Monday, October 22, 2012

The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury

The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury. Howard Books, 2012. 258p. (9781451647013)

This is the first Karen Kingsbury book I’ve read. And I loved it. It is very likely that I’ll be reading more of books in the near future. For some reason I thought her novels tended to have a lot of romance but this one didn’t, it had a very sweet love story.

Back cover:
Number one New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury delivers an instant classic with this heartwarming Christmas story about a hundred-year flood, lost love, and the beauty of enduring friendships.

Molly Allen lives alone in Portland, but she left her heart back in Tennessee with a man she walked away from five years ago. They had a rare sort of love she hasn’t found since.

Ryan Kelly lives in Nashville after a broken engagement and several years on the road touring with a country music duo. He can still hear Molly’s voice encouraging him to follow his dreams; Molly, whose memory stays with him. At least he can visit The Bridge—the oldest bookstore in historic downtown Franklin—and remember the hours he and Molly once spent there.

For thirty years, Charlie and Donna Barton have run The Bridge, providing the people of middle Tennessee with coffee, conversation, and shelves of good books—even through dismal book sales and the rise of digital books. Then in May, the hundred-year flood swept through Franklin and destroyed nearly every book in the store.

Now the bank is pulling the lease on The Bridge. Despondent and without answers, Charlie considers the unthinkable. Then tragedy strikes, and suddenly, everything changes. In the face of desperate brokenness and lost opportunities, could the miracle of a second chance actually unfold?

The Bridge is a love story set against the struggle of the American bookstore, a love story you will never forget.

My review:
I loved the setting, not just because it revolved around a bookstore, but because the author did such a great job describing the scenes and letting the reader feel the joy and contentment, the sorrow and the helplessness right alongside the characters.

The romance was sweet and it was very easy to understand Molly’s thoughts and actions. The reader also gets to know the other side of the story as well and feels Ryan’s pain and frustration. Neither party is innocent yet neither party is completely guilty either. It’s a good reminder that our impressions and thoughts can deceive us.

This isn’t just the story of the young couple though, more so it is the story of Charlie Barton and his love for his wife, Donna, and his desire for the book store to succeed and be a blessing.

It’s a fun read, great for Christmas and chances are I’ll curl up with it again in December.




Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher through NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission.

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