A Season To Wed by Cindy Kirk, Rachel Hauck, and Cheryl Wyatt, Zondervan Publishers, 2015

A Season To Wed is a collection of 3 novellas about winter love stories.

"I confirmed this morning with the county recorder’s office that even if the license and certificate aren’t sent in, the marriage is still legal."

John collapsed back against the sofa. Hope was his wife? Indescribable joy rushed through him. He’d prayed for a second chance. For the opportunity to show her he could be the husband she deserved. Now, through a bureaucratic loophole and God’s providence he’d received that chance.

“You’re probably as upset as I am,” he heard Hope say.

Sensing this wasn’t the time to tell her how thrilled he was, he forced a grave expression. “This is quite a surprise.”

Story: Love At Mistletoe Inn by Cindy Kirk

Summary: She’s horrified, he’s thrilled. She wants an annulment. He wants to make that impossible. Ten years ago instead of going to their high school prom, John and Hope snuck off and got married. Right after the ceremony she panicked and backed out. They were assured that they could pretend the marriage never happened. The paperwork wouldn’t be filed and they wouldn’t legally be married. Except, they are. John is back in town and wants to make their marriage work. Hope is terrified that their relationship will turn out like her parents’ and wants out. Only one of them can get what they want... unless they can change each other’s mind.

Notes: The spiritual issue dealt with in this story is trust in God and therefore, trust in each other. Hope doesn’t trust God to be big enough to deal with their issues. Her aunt asks if she has prayed and Hope says “I’ve prayed so much I’m sure God is sick of hearing my voice.” Then her aunt challenges her to forget her own agenda and just be still and listen for God’s direction.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 3/5

Making things – women – beautiful was her calling, her duty, in life. She channeled every ounce of her heart and soul into her work because the truth was, she could never do it for herself.

Story: A Brush With Love by Rachel Hauck

Summary: Burned once, permanently shy describes Ginger perfectly. Her body still carries the scars from a burn that occurred in her youth and those burns define who she is. But when Tom Wells, her first crush, returns to town, not just for the wedding of his friend, but to settle, she is horrified. He seems determined to seek her out and befriend her. One rejection was enough though. He disappeared in the night instead of taking her to the high school dance and she is confident her scars are too repulsive for him anyway. He won’t give up until Ginger knows how beautiful she is to him and to the God he serves.

Notes: A Brush With Love tells the story of an extremely talented beautician who devotes her life to making others beautiful, but refuses to believe she herself could be beautiful. She won’t accept the love of God or the love of a man because of the lies she believes about herself. It takes the steady, determined persistence of Tom to convince her she is loved and that those looking at her through the eyes of love find her to be beautiful.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 5/5

“Why are you doing this?”

“Honest truth? I’m not sure.”

Her lips pursed. “Guilt maybe?”

“Or maybe just because it’s the right thing to do and I spent too much of my life doing the wrong thing.” He held her gaze with enough gravity to hopefully begin convcing her that he’d changed.

Story: Serving Up A Sweetheart by Cheryl Wyatt

Summary: High School Bully turned admirer? It sure seems that’s who Colin is. He can still remember the terror and betrayal in her eyes that day he and his friends took it on themselves to pick on Meadow. He’s changed though. So has she. He likes who he sees and finds himself helping her for more reasons than just to make up for the past. Before long, he’s hanging around because there’s no place he would rather be than with her. For Meadow though, forgiveness is one thing, total trust is quite another.

Notes: The spiritual element theme running through this story is forgiveness. Meadow has a very hard time forgiving and trusting again. She has to have a friend point out where she is choosing unforgiveness in a situation where someone is actually choosing to try to earn her forgiveness.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 3/5

Thank you to the Celebrate Lit for providing me with a free review copy of A Season To Wed in exchange for my honest opinion.

About the Authors

Rachel Hauck Bio:
Rachel Hauck is a USA Today Bestselling author. Her book, The Wedding Dress, was named Inspirational Novel of the Year by Romantic Times and was a RITA finalist. Her book Once Upon A Prince was a Christy Award finalist.
Rachel lives in central Florida with her husband and two pets and writes from her ivory tower. Visit her online at rachelhauck.com, Facebook: rachelhauck, and Twitter: @RachelHauck.
Cindy Kirk Bio:
Cindy Kirk sold her first book in 1999 as a result of a contest win which garnered a critique of the entire manuscript. She’s been writing—and selling—ever since. Cindy has been a Booksellers’ Best Award Winner, a finalist for the National Readers’ Choice Awards and a Publishers Weekly best seller. Cindy has served on the Board of Directors of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) since 2007. In November 2014, she began serving as President of the 10,000+ member organization. She’s a frequent speaker at not only the national RWA conferences, but large regional writing conferences. She has also presented at smaller retreats and conferences across the country. She lives on an acreage in Nebraska with her high school sweetheart husband of too-many-years-to-count and their three “boys” (a shih tzu, a blue heeler and a dorkie). Their daughter lives close by with her wonderful husband and their two little girls. Cindy invites you to check out her websitewww.cindykirk.com. Twitter: @CindyKirkAuthor
Cheryl Wyatt Bio:
Cheryl Wyatt writes romance with virtue. She’s a USA Today bestselling author and has earned RT Top Picks, spots #1 and #4 on her debut publisher’s Top 10 Most-Blogged-About-Books list, Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence final, and other awards. Cheryl loves readers! Join her newsletter at www.CherylWyatt.com. Facebook: CherylWyattAuthor Twitter: @cherylwyatt