In the Christian romance novel “Always a Bridesmaid,” we meet Melody, a young woman who has been hurt by love. While attending college, she met a handsome scoundrel named Scott. He charmed her, led her to believe he loved her, and then just up and disappeared. It was discovered that he’d led on half the women on campus and left one of them pregnant as well. While Melody was glad not to end up roped to a guy like that, her heart was still wounded. Returning to her family home, she wants the chance to heal from everything she’s been through.
Her little sister Bonnie has great news. She’s engaged to be married, and she wants Melody’s help to put together the wedding of the century. When Bonnie brings her fiancé home to meet the folks, Melody is stunned—Bonnie is getting ready to marry none other than Scott.
She tries to tell her family about Scott’s past, but they think she’s just nursing sour grapes and don’t take her accusations seriously. When Bonnie confronts Scott, he tells her it’s all a lie, and Bonnie chooses to believe Scott over Melody. Feeling rejected by every member of her family, Melody only has one friend left – handsome boy next door, Luke.
Luke has always been like a brother to Melody, and she has no problem turning to him and telling him the story. What she doesn’t know is that Luke has been in love with her since the fourth grade, and it hurts him deeply to see her in such pain. He makes his home a place of refuge, even buying a puppy for Melody to help train. When the truth about Scott finally comes out, Luke is there to help Melody put the pieces of her life back together, and Luke just happens to be one of those pieces.
I enjoyed this story quite a bit. I did find the insertions of Christianity to be a little bit forced, rather than following the natural flow of the story—but I liked the characters and the storyline. If you’re interested in a faith-based romance, this would be a good choice for you.
(This book was published in 2006 by Barbour Publishing.)
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