Review: The Wedding Chapel by Rachel Hauck

This is a beautiful story. Heart-wrenching and real, Ms. Hauck delves deep into heartaches, fears, and forgiveness. It's a bit of a change from her usual fare of fluffy and romantic happiness, but oh it's worth it! (And the romantic part is still there, no worries. :) After a slow start (it took a little while for me to get into the flow of the story, I admit), it finally started to pick up and I got swept away.

The four different points of view is where I struggled with the story. But juxtaposing Jimmy (Coach) and Collette's past with Taylor and Jack's present somehow came together by the middle of the book and I was so glad I stayed with them. I was more caught up in wanting Taylor and Jack to have their happy ending, I confess, although Coach and Collette's journey is equally sweet and moving.

Where Ms. Hauck excels in her writing is with her characters. They feel real; their emotions are understandable, yet unexplainable at times. The relationships, romantic or otherwise, are raw, filled with things unspoken, and all require lots of effort and hard work. That's what struck me the most, I think. How true to life even the friendships and familial relationships felt. No heart is left unchanged and the four main characters affect one another in ways none of them ever imagined.

This is a beautiful and striking story of people whose hearts have been guarded and whose walls need to be broken down. It's not easy, but once the softening happens? It's a wonderful thing to watch them all come together! Give this one try, I don't think you'll be disappointed. And your heart might be changed by the final page as well! :)

**I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

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Taylor peered over at Coach, who boasted a smile but his slightly rounded shoulders cracked her heart a bit wider for him.
"Coach," she squeezed his hand. "Are you really sure you want to let this place go? I just feel like there's something more here-"
He squeezed her hand back. "Trust me, kiddo, I let go a long time ago."
A brush of light feel over the pews from the western windows, spreading a gentle wheel of color through the stained glass. A soft red, pale blue, and shallow green peddled across the floor.
Then she heard it. The light whoosh-thump. Taylor whipped around toward the door, her middle taut with anticipation. "Did you hear that?"