The Wedding Dress ChristmasDecember comes to quaint Hearts Bend, Tennessee, with a blanket of white and the glitter of Christmas lights.For JoJo Castle there is no place like home. Her onetime love of adventure ended when her life in the big city came crashing down. Now that she’s home, she never wants to leave again.Country music sensation Buck Mathews has charmed the world with his smile and … charmed the world with his smile and his music. However, news of his mother’s illness brought him home to Hearts Bend for the holiday season.
Working with her cousin Haley in The Wedding Shop, JoJo has no aspirations of love. But when her high school crush returns to town, her buried feelings surface.
Busy with his career, Buck hasn’t had time for family and friends, much less love. Seeing JoJo in The Wedding Shop reminds him there are things more important than his career.
But JoJo and Buck have opposing life goals, and there’s no middle ground. Can love, especially the kind that touches hearts at Christmas, overcome her fears and his quest for greatness?
With the help of a very special wedding dress, there just might be a Christmas miracle.
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Rachel Hauck’s new novella is is a fun Christmas romance. I enjoyed going back to Heart’s Bend and catching up with some of the characters from Rachel’s previous books along with the “magic” of a vintage wedding dress. Buck and JoJo were the perfect characters for this fun, heartwarming tale. Rachel continues to be one of my top favorite authors, and I look forward to each new book.
If you have read the previous three books in The Wedding Collection, then this novella will feel like a visit with old friends If you haven’t read them, this book is perfect as a “stand alone.” After college Jo got a job at a big PR firm in Dallas, however after suffering a traumatic experience she came back home to Hearts Bend, Tennessee where she feels safe. For the past five years JoJo has worked with her cousin Haley at The Wedding Shop. It’s Christmas time and JoJo is heavily involved in all things Christmas that takes placed in her beloved hometown. To her surprise her best friend from high, school whom she hasn’t seen in many years, Buck Matthews, a famous country songwriter and singer is in town to spend the holidays with his family. This is a heartfelt story of relationships between family and friends, as well as how God, in His time, works all things together for good, even using an antique wedding dress. I love that Rachel Hauck expertly weaves her own faith into the characters of her books. This is a touching Christmas story I will want to read again.
Rachel Hauck returns to Heart’s Bend, Tennessee, in her new novella, The Wedding Dress Christmas. Heart’s Bend is just the kind of town that I would love to live in, full of quaint shops and delightful characters. This story was a magical Christmas addition to The Wedding Dress, picking up a couple of years after it ended.
JoJo Castle is helping her cousin Haley in The Wedding Shop. She’s returned to her hometown with some secrets (and scars) in her past. Her old high school crush, Buck Matthews, has also returned to Heart’s Bend, taking a break from his music career because of his mom’s health. When they run into each other, will they be able to take a chance on love?
I love how Rachel incorporates her faith in God into her character’s lives. Both of the main characters are real, struggling with certain areas in their lives. This makes it very easy to relate to them. JoJo has to learn that God never left her for one moment, no matter what was going on around her. Buck has to figure out what is truly important. A very special vintage wedding dress and a mysterious man would be used to help them discover the answers they’re seeking.
I first discovered Rachel’s work when I read Once Upon a Prince, and I have been a huge fan ever since. The Wedding Dress, The Wedding Chapel, and The Wedding Shop are all on my shelves. Although reading the other wedding series books, particularly The Wedding Dress, would provide background for some of the characters, this novella can be read as a stand-alone story. The Wedding Dress Christmas was an enjoyable holiday read that fans of inspirational fiction would enjoy, and I highly recommend it.
I received a review copy of this book, and all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
The Wedding Dress Christmas has all the feels that Rachel Hauck is known for. JoJo and Buck may well become my new favorite couple. Buck is such a gentleman; a swoon-worthy singer who has been in love with JoJo for many years. JoJo is a strong, confident woman who has been crippled by fear and is trying to find peace in her hometown. All is well until Buck returns home and JoJo cannot stay in her status quo hiding place anymore. Rachel has such a beautiful way of weaving the Divine throughout her stories and in this story, the Divine presence is breathtaking. You will not want to miss how these two hearts respond to God’s gift of love.
Get ready–this charming novella will steal your heart and give you that Hallmark Christmas feeling. Wow! I fell in love with the story, the setting, the developed relationships that have woven through Hauck’s Wedding Dress novels..it was a winner for me! Also, Hallmark Channel, can you get this movie in the works already?!
JoJo and Buck have a complicated history with each other and JoJo has always had a thing for Buck. But now she’s the quintessential hometown girl again and he is a rising country star poised for a huge opportunity. Can a relationship blossom? What is holding JoJo back from letting go and falling in love?
Hauck is a master at character development, and this novella is no exception. I have yet to read a book of hers that I haven’t thouroughly enjoyed and hope that this story continues in the future. That wedding dress is spectacular, and the idea that a dress could almost act as a character…yes, please!
So, folks, don’t count this novella out–you get the same quality writing and characters to fall in love with as usual! I absolutely loved the little touches that bring the reader to understand that there is no fear in love. (1 John 4:18) Hauck is not afraid to deal with tough topics and difficult issues of real life, and for that I am grateful. To end up with a satisfying ending that also doesn’t hide the fact that there will always be challenges in this life is one of the reasons I love Rachel’s work. ( And the purple shirt guy will be familiar to readers once they understand how he works. 😉 )
I was an early reader, thanks to BookFunnel and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
“I’ll put on some Bing and we can believe for a marvelous, miraculous, glorious Christmas season.”
Oh my goodness, I love Rachel Hauck’s books. When she announced on her Facebook page that she was planning to write a Christmas book, I had fingers and toes crossed that it would be set in Hearts Bend. Forget Mayberry, forget Stars Hollow . . . I want to live in Hearts Bend. I thoroughly enjoyed every line of this sweet, beautiful love story and didn’t want it to end. The town is filled with fun, quirky characters and lots of Christmassy traditions that will get your heart and mind excited for the season. There’s also a lovely lesson about love being larger and stronger than fear, which is a reminder that I always need to hear. And while I agree that the author does an excellent job of treating this one as a stand-alone book, you’ll enjoy it that much more if you do read the other three in the wedding series (The Wedding Shop is my favorite). Either way, this book is sure to put you in a joyful, ready-for-anything mood just in time for Christmas. Highly recommend this book and ALWAYS this author!
“Everything she needed, everyone she loved, was right here in Hearts Bend. And The Wedding Shop was her favorite place in town. Especially at Christmas.”
Author Rachel Hauck pens a delightful return to Hearts Bend, Tennessee in The Wedding Dress Christmas. The vintage wedding dress from 1912 is timeless and elegant and fits the bride perfectly no matter her size. This novella is the perfect addition to Rachel Hauck’s Wedding Collection series.
JoJo Castle is working in The Wedding Shop in Hearts Bend, when country superstar Buck Mathews returns home for the holidays, and feelings from the past resurface for these two former high school friends. True love and a vintage wedding dress make this a Hearts Bend Christmas to remember.
Rachel Hauck’s ability to seamlessly incorporate the faith elements into the storyline and create wonderfully flawed characters make her books favorites among readers of inspirational fiction. The Wedding Dress Christmas is highly recommended for readers of contemporary romance, and those who enjoy the rich history of a timeless heirloom passed on through the years. I can’t wait for Rachel Hauck’s next release.
I received a complimentary copy of this novella from the author/publisher and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine.
“The man who’d set the world on fire with his velvet voice and rocking guitar was the same boy who’d set her heart ablaze all those years ago.”