A Wedding Invitation by Alice J. Wisler

October 1, 2011 by Bethany House

Paperback, 306 Pages

Review Copy

After returning home from teaching English at a refugee camp in the Philippines, Samantha Bravencourt enjoys her quiet life working at her mother's clothing boutique in Falls Church, Virginia. When she receives an invitation to a wedding in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, she looks forward to reconnecting with her college friend. Instead her life collides with Carson, a fellow teacher and the man who broke her heart, and a young Amerasian refugee named Lien who needs Samantha and Carson's help to find her mother before Lien's own wedding. When the search for Lien's mother reveals surprising secrets from the past, Samantha must reevaluate her own memories and decide whether to continue to play it safe or take a risk that could change her life.

Thoughts/Mini-Review


For a fun, fast breezy read, A Wedding Invitation will feel like you slipped into a romantic chick-flick movie. With the use of a mousy, absent minded girl, we learn that Samantha our quiet heroine is actually suffering from a broken heart as she flashes back to the 80's and shares her story of teaching in the Philippines, falling in love and having it all crumble before her. In a second chance- one that must be fate unfinished, that love lost long ago comes blowing back into her life.

With its charm and message of forgiveness, I found Wisler's story fun with all the 80's music and culture as well as touching with its characters finding there way back from misunderstandings, helping others and growing both personally and spiritually. I did have a few problems with the transitions in this story and didn't really connect to any of the characters, had it not been for the culture and 80's flashbacks, I probably wouldn't have liked this novel. This is a quick read, perfect for a lazy day, but go into it with that expectation.

Rating

For those who enjoy wholesome romance and fun clean reads this one is for you. Content touches on accusing others, misunderstandings, international teaching, romance and faith aspects.

3/5- Inspy-Romance

Thanks to Bethany House and the CFBA for review copy






Alice was born in Osaka, Japan in the sixties. Her parents were Presbyterian career missionaries. As a young child, Alice loved to walk down to the local stationer's store to buy notebooks, pencils and scented erasers. In her room, she created stories. The desire to be a published famous author has never left her. Well, two out of three isn't bad. She's the author of Rain Song, How Sweet It Is, Hatteras Girl and A Wedding Invitation (all published by Bethany House).

Alice went to Eastern Mennonite University after graduating from Canadian Academy, an international high school in Kobe, Japan. She majored in social work and has worked across the U.S. in that field. She taught ESL (English as a Second Language) in Japan and at a refugee camp in the Philippines. She also studied Spanish at a language institute in San Jose, Costa Rica.

She has four children--Rachel, Daniel, Benjamin and Elizabeth. Daniel died on 2/2/97 from cancer treatments at the age of four. Since then, Alice founded Daniel's House Publications in her son's memory. This organization reaches out to others who have also lost a child to death. In 2000 and 2003, Alice compiled recipes and memories of children across the world to publish two memorial cookbooks, Slices of Sunlight and Down the Cereal Aisle.    

Buy A Wedding Invitation~