Customer Reviews

A Christmas Wedding (Harlequin Super Romance)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Tracy Wolff knows how to suck a reader in with the first pages of her novel, A Christmas Wedding. Jesse Rainwater, the world's best horse trainer, hands his wife divorce papers. On their daughter's wedding day. Triple H Ranch owner Desiree has always tackled trouble with an iron fist, but Jesse's bombshell makes her realize this may be a problem she can't fix. However, Desiree refuses to give up on her marriage, on the only man she's ever loved, without a fight.~~~~~~~ A Christmas Wedding is a fantastic story that immediately piqued my curiosity about how the author would tell the tale. Right away Ms. Wolff made me care about Desiree and Jesse, and then she pulled me on an emotional roller coaster straight through to the end of the book. I didn't read it all in one sitting, but each day when I got home from work, I looked forward to curling up on the couch and uncovering the next layer of Jesse and Desiree's story. I laughed, cried and sighed as I followed their journey and watched them revive their hope for an everlasting love. I admit I'm much more of a suspense reader and the thought of reading about people involved in horse racing at first gave me pause, but wow! The time I spent reading this book was well worth it. Tracy Wolff is definitely an author I'll read again!

Tracy Wolff is a very talented writer, always coming up with different and emotional concepts for her stories. A Christmas Wedding is a brave story that begins with Jesse Rainwater demanding a divorce from his wife Desiree - on their daughter's wedding day.
The story takes us over a number of decades of their lives as we see how Desiree, the only child of a rich and famous thoroughbred ranch owner, fall in love with trainer Jesse, fifteen years her senior. We see how ambition caused their marriage to fall apart, and we see how they find a way to resolve this.

Seeing the development and disintegration of Jesse and Desiree's marriage was interesting, because it makes the reader constantly switch sides. Desiree certainly had some control issues, and I could see why Jesse struggled with that. Watching Jesse fighting his attraction early on in their relationship was believable - he was an employee of no real social standing, and also too old for Desiree - and I loved the payoff when they finally got together.

There were two reasons this wasn't a five star read for me. The first is that the book really felt as though it needed a couple more chapters for the characters to sort things out. Obviously this wasn't possible as the publisher has strict word count rules. I'm not sure how this problem could have been resolved. Perhaps I would have preferred this book to be a full length novel - there was certainly enough material for it.

My second issue was that because the present day part of the story took place over just one day, I wasn't one hundred percent convinced all their issues were resolved. Again, this had something to do with the shorter length of the book.

This was a brave first book by a talented writer.

The structure of this book is amazing. All the action takes place on one day--the wedding day of Jesse's and Desiree's daughter--and yet with each page we learn more about the long and tumultuous relationship between these two strong people.

Each character tells his or her story. I really cared how these two who love each other so much have but have lost the ability to communicate can ever find each other again. Most importantly, Desiree learns that she must change and she does.

If you like a compelling story in a beautiful and beautifully written setting AND with a fast pace and fascinating characters, A Christmas Wedding is the book for you.

I'm sorry I was completely bored out of my mind with this story. I'm not quite sure why but I suspect it had something to do with the fact that so much of it centered on the ranch and the horses, as well as the fact that it kept to flashback things. Jesse was quite a bit older than Desiree and as he even pointed out he knew her when she was a child, yet he was not very astute. By that I mean if he knew her when she was a child and he knew how she was raised and what type of man her father was then there would not have ever been any problems in their marriage. That I can't get past. He should have been the more mature person in the relationship despite the fact that they were both older, supposedly wiser. Yet he wasn't the more mature one. I don't even think it had a satisfying ending.

Looking for some light romance, I wasn't expecting anything particularly deep or meaningful, but this novel was - unfortunately, because I wanted to be entertained - not anywhere near that!

It is the story of a 27 year marriage of a much older man to a younger woman. Although the couple are now 49 and 64, neither of them appears to have matured to any great extent. It is the morning of their daughter's wedding when Jesse throws divorce papers at Desiree. Now Jesse is the proud but weak horse trainer who has allowed his monster of a wife to run the marriage, the business (horse and racing stud). Finally, the worm turns when she hires another horse trainer to take his place on the ranch and doesn't bother to tell him about it. Unsurprisingly, Jesse is not best pleased. If I had been in his shoes, blamed by Madam and her father for the fact that they haven't won the Triple Crown in X amount of years, I wouldn't have waited 27 years to dump her.

How they resolve the issue and flashbacks of their marriage are the content of this novel and quite frankly I skimmed a lot of the rubbish they went on with. The issue could have been solved in five minutes of frank conversation - providing the wife had kept her mouth shut and he actually said what the problem was.

There was an unsatisfactory ending - part of the beginning totally forgotten - and it was about as rushed as a writer could make it. When plotting a novel, it is always a good idea to do outlines at all stages of the plot so that one doesn't forget what happened when, and the ending covers all aspects of the plot.

The front cover was unfortunate in that it depicted a much younger couple. Although I wouldn't really have expected one middle-aged woman and a pensioner-aged man on the cover, the youthful appearance of these two was a little incongruous! Perhaps the racing stables would have been a better choice. Having said that, I am aware that the author does not always get to make the decision as to which cover to use.

What drew me to reading this book was the fact that the two lead characters were already in an established marriage. I don't recall reading any other romance novels like that. Sure, I've read a couple of chick-lit novels like that, but not so much romance novels.

The characters were relatable and so very likable that I couldn't decide whom to side with, the wife or the husband. At first I was siding with the husband, and then I would read more of the backstory and side with the wife. Throughout the entire book I was going back and forth between the two of them. But the one thing that remained constant was my desire for them to work it out.

Ever since Desiree's father died and left the ranch to her, things have been strained between her and her husband. He's been feeling more like their relationship was employer and employee instead of husband and wife. When the book isn't in the present day, it chronicles their journey together.

My only complaint with this book was the fact that the entire story took place over the course of one day. I would have liked to actually read more about them actually putting forth the effort to make it work. Instead it was just them agreeing to work on their marriage.

I loved A Christmas Wedding. Ms Wolff's characters were so real and not the typical romance hero and heroine. They'd really screwed up and had to work really hard to find their way through the mess each of them created. Her story is a touching reminder of what happens when life gets in the way of family and everything else. This is a really great read about reconciliation and remembering what's important in life! Can't wait for the next book: Full Exposure.

I'm being completely honest here when I say that I didn't want to like this book. I'm not a fan of books where the hero / heroine have been married for a long time and their kids are grown - I want to see the romance from the beginning, not when they are having troubles. Can you say, too much reality? <g>

Even with my obvious bias, this was a very good book. Wolff is an excellent writer and within a few pages I'd forgotten my `issue' and fell into the book. The characters are your everyday Joe with hopes, dreams and problems that readers can easily relate to. If you enjoy complex characters and a healthy dose of reality in your romance, buy this book NOW. :) ~ Cerise, [...]