"A May Bride," by Meg Moseley is the sixth release from Zondervan/HarperCollins' novella series, "A Year of Weddings." I've not read any of the author's work before and I took a quick glance at her website. One of the byline descriptors that appears on her site says the following about her novels: "Realism, Faith, and a Funny Streak." I read part of a sample of her writing for her novel, "Gone South," and it sounds intriguing enough to me that I'd consider reading it at a later date.
I'd like to say that this novella does have realism in it. Who hasn't had overbearing, opinionated, and stubborn relatives who are embarrassing to acknowledge as one's own? Who hasn't dealt with people who are difficult and near impossible to please? Who hasn't met people who are unreasonably judgmental? In the novella, all these people are represented in the character of Ellie Martin's mother. She's one scary woman. It's no wonder Ellie doesn't want Gray Whitby, the new man in her life, to meet her mom.
There is definitely humor in "A May Bride," too. Parts of the novella are written in a chick-lit style. We first meet Ellie while she is acting as a guerrilla gardener, secretly weeding a flower bed for a church she doesn't belong to. This is how Gray officially meets her too; they recognize each other from previous run-ins at a local coffee shop, but are still essentially strangers to each other. He is a participant in a guerrilla wedding that is taking place in the church garden. Gray wants to make sure that Ellie doesn't rat out his friends for using the property without making any formal arrangements through the church. They agree to hold each other's secrets and go on their separate ways.
Gray soon seeks Ellie out to ask her on a date. The man is charming. He's funny. He's impulsive. He's impetuous. And he's definitely chasing Ellie.
Ellie's mom, however, had made poor choices for herself where men are concerned and is forever cautioning Ellie and her younger sister, Alexa, to watch out for fast moving, fast-talking charmers that will lead girls astray every time. Obviously, in her mother's eyes, Gray fits that description and their first meeting is less than stellar, especially when her mom's cold behavior towards him is contrasted against her welcoming warmth towards Alexa's fiancé, Eric. Mom approves of Eric because he is known to her and is a family friend. She is paying for Alexa's and Eric's wedding, and thus has been running a lot of interference in her younger daughter's life.
Gray and Ellie get secretly engaged within 3-4 months of their official introduction. Ellie doesn't want to tell her mother yet because she knows that her mom will think that they are moving too fast and are headed for disaster. She is thankful that she has a wedding fund saved so that she would have freedom to choose what kind of wedding she will have with Gray, instead of dealing with the issues that Alexa has with her wedding.
Finally, there is faith in this story. A falling out occurs between Ellie's mom and Alexa, which spirals out, affecting Ellie and Gray too. The situation smacks deeply of realism. I don't think that I can reveal any more about the plot, because it will be too much of a spoiler, but I will say one word: grace.
I have to admit that on the first time that I read this, by the middle and towards the end of the book, I did not like Ellie or Gray very much. I was a bit put off by Gray's attitudes and actions as he responded to Ellie's mom and sister; he felt that he was taking a lower priority in Ellie's life than what he thought he deserved. Perhaps he believed that he was justified to feel so, as it is quite clear that he's interested in marrying Ellie fairly early in the story. I was also raising my eyebrows at the speed at which he was pushing marriage. I was also put off by Ellie's attitude to her mom because it felt at times that she wanted to really stick it to her mother about standing up against her.
I had to reread the story over a second time to appreciate it more. After all, Gray's attitudes and actions can be explained away by his impulsiveness, impetuosity, and his desire for Ellie to become his wife. As for Ellie, I suppose that it is not surprising that she should respond in a snarky way towards her mother if she feels too overwhelmed by her mother's own smothering, judgmental attitude. I'm glad to have taken a second look at the characters in this light, because after the first time, I didn't really want to pick up the book again and would have missed the greater impact of the book, which is its message about grace, forgiveness and making a fresh start in light of that.
The story is quite well plotted out. The history and relationships that all these people have with each other, and the parallel threads of Ellie's and Alexa's stories are tied together quite neatly in the end. Perhaps there might be a happy ending for their mother in some other story that Meg Moseley might write.
Disclaimer: A e-copy of "A May Bride" was provided by NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
