Autumn MacarthurCritiques

Autumn McArthur’s A Model Bride is a Christmas romance with believable characters, evocative scenery, and an honest willingness to tackle life’s big questions. No fluffy Christmas story here—there are people whose Christmasses don’t involve big dinners or even homes; and there are people who bond over caring.

The wounded photographer almost looks homeless, but he’s skilled at seeing “a pattern of light and dark on a page,” or even of color. Seeing the “colors of human nature” might be harder though. Then there’s the fluffy airhead American, but she’s also hiding a deeper self, colored with the need to succeed and the need to be truly seen.

Author Autumn McArthur adds a very convincing level of faith to her characters and relationships, making this a delightful romantic tale, and a heartfelt image of God’s loving purpose. A thoroughly enjoyable read, even when it’s not Christmas anymore!

Disclosure: I got it on a deal and I really enjoyed it.

I read this book via an Amazon KINDLE Unlimited download.
With all of the Christian books I’ve been reading recently and with my desire to return writing my debut YA Christian romance novella [I’ve written other romances], I found this book being able to begin to rekindle my creativity in writing this endeavor.

The thing I didn’t get married until I was 42 and my dear OH was 39, so the age factor definitely was there as I stepped in the shoes of the story’s protagonist Nai. Also, being a child of the 1950’s, as I read this story, I couldn’t help but recall at the age of sixteen my listening to The Association singing their song “Cherish” on the radio:

Cherish is the word I use to describe
All the feeling that I have hiding here for you inside
You don't know how many times I've wished that I had told you
You don't know how many times I've wished that I could hold you
You don't know how many times I've wished that I could
Mold you into someone who could
Cherish me as much as I cherish you

Perish is the word that more than applies
To the hope in my heart each time I realize
That I am not gonna be the one to share your dreams
That I am not gonna be the one to share your schemes
That I am not gonna be the one to share what
Seems to be the life that you could
Cherish as much as I do yours…

I couldn’t help sensing how this song in some ways epitomizes the story and the reason I loved reading it.

I have a friend who prefers to read holiday stories in season--it's never much bothered me to read stories set at holiday times at other times, but this one, I might agree with her and say that it might be better read during the Christmas season.

Cara Talbot takes a lot on herself. She feels she needs to atone for the behavior and actions of her father and she feels the guilt of not checking on her mother sooner. Since her father's actions put his employees out of work just before Christmas and her mother committed suicide at Christmas, Christmas is not her favorite holiday. Yet, Cara is determined to save not only her own job but the jobs of the other employees at the small department store where she works.

I don't think I could work for Cara's boss who always seems just a tick away from firing Cara--and who comes up with monthly schemes to increase business at the store. At least her December idea does seem to bear fruit and she does seem to listen to Nick (who's somehow related to a friend of hers).

I didn't catch what song they were doing at first. I thought it had to do with the 12 days of Christmas. So the "sable under the tree" was a bit confusing when you're thinking "partridge in a pear tree". It did eventually become clear--it might have been nice if the author could have included the song lyrics (or a link to them) somewhere in the book to clue those of us who don't know "Santa, Baby" by heart in to what was going on.

I liked that Cara had a heart. She helped William, the homeless man. She volunteers at a suicide hotline, and later at the homeless shelter that helped William. She's concerned for her fellow employees (even though many don't seem to treat her nicely). But she does take on things that aren't hers to correct too.

I liked the idea of creating window displays that coincided with the publicity that was being done for the store. They seem creative.

Title: His Father's Son: A Christian Reunion Romance in a Small Oregon Town
Author: Autumn Macarthur
Publisher: Faith, Hope, & Heartwarming
Series: Sweetapple Falls Book 1
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:

"His Father's Son" by Autumn Macarthur

My Thinking:

What a wonderful contemporary romance and Christian fiction read that was simply a good read. I loved this second chance read of Luke Tanner and Anna Harrison. However, before this will happen for these two there will have to be forgiveness on both parts. I really enjoyed how this author was able to give the reader such a good Christian aspect which brought the whole story together and allowing there to be faith, love, trust forgiveness, and most of all second chances. Which bring up another important fact to this read and that was 'to remember that with God anything is possible' as it was not only for Luke, Anna but their son Josh. Yes, "Love won. With God, love always won." Even though this is a Christian read it is not overly done. It is a good read that will give you thoughts to ponder long after the read. Would I recommend this read? YES!

This book was just okay. The two main characters fell in love when they were young but broke things off due to the interference of the man's mother who believed the woman wasn't good enough for her son. Oh and another woman who was apparently of a higher pedigree and therefore more suitable.

10 years later the man bumps into the woman in the store where she works and it seems that neither of them have gotten over their broken hearts from all those years ago. They get involved again and the rest of the story ( the majority of the book) is about their on/off relationship as they try to work things out by second guessing what each other is thinking. I'm sure other readers have felt the same frustration when reading this as it is labored to the point of being painful. If the two characters were honest and spoke about how they really felt at the outset none of the dialogue would've been necessary as it all revolves around various misunderstandings and insecurities and trying to correct them. But if they had been honest there would've been no material for the book...I also thought the way the man's mother suddenly changed her opinion about the relationship all within the space of about 30 minutes was totally unrealistic. She went from being antagonistically spiteful to joyful and encouraging about the potential union....I almost thought I had missed a few chapters.

This is a clean Christian fiction read but it wasn't inspiring or exciting. Just okay.