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(More customer reviews)Marilynn G. is my pal. I say that right off, cause I hate those gushing reviews that you KNOW came from friends of the author, reviews that wouldn't dare or possibly know how to be honest if you smacked the gusher over the head with a sack of truth-serum. They gush and spew praise, but say nothing useful about the work at hand.
I want to be useful to you here, because I do want you to buy this book...because IT IS GOOD.
I'm gonna gush, but I'm also gonna get critical, and I hope you trust that, despite my (not close, but affectionate) connection with the author, I'm not yanking your chain so you spend a few bucks.
I simple will recommend you READ THIS NOVEL, because it's terrific...if you get past the beginning.
That's the kicker: The first chapter pretty much sucks. It's strained, it's crammed, it's confusing, and some of the humor falls really flat. It's trying too hard to capture the quintessential Chick Lit voice, the one we heard in other novels, notably THE Chick Lit novel, Bridget Jones' Diary. (Which is fabulous, and you should read it, too! And the sequel.)
But Marilynn Griffith, in this work, fails at that tone and voice.
That's not a bad thing, though. Trust me.
Persist through the pages. Once you get past that bumpy opening, you get an astoundingly good ride, smooth, touching, with only minor setbacks to the strained humor, which, thankfully, is eventually forgotten well into the tale.
This is primo Women's Fiction. If you can get into a story of several women--and the men in their lives--and how they are all transformed by love, anger, jealousy, betrayal, forgiveness and the grace of God, you are going to dive deep into this truly human, warm-hearted, generous-souled effort.
Forget the beginning. Plow through it to the meat. The meat is well-spiced and you'll find nourishment.
You may already have grasped the plot, but here goes:
Dana/Dane is a single gal staring at 30, who opens the story as a bridesmaid (with weight issues, in a too tight, unappealing dress) at the wedding of one of ther two best friends (Tracey and Rochelle, the Sassy Sistahs, once in the hundreds of hundreds in email, now down to three in real life and email.) Dana has been betrayed and hurt by the men in her life--brother, beaus, notably her one true love. There are disappointments with her father, too, a gambler-drunkard. She's been betrayed by some of the women in her life, too. (Can we say skanky-ho sister?) But Dana's got God, and she's sure he ought to be enough. (One truly hilarious moment has her asking this question to a single's group.) While Tracey marries to a former boyfriend of Dana's (to find trouble from honeymoon's day one), and Rochelle, single mom of Jericho, has her world rocked by a reappearance of Jericho's papa, and while Dana's new business consumes her life and health, Dana's once-true-love reappears as knight in shining leather. Things get a mite complex. Temptations and trials abound. She starts to lose control of her business, home, and relationships.
But what is she about to gain, besides weight?
Will Dana persist in singlehood, grasping it against all leadings? Will all her relationships fall apart? Will a terrible thing that befalls her undo her... or re-do her? Will she let herself love again the man who broke her heart, who sinned against her terribly? And what is God doing while things are going to hell in a soap basket all around her?
This is a romantic novel--warmly, sweetly romantic. This is also a spiritual novel that doesn't shy away from depicting true faith, hypocritical faith, shallow faith, misguided faith, gentle faith, wacky faith, and shows how easily people can screw up their lives, and how gently and persistently God can put things back together.
Made of Honor is a heart-touching novel with mercy and grace pouring out of its pages. There's no judgment in here, really. Just love and hope.
Marilyn is gifted. Some of her passages sing to your heart, some whisper to your soul.
Her editor should just let her write Christian women's fiction and advise her to dump the Chick Lit-tian aspects. Her strength is telling truth and mercy about women and men and families and friends...with a more serious tone than chapter one would lead some to believe.
Ignore the tone and pitfalls of chapter one. First impressions can be wrong. The best is yet to come...
Mir
http://mirathon.blogspot.com
Click Here to see more reviews about: Made of Honor (Sassy Sistahood, Book 1) (Life, Faith & Getting It Right #9) (Steeple Hill Cafe)
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