inspirational romance

The Convenient Groom by Denise Hunter ~ Sharing My Review

/ Dora Hiers
Purchase Link

About the book~
She wrote the book–literally–on finding the right mate. But does she really understand what love’s about?

Five hours before her Nantucket beach wedding–and on the eve of her big book launch–celebrity marriage counselor Kate Lawrence has everything in place.

Everything, that is, but the groom. She might not have a career, either, when her nationwide audience finds out their marriage guru has been left at the altar.

Enter Lucas Wright, who offers to stand in for the missing husband-to-be and marry her. Kate’s desperate enough to agree–although she’s sure this Mr. Wright is completely wrong for her. Can they pull it off? And why would Lucas marry her in the first place?

With her life spinning out of control, Kate wonders what good her carefully laid plans are if they only lead to chaos. Could it be that “Dr. Kate” doesn’t know the first thing about love? When she seeks God’s will instead of her own, Kate finally discovers true and lasting love.

Sharing my thoughts~

Jilted by her fiance, Bryan, just a handful of hours before their wedding, Kate’s pain and internal turmoil literally seeps off the pages. How could this happen? She was a marriage consultant, supposedly an expert on the topic, and her book was launching along with her wedding. Lucas, a carpenter, had loved Kate since the day she rented the space above his shop. Since the groom’s identity had been kept a secret, all tied up with the book’s marketing plan, Lucas volunteers to step in. Kate agrees to his plan, but only for a year. Lucas is in it for the forever.

Committing a year of her life to a man she didn’t love. Good grief, most of the time she didn’t even like him. Not that he was a bad person. He was just so…irritating sometimes. Vexing. The way he was late and careless and so laid-back she wished she had a remote control so she could push the fast-forward button.


Yep. Major conflict ensues when organization to the nth degree marries laid back Lucas. But Lucas sets out to show list-making Kate that life happens between the pages. 

Know what you’re looking for before you begin dating. As with a spontaneous shopping spree, if you don’t have a goal in mind, you’ll come home with the wrong thing. 
~Excerpt from Finding Mr. Right-for-You by Dr. Kate


I enjoyed the excerpts from Dr. Kate’s book that plugged the beginning of every chapter, little nuggets that enticed me to keep reading. Not that I ever once thought about putting down the book, but just to give me an idea of what deliciousness I would find in the next chapter. Totally cool!

Best of all, I appreciated how this story, without words or preaching, represents Christ and His love for us. Carpenter Lucas (don’t you just love that??) loved Kate. Before she ever knew of his love, he stepped in with a plan, to marry her, hoping that he would eventually woo her with his love and his actions. For me, this was an irresistible love story straight from the Word. Rich with symbolism, I can’t think of a more appropriate story to read at Easter. Scoop it up! You’ll be so glad you did.

Disclaimer: I purchased The Convenient Groom. The opinions expressed in this review are my own, and I received no monetary compensation.

Annoying or Divine? You choose…

/ Dora Hiers / 2 Comments

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. I just wrapped up my Christmas novella, Christmas in the Rink, and behold! Edits for two other books, Beck’s Peace and Burk’s Surrender, arrived in my inbox within seconds of each other. 


I expected Beck’s Peace, but I was rather surprised to receive both books. Since I’m fairly single-minded, I don’t usually bounce back and forth between books, especially when they feature identical twin heroes, Beck and Burk. Hello! Anybody see a problem here? Although these twin heroes, polar opposites, were so much fun to write, it was torture keeping them straight. I was afraid that somewhere along the way Burk would end up romancing Beck’s heroine or vice versa.

Typically, I stop whatever I’m working on to dig into edits, but last weekend, we expected our house to be bursting-at-the-seams with family. My parents were coming, and it was the last opportunity to visit with them before they made the trek back to AK for the summer. Also, several of  our male family members were excited about heading to the NASCAR race in Martinsville, and our house made the perfect landing spot for all.

