A February Bride by Betsy St. Amant

From the publisher:

Allie left the love of her life at the altar - to save him from a lifetime of heartbreak. When a Valentine's Day wedding brings them back together, she struggles against her family's destructive history. Can Allie ever realize that a marriage is so much more than a wedding dress?

History repeats itself when Allie Andrews escapes the church on her wedding day - in the same dress passed down for generations and worn by all the women in her family - women with a long history of failed marriages. Allie loves Marcus but fears she's destined to repeat her family's mistakes. She can't bear to hurt Marcus worse.

Marcus Hall never stopped loving Allie and can only think of one reason she left him at the altar - him. When the two are thrown together for his sister's Valentine's Day wedding, he discovers the truth and realizes their story might be far from over. Can Allie shuck expectation and discover who she is as a bride and in the Bride of Christ? And if she ever walks down the aisle, what dress will she wear?

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I really enjoyed this novella.  This was the shortest one from the year of wedding novellas that I have read so far but I felt it was very well done.

Betsy St. Amant tackles a tough issue of dealing with family history in this short novella beautifully.  A real issue of fighting a family history of failed marriages or trouble marriages effect many people.  To move beyond family history and find a way to make ones own life thrive is not always easy.  This novella takes Allie and Marcus and has them deal with past hurts and current love.

I enjoyed Allie and Marcus' characters.  Both were charming and fun to read and at the same time it was easy to sympathize with them.  Amant does a great job at quickly creating a connection between the reader and her characters. This is especially important in a novella since it is so short.  

After reading this novella I am eager to read more by Betsy St. Amant and I'm sure others will feel the same way too.

I received this book from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for my honest review.