Books for Christian Girls: "The Dream Dress" by Janice Thompson

About this book:

“Big dreams take big leaps of faith . . . but what if you trip on the way?
A lowly seamstress at a swanky bridal boutique, Gabi Delgado dreams of doing more than ripping out seams and fitting dresses to doe-eyed brides. She wants to see her own original dress designs gracing the young women of Texas. But when Jordan Singer, reporter for Texas Bride magazine, visits the shop to do a feature, Gabi is humbled in his influential--and unnervingly handsome--presence.
Convinced she'll never get her dreams off the ground now, Gabi needs lots of encouragement--especially from her friend Bella Neeley--to take a chance and start her business. And as she gets to know Jordan, she discovers that she may have to take a chance on love as well.”

Series: Book #3 in the “Weddings by Design” series. Reviews of #1 Here and #2 Here! (Does feature characters from the author’s previous series, “Weddings by Bella” and “Backstage Pass”)

Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are mentioned; Prayers; Bible reading; Church going & sermons; Many talks about God, fathers, & forgiveness; Being witnessed to; ‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to God; Gabi doesn’t think God cares about her, but does mentioning praying sometimes, *Spoiler* about half-way in the book, she truly understands and prays *End of Spoiler*; Many mentions of God, fathers, & forgiveness; Many mentions of prayers, praying, & blessing over food; Mentions of thanking God; Mentions of those, events, & places in the Bible; Mentions of churches/chapels, church going, lighting candles, Sunday school classes, sermons, services, priests/pastors; Mentions of hymns & worship music; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; Mentions of denominations; Mentions of Catholics, Hail Marys, & the pope; A few mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of the Bible; A couple mentions of a bird quoting Scriptures; A couple mentions of fans with Virgin Mary on them; A mention of a miracle; A mention of a godly legacy; A mention of a mission trip;

*Note: A couple mentions of a man who thinks he’s God’s gift to women; A mention of a handsome devil.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘duh’, a ‘idiot’, a ‘shut up’; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); Some sarcasm & eye rolling; Mentions of Gabi’s dad who left when she was young & the divorce; A few mentions of divorces; A few mentions of beer & drinking; A few mentions of animal droppings; A couple mentions of a dead body & injuries (joking); A couple mentions of parents physically abusing their daughter (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of lying & liars; A couple mentions of hunting & hunters; A mention of a machine-gun sound; A mention of a dog that was run over (no details);

*Note: Mentions of TV channels, TV shows, celebrities, movies, & fictional characters; Mentions of singers & songs; A few mentions of designers; A couple mentions of car brands; A couple mentions of social media platforms.

Sexual Content- three cheek kisses, three nose kisses, three not-detailed kisses, six barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and two border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses; Remembering kisses (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to kiss; Touches, Embraces, & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); two ‘babe’s; Mentions of when Gabi’s dad cheated on her mom & leaving their family to go be in another family (including him being a ladies’ man that doesn’t do right by the ladies); Mentions of (not) being a man hater & the battle of the sexes; Mentions of wedding nights (including a mention of girls getting pregnant on their wedding night); A few mentions of kissable lips; A few mentions of crushes; A couple mentions of (a misunderstanding of) thinking a woman works at night (hinted like she’s a prostitute, but she’s not and the misunderstanding is cleared up quickly); A couple mentions of seeing a couple kissing; A couple mentions of married couples kissing; A couple mentions of guys being called gorgeous & yummy; A couple mentions of flirting; A couple mentions of blushes; A mention of a former bad boy; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;

*Note: Mentions of bustlines, breast sizes, & a woman getting breast implants; A few mentions of joking about coming out of the closet (in the sense of wanting to design wedding dresses); A couple mentions of periods; A couple mentions of buxom women; A mention of a naked lady statue; A mention of hip sizes; A mention of a man’s backside.

-Gabriella “Gabi” Delgado
1^st person P.O.V. of Gabi
327 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Oh, my goodness! I truthfully really enjoyed this book and really loved seeing Gabi’s character development and all the witnessing in this story. While we didn’t really know Gabi from the prior books wells before this one began, I definitely liked learning about her and her career. All the faith content was icing on the cake (😉) and the romance was very sweet and clean. Can’t wait to read the last book in the series!

See y’all on Friday with a new review!