditions and routines they hold dear. Revealing her story in first-person perspective, Katie allows us to witness the quirks and eccentricities of numerous secondary characters. Some are more believable than others, but all have one thing in common… Each one is ‘interesting’.

Storyline: Katie has been anticipating a sure-to-be-soon proposal from her longtime boyfriend for years. In fact, she is so certain of his feelings towards her that she enters a wedding essay-contest… The prize? A couture wedding dress! But as Katie finds out, life has a way of changing things when we put the cart before the horse – or the dress before the groom!

Themes and Morals: Although it may seem unlikely that a comedic story of wedding dress dilemmas could contain life-impacting morals, this book succeeds in giving readers some takeaway value. As a central theme of the novel, for example, Katie and her family begin to realize the importance of trusting enough to step outside the safety of our comfort zones and embrace the changes, adventures, and new beginnings God places before us.

Inappropriate Content: Various conversations between characters border on inappropriate. Additionally, a couple personal scenes between characters become uncomfortable for conservative Christian readers. (In the novel’s defense, these scenes occur between married couples, while the relationships of unmarried characters remain honorable and wholesome.) On a different note, one character’s patience and mothering skills, or lack thereof, leave a lot to be desired.

Conclusion: All things considered, Every Bride Needs a Groom is a pleasant story to be swept away by, though it is not without faults. If you can step past the silliness and enjoy the generally clean humor, you will undoubtedly find it hard to keep a straight face at the outlandish antics of each character. And while it seems Katie is all set for a happy ending (complete with a potential groom AND a wedding dress!) we can anticipate the upcoming release of a continuation for her story later this year, in Every Girl Gets Confused.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

 

To learn more about Janice Thompson and her books, visit her website by clicking the image to the left!