Follow my blog!

Sunday, May 06, 2012

My review of Wish You Were Here by Beth K. Vogt

About the book:

Kissing the wrong guy days before her wedding leads Allison to become a runaway bride. But can it also lead to happily ever after?Allison Denman is supposed to get married in five days, but everything is all wrong: the huge wedding, the frothy dress, and the groom.

Still, kissing the groom’s brother in an unguarded moment is decidedly not the right thing to do. How could she have made such a mistake? It seems Allison’s life is nothing but mistakes at this point. And pulling a “Runaway Bride,” complete with "borrowing" her best friend’s car, doesn’t seem to solve her problems.

Can Allison find her way out of this mess? She prefers to be the one in control, and giving it up is not going to be easy. But to find her way again, she will have to believe that God has a plan for her and find the strength to let Him lead.

My review:

Wow, this was deep and at the same time it made me laugh out loud numerous times! I read this story in two days. While the premise sounds a bit crazy (which I admit is what drew me to wanting to read the novel) it worked very well in this situation. Every emotion Allison went through seemed very real to me. I also felt bad for the men in her life. So many women have a bad feeling that tells them they shouldn't get married after agreeing to it, but they'll follow through anyway so they won't let down family, friends, or embarrass/hurt anyone. That's a terrible reason to get married.

I loved how the author took elements from Allie's childhood to provide a motive that made sense regarding her insecurity. It showed how easily things can be misinterpreted when we are children and how as adults, sometimes we need to revisit those painful issues but look at them from an adult's perspective rather than a child's. That was a healthy theme in this book. I also loved how the author showed that sometimes young women replace their close relationship with God and turn their focus on the love and admiration from a man, and then they wonder why they don't feel close to God anymore.

Anyway, I loved how this story ended. The resolution was fantastic and sigh-worthy. But I loved how the message for both of them was they needed to get tight with God first, then let Him direct their steps. That's a great message and it was sprinkled throughout the novel, but was never heavy handed. I can see this novel helping some very misguided women make a better choice, and maybe even lead them to faith in God.

While there weren't many kisses in this book, the ones that did occur left me a bit breathless. The romantic tension throughout the novel was perfect, IMHO, and had the right balance between longing and denial. I couldn't help feeling proud of the growth that occurred in Seth's life by the story's end. Oh, and every woman needs a Daniel in their lives. If you don't believe me, read the book. I'd love to be stuck in a snow cave with a guy like him if I were single. He was so tender and sweet. Sigh. Anyway, this story is making my favorite fiction list because I absolutely adored it. This author has made a new fan today. :)

Wish You Were Here was published by Howard Books (A Division of Simon & Schuster) and released May 1, 2012.

1 comment:

Heather said...

I really enjoyed Wish You Were Here too! I reviewed it for The Christian Manifesto.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Share this post

Bookmark and Share