"Every Bride Needs a Groom" by Janice Thompson

{{This is an updated review. Originally posted April 10^th, 2015, it was updated on July 25^th, 2023 to the Official Rating System.}}

{This blog is Two Years Old this week! Eeek! It’s party time! Everyday till Friday there’ll be a new review and giveaway! On Saturday a Double giveaway and wrap-up will be posted! Get your noise makers out and let’s celebrate!}  {Enter Giveaway #1 Here!} {Enter Giveaway #2 Here!} {Enter Giveaway #3 Here!} {Enter Giveaway #4 Here!}

About this book:

  “Somewhere in a sea of tulle and taffeta, satin and crepe, Katie Fisher needs to find a key ingredient of the perfect wedding—the groom.

  Small-town girl Katie Fisher is busy planning her fairy-tale wedding. Sure, her boyfriend hasn’t managed to pop the question just yet, but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t enter a contest in Texas Brides magazine to win the dress of her dreams, right? Anyway, she’s sure he’ll be getting down on one knee any time now. And a one-of-a-kind designer dress doesn’t just fall out of the sky right when you need it.

  But when Katie’s boyfriend takes a job in another town and breaks up with her—on the very same day she wins her dream dress—her world is turned upside down. Dare she go to Dallas to claim her prize? And will the hunky pro basketball player who runs the beyond-swanky bridal shop—yeah, you read that right—discover her humiliating secret if she does?”


Series: Book #1 in the “Brides with Style” series. Book #1 in the “Brides with Style” series. Mentions characters from the author’s other series, “Weddings by Bella” and “Weddings by Design”. 

Spiritual Content- A couple Scriptures are mentioned & remembered; Prayers & Thanking God; Church going; Talks about God, Jesus, praying, & waiting on God; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; Katie’s grandmother has a bit of a problem with the Presbyterian church in town, but it’s not because of their doctrine *Spoiler* She is in love with the Reverend of the church so goes out of her way to avoid him and the church *End of Spoiler*; Many mentions of God & waiting on Him; Many mentions of prayers, praying, Thanking and Praising God, blessings over food, & a prayer group; Many mentions of churches, church going, pastors/reverends, sermons, services, hymns, worship, a Sunday school class, youth groups, & denominations (Baptists, Charismatics, Lutherans, Methodists, Pentecostals, & Presbyterians); Mentions of Heaven & angels (including a couple mentions of others hoping something in particular will be in Heaven); A few mentions of a Bible college & a Bible study; A couple mentions of Christians; A couple mentions of blessings; A mention of a church camp; A mention of a devotional; A mention of purgatory; A mention of not being sure if something is a blessing or a curse (teasing);

             *Note: A couple mentions of a man being called the devil himself or at least, a distant cousin; A couple mentions of a man looking like a Greek god; A mention of the devil thriving on bitterness; A mention of a buffet being “something of a religious experience” in the South; A mention of someone who has passed away watching over his loved ones.

 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘give a rip’, a form of ‘shut up’, a ‘stupid’, a ‘sucker’, a ‘suck it up’, two ‘doggone it’s, two ‘ever-lovin’’s, three ‘heck’s, three ‘idiot’s, three ‘shoot’s, and four ‘duh’s; A mention of curses (on TV); Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Seeing a loved one pass out (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of deaths of parents (including from a car accident & from a fire); Mentions of crime, burglars, arrests, & jail/prison; Mentions of pain & injuries; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of throw up, other bodily functions, & manure; A few mentions of grief (parents, a father, & a husband); A few mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of hatred; A few mentions of virgin cocktails & wine; A couple mentions of divorces; A mention of a woman’s husband passing away in Afghanistan (military); A mention of a wife leaving her husband; A mention of drugs; A mention of a saloon; A mention of a man being called an “old fart”; 

