Three Weddings and a Giggle
These three novellas by noted Christian novelists will entertain, despite their formulaic girl-meets-boy, girl-marries-boy story lines. Higgs, who has perfected the formula in her two novels, Bookends and Mixed Signals, introduces readers to Meghan DeWitt, a stunning 30-something career woman whose heart was broken by her no-good erstwhile fianc‚. She falls for the handsome widower, Hugh Osborne, but it takes a little matchmaking on the part of Hugh's family to convince the two brokenhearted beauties to risk love again. The other two stories--Zane's "Sweet Chariot" and Ball's "Bride on the Run"--also feature lovely young women and eligible bachelors, though Zane and Ball lack Higgs's sense of humor. Each novella packs a Christian punch, with the characters learning to trust God as the action progresses. The plots are decidedly conventional, but the characters are impressively developed--the women are feisty, the men are believably sensitive, and all are even a touch confused about what they want out of life. The dialogue (especially the stuttering, sputtering exchanges, reminiscent of the 1980s television program Moonlighting), features charming tˆte-…-tˆtes between lovers who won't admit their infatuation. After reading all three novellas, however, readers may long for a protagonist who doesn't look like a cover model, and Ball should have thought better of handicapping one of her characters with an annoying Canadian accent. Even so, this lively collection raises the bar for Christian romance.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.