So what to do? Clean and shop for a full house or work on edits for two books?

For me, the decision wasn’t too hard. Family takes precedence, and I had ten days to turn in the edits. But what if I was backed up against a tight deadline and losing a couple days in my schedule really mattered? 

Well, don’t you know that very same weekend our awesome pastor preached on…divine interruptions. Kinda timely, don’t you think? I won’t go into details of the message, but later that week God really hammered me with this particular passage (and it wasn’t even part of the sermon!). 

Do I consider the interruptions in my daily work schedule as God-appointed? Or am I more exasperated that I’m not reaching my word count goal? Ouch.


Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying schedules and daily goals are a bad thing. After all, God prefers organization over chaos. (1 Cor 14:33) But, since God sees the big forever picture, His plans for my day might be a bit different than mine, and if I’m praying for God to direct my path, shouldn’t I be open to the opportunities he plants in front of me? 

You know how amazing God is? He stretched my time as only He can do, allowing me to accomplish all the tasks, and my editor received the edits way ahead of schedule.

What about you? Do you tend to get frustrated or annoyed with interruptions? Or do you treat them as the divine encounters they might be?

God, help me to acknowledge that You order my day, not me, and to recognize these interruptions as divine appointments. Fill me with Your joy, and allow me to be a beacon for You.

A December Wedding by Denise Hunter ~ Sharing My Review

/ Dora Hiers / 2 Comments
Purchase Link~
DeeperShopping.com

About the book~

What started as a whim turned into an accidental — and very public — engagement. Can Layla and Seth keep up the façade in Chapel Springs this holiday season – for the sake of her career . . . and his heart? Under normal circumstances, Seth Murphy — the best friend of Layla O’Reilly’s ex-fiancé — would be the last person she’d marry. But the news of their upcoming (and phony) nuptials convinces a big client that Layla may be high-society enough to work for his agency — a coup that would put her fledgling home-staging business on the map. Seth has secretly loved Layla for years, even when she was dating his best friend. Maybe she’ll never forgive him for the way he hurt her back then, but he has to try. And Layla is willing to keep up their engagement farce until she’s landed her client. For Layla, it’s the chance to save her career. But for Seth, it’s his last chance to win her heart.

Sharing My Review~
A December Bride draws you into Layla’s predicament right from the first page. Layla’s friendly date cancels on her at the last moment, and she’s determined to find another one, pronto. After all, the wedding she’s attending should have been hers, but the groom’s marrying her cousin instead. Seth Murphy offers to take her, and while she hasn’t forgiven Jack’s buddy for his role in their breakup, she’s not about to miss the wedding and the chance to show her ex-fiance that she’s so over him.

I just love a hero who’s loved the heroine for a very long time, but the circumstances kept them apart, and Seth fills the hero role to perfection. He should have asked Layla out first, but Jack beat him to it. Now that Jack’s married, this is Seth’s chance, but he almost blows it. 

Layla set the white votive inside the Mason jar and slid it down the table to Murphy.

He caught the jar and cut a length of twine. “I swear they’re going to revoke my man card.”

Layla scooped sugar into the next jar and arranged red berries around the votive. “You own a hardware store; I think your manhood is intact.”

He scowled. “I’m tying bows on glass knickknacks. Don’t you need some wood chopped or something?”

“What I need is thirty of these to line the walkway, so butch up and tie the bow.”

Cute, adorable sparring keeps the dialog moving along at a face pace, and A December Bride packs just enough heat to make me reach for the air conditioner switch in the middle of winter. Denise Hunter is now on my must-read list, and A December Bride could slide very easily onto your bookshelf any time of the year!

Disclaimer: Sending a big thank you to Zondervan  Fiction and NetGalley for allowing me the privilege of reviewing this book. I received a free copy of A December Bride in exchange for my fair and unbiased review. This opinion is my own, and I received no compensation.