"An April Bride" by Lenora Worth is the fifth installment of Zondervan/HarperCollins' "A Year of Weddings." Stella Carson and Marshall Henderson have known each other since childhood and are high school sweethearts. He is a wounded soldier who has been recovering in Maryland for about two months after reviving from a coma. Stella has been waiting for Marshall to return to Louisiana so that they can marry in four weeks.
Stella is feeling anxious about their reunion. Marshall had asked her to stay away while he was recovering in Maryland and he seemed distant during their phone conversations. She is concerned that Marshall has been greatly changed by his military experiences and injuries. Stella is worried that she will need to cancel the wedding if Marshall does not feel the same way about her as he used to.
When she finally sees Marshall again, she discovers that Marshall has amnesia and he does not remember her or their wedding plans. All that he knows about her is information given to him through his parents, and through his conversations with Stella. He does have some vague fleeting memories but is struggling to remember his past life before his injury.
Marshall does not wish to postpone the wedding, and neither does Stella. However, as the days pass by, both come to realize that Marshall's memory is not returning as quickly as they would like, and that they will need to consider calling the wedding off.
The spiritual conflict that Stella needs to face is to trust God and let go of the Marshall that she had known, so that he has time to heal...if he will ever heal. For Marshall, his challenge is to trust God so that he can draw strength and courage to face darkness and fears surrounding his injury. He knows that having Stella in his life is a good thing, and he needs to face his fear that may be preventing him from remembering her.
I found the story to be...okay. I enjoyed reading it and I wanted to find out if Stella and Marshall ended up with each other, but I don't think that this is a story that I'm really hankering to read over and over again. However, I think that some others might feel differently and this could be a favourite read and that they would love to revisit this couple repeatedly, especially if they enjoy reading a romance involving a character who is in the military. Marshall did do some romantic things that were rather sweet!
Disclaimer: A copy of "An April Bride" was provided by NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
