“Katie Fisher and Brady James may be a match made in heaven, but that doesn't seem to guarantee them a happily ever after accompanied by angelic choirs. In fact, the sounds being heard at the bridal shop where she works are on the contentious side lately, as a bride- and groom-to-be try to mediate the growing rivalry between their basketball-obsessed families in the middle of play-off season. On top of that, Katie's parents are nagging her to get out of Dallas and come home to tiny Fairfield where her former boyfriend Carson is waiting for her, ready to rekindle their relationship. Oy vey! What's a girl to do? And will she ever be able to wear that gorgeous wedding dress she won?
The breezy fun continues as Janice Thompson throws everyone's favorite small-town girl into big-city bridal chaos--and makes her choose between the love she thought she lost and the love she stumbled upon in the aftermath.”
Series: Book #2 in “Brides With Style” trilogy. {Review of #1, “Every Bride Needs a Groom”, Here!}
Spiritual Content- A handful of Scriptures are mentioned & quoted; Prayers & Thanking God; Church going; Witnessing; Talks about God, Jesus, praying, churches, & seasons of life; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; Katie’s great aunt has a few Scriptures misunderstood/messed up (including saying that God loves the organ); Katie’s mom & great aunt both fuss about the use of contemporary instruments at a church service; Katie talks about having a church that preaches the gospel & where you feel comfortable and can grow; Many mentions of God & seasons of life; 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, youth groups, a Bible study, & denominations (Baptists, Charismatics, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians & switching denominations and teasing rivalries); Mentions of Christians & witnessing to others; Mentions of blessings & being Blessed; A few mentions of those & events in the Bible; A few mentions of ministries & missionaries; A few mentions of church women saying they’re not gossiping because it’s common knowledge and to pray for the people being discussed; A few mentions of televangelists (when referring to a man’s hairstyle); A couple mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of the Apostle’s Creed; A couple mentions of a man being called a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”; A mention of a Christmas Eve service; A mention of Palm Sunday; A mention of a godsend; A mention of a “Come to Jesus” talk; A mention of another making others look like “spiritual slouches”;
*Note: A couple mentions of thanking lucky stars; A mention of Santa Claus.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘doggone it’, a ‘duh’, a form of ‘shut up’, a ‘sucker’, a ‘what the heck’, two forms of ‘dumb, three ‘good gravy’s, and seven ‘stupid’s; A couple mentions of curses (in movies); Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a car accident, major injuries, & a coma (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of injuries, pain, surgeries, depression because of it all, & the deaths of others’ dreams (sports related); Mentions of jealousy (including making others jealousy on purpose because of a wedding dress); Mentions of spiked punch at a wedding, alcohol, & drinking; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of bathroom functions; A few mentions of hatred (including for rival sport teams); A few mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of a DWI & arrest; A couple mentions of an almost divorce; A mention of being held at gunpoint; A mention of being hung over from pain medication; A mention of shooting (figurative) foxes; A mention of a man being called an “old fart”;
*Note: Every chapter’s title is a song & starts with a quote from or about Doris Day (other quotes by Janis Paige, Stella McCartney, Leo Fuchs, Margaret Whiting, John Wayne, Nellie McKay, Kaye Ballard, David Thomson, Martha Hyer, John Updike, & Philip Brown); Many mentions of actors/actresses, movies, singers, & songs (Doris Day, Loretta Lynn, Audrey Hepburn, Angelina Jolie, Rock Hudson, Cary Grant, Ronald Reagan, James Dean, John Wayne, Pillow Talk, An Affair to Remember, Gone with the Wind, Cinderella, & Les Brown); Mentions of stores, restaurants, & other places (Macy’s, Brookshire Brothers, Dairy Queen, KFC, & Starbucks); Mentions of brand names & items (Dolce & Gabbana, Lanciottis boots, Rolex, Perrier, Formica, Yahtzee, Scrabble, Crock-Pot, iPad); Mentions of sports team & rivalries (Mavericks, Spurs, Texans, & Cowboys); Mentions of social media sites (Facebook and Skype); A couple mentions of car brands; A couple mentions of fictional characters (Scarlett O’Hara); A couple mentions of the Food Network (relating to another series by this author); A couple mentions of a proctologist; A mention of OCD; In the acknowledgments at the end, the author mentions the death (miscarriage) of a granddaughter due to Turner’s syndrome & mourning her.
