About the Book An Unexpected Gift

Book: An Unexpected Gift

Author: Melissa Wardwell

Genre: Christian Contemporary Romance

Release Date: August 29, 2023

Click here to get your copy!

My Thoughts on An Unexpected Gift

An Unexpected Gift is a sweet and funny novel. I loved reading it and getting to know the characters along the way.  The characters were wonderful and I just had to keep reading to see what was going to happen next.

Things never seem to do what we want.  Accidents happen.  Plans come unravelled.  It’s all part of life.  And I loved seeing that in this book.  It was real and it was easy to sympathize with the characters that way. 

I love that the girls wanted to start their own business and then they did it.  It’s hard to do that sometimes and follow through with the actual commitment of doing what you dreamed up.  Also, as a wife to a man who is self-employed, I’m well versed in the hard and bad aspects of it as well. 

Wonderful book!  I highly recommend you give it a read. 

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations. 

More from Melissa

Weddings—some love them, some hate them, some love them but try to avoid them. Whatever the reasoning, we all have a strong feeling toward this life passage that so many have taken part in. We have our favorite moments, and we have our pet peeves, and like the snowflack that falls in the winter, none of them are ever the same. There might be similarities, but they are still not the same.

As for me, I LOVE WEDDINGS.

They have been part of my life in a way that some find exciting, which they can be, but not from this angle. My mom was a consultant and seamstress in the bridal industry for most of my childhood until shortly before I graduated high school. In fact, that is how I also met my husband because his mother was a bridal seamstress alongside my mother. Not long after my wedding, I naturally obtained a job at a local bridal salon and worked there for almost ten years.

When I left the industry in 2010, it was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done.

I loved helping couples plan their big day. I have several fond memories of various brides whose stories stay with me to this day. And yes, a bridezilla is a thing, but she is not anyone you want to mess with because all the stereotypes are true. Thankfully, they’ve only been a couple that has ever crossed my path.

One of my favorite stories is about a bride who is anxious and overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done to plan the wedding. During one of her fittings, I noticed that she had some pretty severe acne breakouts. She knew it was there, and it drove her crazy. “Not only am I stressed, I am now ugly,” she said, near tears.

Before I let her leave the dressing room, I just talked to her about what she wanted for her wedding day and how it was different from what she was getting. She told me that she and her groom had initially planned to get married at their cabin in northern Michigan by the lake.

Just them in a couple of friends.

Instead, she was eyebrow-deep in a wedding that was not hers.

See, the groom was one of several sons with zero sisters. The mother-in-law had insisted on certain things happening that the wedding had taken on a life of its own, based on the mother of the groom’s vision.

I’m not one to stick her nose in a stranger’s business, but I did in this situation. My heart ached for this bride; she felt like she had no way out.

Looking at her in the mirror as I zipped up her gown, I said, “You know, all you need is a marriage license and a minister or a justice of the peace, and you can have the wedding you want.”

She laughed it off, and I laughed with her.

I figured that was the end because it seemed to give her something else to think about as we laughed at the idea. Three weeks later, she came in for her final fitting. Remember, final fittings are done on the week of the wedding. The woman strolls in through the door of the bridal salon in marches back to the dressing rooms, where I am waiting with her gown.

Her smile lit up her face like a Christmas tree, she’d walked in confidently, and her acne had cleared up completely. Show her to the room, and before I close the door to let her slip into the dress before I come in and zip it up, I comment on how beautiful she looks. The bride put her purse down in the corner of the dressing room and turned to me, “we got married,” she said to me.

I told her to get in her gown, and she could tell me the story in a minute.

Never in 1 million years would I have thought she would take my suggestion seriously.

She informed me that the weekend after her last fitting, she and the groom went north to get away and pick up the marriage license from that county clerk’s office. They then decided to invite the local magistrate to their cabin, where he performed the wedding on their dock as the sunset over the lake. When I asked her about witnesses, she said they were good friends with the cabin next door, and those neighbors had just arrived at the same time as the magistrate. They agreed to sign as witnesses and watch the wedding from their dock.

The couple had chosen not to tell anyone else what had happened, and I promised her that my lips were sealed as the rest of her bridal party came in to get their final fitting.

We sometimes make a big deal of the wedding day without considering what a couple wants.

Sure, some things are almost a must if you’re having a large party.

But for the most part, a wedding is about the couple and nobody else. If all the couple wants is to be married and spend their lives together, who can tell them what that should look like? I was proud of my bride for doing precisely what she and her groom wanted for their big day—small and simple.

But I’m also glad they didn’t cancel everything to honor their friends and loved ones who planned to participate in their big day.

Blog Stops for An Unexpected Gift

Locks, Hooks and Books, September 29

She Lives To Read, September 30

Karen Baney Reviews, September 30

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 1

Texas Book-aholic, October 2

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, October 3

Aryn the Libraryan, October 4

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, October 5

The Book Club Network, October 6

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, October 7

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, October 8

Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, October 9 (Author Interview)

Sylvan Musings, October 9

Simple Harvest Reads, October 10 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)

For Him and My Family, October 11

Holly’s Book Corner, October 12

Giveaway for An Unexpected Gift

To celebrate her tour, Melissa is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway!

Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/282a7/an-unexpected-gift-celebration-tour-giveaway