The Brickmaker's Bride by Judith Miller

I got this book free from Bethany House for my honest review.  And honestly, I loved it!!  It really was a great story.  I learned more about brickmaking than I ever knew I wanted to know..LOL.. but I enjoyed learning it!  Who knew color mattered?  Or how it was smoked?  I loved learning about it. The characters are larger than life.  Some miserable - others down right lovable!!  You can feel their hurt and pain and joy and love.  It is well written and a nice read.  It involves the hard decisions we need to make about our future and whether someone would find us lovable as we are.  Should we just assume someone will not care for us because of a flaw?  Or should we allow them to make that choice.  The lesson I learned was that sometimes we decide things for others and it is not even a concern of theirs.  What others value and what we think they value can be very different things and we should never decide for them.  Also, the thought that people can change is strongly stressed. I am sure you will enjoy this read. Judith Miller tells a nice story and keeps you engaged.

A Bride In Store by Melissa Jagears

I got this book free for an honest review from Bethany House.  So what is my honest review?  I really do NOT know!!  I am so torn about this book.  First of all it took me FOREVER to get through it. There were parts where I was like reading like a mad woman.. but then there were parts I just had no desire to pick it up.  I guess that indicates some good parts and some mediocre parts.  The writing was a little hard to follow as far as who was saying what.  It would say.. She said... and then a new paragraph with talking and it sounded like something she would say but seemed to be something he would say also.. I went back and reread quite a few parts I was confused on.  Then I caught some issues that bothered me.. like first they were eating mashed potatoes and then they were cutting the potatoes.. hmmm...  CONFUSED!  Ok, so I can overlook all that if the story is intriguing.  And in some areas it was, but it also felt like it dragged on and went over and over the same issues to the point of killing them.. So, do I agree with the premise of the book.. that you must sacrifice a dream to find true love and be totally selfless.  Nope.  I think you have to give in some areas and definitely should not be selfish.  But our life is not revolved around the love of one person. That person can change or become abusive and we have given up our dream for them.  Not a good plan.  Yes, I believe material things should not be our focus or our careers should not take first place in our life and how the story ended up (in the epilogue) it seems as if the decisions made were correct, but I don't know if I agree with the overall message of the book.  But all it all it was a decent read. I would give it 3.5 stars.. leaning more toward 4 but not a full 4.  Am I sorry I read it? NO!  Would I read another of her books?  Yeah, I would give them a chance, but not top of my list.