Sexual Content- A hand kiss, five hair/head kisses, seven cheek kisses, an ear kiss, a nose kiss, eight not-detailed kisses, and nine barely-above-not-detailed kisses; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Dancing, Nearness, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Flirting, Blushes, Whistles, & Winks; Katie calls Brady’s grin “delicious” (once); Katie teases Brady by whistling at his legs when in a hospital gown that’s short on him; A form of ‘sexy’; The phrase “hooked up” is said twice, but not with the loose sexual fling meaning; Many mentions of kisses, kissing, married couples kissing, & seeing other couples kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, dating, dates, breakups, exes, & broken hearts; Mentions of a honeymoon/wedding night (Katie’s grandmother is concerned about her new husband seeing her body); Mentions of chaperones & a woman being concerned about traveling with a man or being alone with him at his place; Mentions of flirting, swooning, blushes, & winks; A few mentions of PDA; A few mentions of cuddling; A couple mentions of a movie having certain scene (implied sexual, also called “hanky-panky”); A couple mentions of crushes; A mention of a married couple getting out of the shower (slip of the tongue); A mention of newlyweds being preoccupied; A mention of a televangelist being forced off the air after accosting a woman; A mention of affairs (in soap operas); A mention of (not) cheating; A mention of a man secretly having the hots for a woman for years; A mention of jealousy; Love, being in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Mentions of negligees and lingerie (Katie’s grandmother’s (church) friends host her a lingerie shower and Katie tries not to hear about it; Mentions of their red faces and the thin fabric; A few mentions of a woman who bought a negligee online being plagued with spam afterwards of terrible pictures and people in crazy positions); Mentions of virginal brides (discussing a wedding dress’ colors) & Katie’s grandmother saying that back in her day, the women that wore cream or ivory dresses were “well…compromised”; Mentions of a woman being more manly/alethic, but is now more feminine (Katie realizes she judged her unfairly in the past because of her appearance and mannerisms); A few mentions of a sheath dress being called a “wiggle dress” because it showed every wiggle on a woman’s figure; A couple mentions of a mishaps for a bride walking down the isle (her backside showing or going down naked because of a lack of a dress); A couple mentions of an ultrasound picture showing a baby’s “girl parts”; A couple mentions of a husband slapping his wife on her rear end (Katie’s father, done in passion/teasing, twice); A couple mentions of Katie’s father wearing just his undershirt and boxers in front of company; A mention of a sister slapping her sister on her backside (to get her to get it together); A mention of football players running around in tight pants and “patting one another on the fannies”; A mention of a bride having a breast reduction surgery; A mention of a woman’s saggy boobs; A mention of a woman’s figure; A mention of an actress always wearing turtlenecks because it was a symbol of her purity; A mention of estrogen; A mention of pregnancy hormones; A mention of a woman having her “own personal summer” (hot flash); A mention of a man needing a swift kick in the backside; A mention of a man saying that another man will make someone a “wonderful wife” because he can cook and sew (his wife fusses at him for saying this).
-Katie Fisher
1st person P.O.V. of Katie
316 pages
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2016 thoughts: I’m grinning from ear to ear, I so enjoy Miss Janice’s books. With this one, however, while I still enjoyed it, it felt that there was a bit more sexual hints & mentions then the previous book in the series. Still much cleaner than other books I’ve reviewed and still as hilarious as her other books, though. Fantastic Spiritual Content, which is refreshing. :) Janice Thompson makes the characters come alive on the pages. I really do enjoy her books. Hey, Revell! Do me a huge favor and publish more books by this wonderful lady, alright? Please and Thank you! ;)
2023 reread: I wanted pure happiness to read and I knew exactly which author to go to. The cast of characters in this trilogy makes this such a fun series! They’re such a mess, hahaha!
I think some readers might call Katie whishy-washy because of Casey entering back into her life, but 1. I don’t view her as that because she’s committed to Brady and 2.) she and Casey dated for years, so of course she’s going to feel somewhat familiar with him, despite him breaking her heart. I don’t think there was ever a glimpse of a love triangle in this book, because we know Katie & Brady are the end game—and what a sweet end game it is! I just love the two of them together, especially in this middle book because of her commitment to him and everything they’re going through. There’s a few mentions of married adult activities, and while I think they would go over a younger reader’s head, those comments are still there, but minor hints.
*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.
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