A Bride’s Dilemma in Friendship, Tennessee by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I met Diana Brandmeyer online several years ago when we both had books with the same electronic publisher and have been a fan a long time. While I was predisposed to like Diana’s latest book, historical romance isn’t a favorite genre for me, so my review is as objective and unbiased as humanly possible.
I love the characters, especially Heaven, Angel, and Travis. My minor complaint about the characters is that I wondered for about halfway through the book how old Angel was. At various times in the story, I guessed her age to be younger or older than it actually was when it was finally mentioned. I hope to read more about Annabelle and Jake in a future book.
The faith message is intricately woven into the story so that it teaches but doesn’t preach. A strong woman’s struggle to be independent, a discouraged doctor’s desire to avoid medical failures, a pre-teen’s will to live a normal life in spite of a disability, a father’s attempt to provide a safe future for his daughters, a guilt-ridden soldier’s efforts to withdraw from society, and a jilted young woman’s plan to run away from embarrassment combine in an intriguing story in post-Civil War Tennessee. Add a little humor, and you have a real winner that will appeal to fans of Christian fiction, lovers of romance, readers who enjoy history of Civil War times, and those who like to read a love story that acknowledges physical attraction but focuses on emotional connection.