             *Note: Every chapter starts with a quote by a singer, actor, poet, or other celebrity figure & many other ones are mentioned throughout the story (Dorothy Hamill, Faith Hill, Diane Keaton, Nicolas Cage, Jack Nicholson, Conway Twitty, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Kenny Chesney, Johnny Cash, Steve McQueen, Herb Caen, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Doris Day, Ann-Margret, Petula Clark, Georgia O’Keeffe, Katharine Hepburn, Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks, Immanuel Kant, Kate Bosworth, Patrick Geddes, Annie Baker, Gary Allan, Freddy Fender, Albert Camus, Jeremy Renner, Chris North, Naomi Judd, Robert Redford, Jamie Lee Curtis, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Margaret Mead, Twiggy, Quentin Tarantino, Brandon Routh, Shania Twain, & Lawrence Durrell); Mentions of stores, restaurants, & other places (Brookshire Brothers, Dairy Queen, Clinique counter, Curves, & an Exxon station); Mentions of movies & a TV show (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Coal Miner’s Daughter, Sybil, Guiding Light, & Dancing with the Stars); Mentions of car brands & other brand names; Mentions of sports teams; Mentions of a man saying that marriage is like an “institution”, being “tied down”, and “the old ball and chain”; A few mentions of fictional characters (Barbie, Ken, Mary Poppins, & the Wicked Witch); A few mentions of social media & other sites (Facebook & Skype); A couple mentions of plastic surgery; A mention of the Food Network.

 

 

Sexual Content- Two cheek kisses, a nose kiss, three forehead kisses, six not-detailed kisses, three barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and a semi-detailed kiss; Remembering kisses & touches (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Flutters, Tingles, Nearness, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Flirting, Blushes, Winks, & Staring; Noticing (including muscles, up to semi-detailed); a ‘babe’; Katie calls Brady’s cologne and smile “yummy” a few times; Many mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, dating, dates, breakups, exes, & broken hearts; Mentions of kisses, kissing, married couples kissing, & seeing others kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of flirting, swooning, blushes, & winks; A few mentions of cheating; A few mentions of a player and womanizer; A few mentions of a guy’s yummy cologne; A couple mentions of a purity ring & the reminder to stay chaste until marriage; A mention of a TV show with “nasty bedroom scenes”; A mention of having to fast-forward through a scene in the movie because it was “so, well, you know”; A mention of a TV show where a man had seventeen wives (the person who brought it up thinks he went to jail in the end); A mention of Katie wondering if one of her brothers would ever take serious interest in the opposite sex; A mention of a crush; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;

             *Note: The cover shows a young woman in a strapless dress & shows a bit of cleavage; Mentions of bosoms/busts, buxom women, figures, & sizes; A few mentions of some men liking “girly things” or design wedding dresses or the different materials (including being concerned about a guy who liked taffeta & a father being concerned that he wasn’t a manly enough influence on his youngest son); A couple mentions of thinking a couple is going to have 2.5 children; A couple mentions of hot flashes; A mention of the battle between the sexes (of not understanding the other); A mention of male menopause; A mention of a woman with a large bottom; A mention of a woman not liking a reverend wearing a robe because it reminds her of a dress.

 

-Katie Fischer, age 24
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Katie 
                                                        351 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

Oh. My. Goodness! I laughed so hard I was crying! Oh my goodness! Ahhh! And Bella & Hannah are even mentioned! (Goal this year: Review the Bella series!) Miss Janice pulls off the best plots and makes them even more hilarious than you expected! Oooh! This was just so good! I can’t wait read book #2 coming out in October! Miss Janice’s tagline is perfect: “Love, Laughter, and Happy Ever Afters!” Y’all better believe I’ll be quoting that! 

Who wants to win a copy of this fabulous book?! :)

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2023 reread: Three thoughts from my reread: 1.) Brady is an absolute doll and I love them together so stinkin’ much. 2.) Chapter 25, my friends, I was squealing more than a piglet. 3.) I just love when an author name drops characters from prior series. I felt like Buddy the Elf, “Hannah and Drew??! I know them!”

See y’all TOMORROW with a wrap up and Two new Giveaways! :D

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

*I received this book for free from the Author for this review.