The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck Reviewed by Carrie Fancett Pagels

This book, The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck,  has won so many awards and received so many accolades including the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer's Conference Selah award for best romance (I was there for that one recently, at Ridgeway conference center in North Carolina!) I have to wonder if Rachel has lost count!  Whenever a book is getting that kind of attention there is a reason.  Solid writing, voice, and unique story deliver a great listening experience for the reader.

I listened to it on audiobook as an audible.com download.  The story jumps around between four different women affected by the dress, including a current day woman.  The book lists as a contemporary but has many historical stories within it.  Rachel primarily writes contemporary fiction.  

This was a really good listen. I think the regular book format might be better (particularly if you don't have any vision problems) because there are so many stories going on it may be easier to keep them straight.  But the narrator did a good job of capturing the different voices. And since finding a great Christian audiobook is difficult I simply recommend that if you purchase in audio then don't plan on doing other things while you are listening. You won't want to miss out on the story.

You'll not find anything else out there quite like Rachel's book--at least not any time lately and I think that is one of the reasons for this books appeal.  It is fresh and unique--you won't be bored or even think about declaring that it is the same old same old often found in Christian fiction, because it is not!  Not that I am prone to say this but I did hear another reader recently make this comment.  

Spoiler alert: My one objection to the story is a scene that while it is very exciting has strong associations for me.  Because I am a history buff (AKA history nerd) and love colonial history in particular there is something that happens that occurred in churches during wartime and is one of the ultimate insults or desecration of the church.  That really bothered me.  But I think someone who primarily enjoys romance wouldn't see it that way at all because they wouldn't realize the connotation and because it is not a wartime event. In fact my husband, when I told him of the scene, commented that most romance readers should find that scene particularly romantic!  My inner nerd won out on that scene, I am afraid.

Giveaway: We are giving away a copy of any of Rachel's books this week, winners choice of format.  You can choose any of her wonderful books as a paperback, ebook, or audio download (like this great book!) if available.