Rating : 3/5

Author : Kathleen Fuller

Summary : Typically Reluctant Bride is a tale of, as the name suggests, a reluctant bride. But is does not only revolve around a man and his unwilling wife.There are other important characters in it and they all have significant roles. Book starts with its main character, Sadie,being struck with a shocking incident which leaves her scarred for a long time.In spite of having loving parents and two other sisters, she does not disclose this incident to anyone.With sudden demise of her parents, she is left to take care of several things and people. For instance,the grand pile of debt her father didn’t tell her about, her sisters and above everything, the bishop of her town. She was forced into a marriage and her heart cried out for help, but nobody could listen to her plea as she kept her unwillingness to marry bishop’s son to herself and did not share her reluctance with anyone, not even with her best friends or sisters. As the time passed, with intense care and love shown by her husband, she gradually fell for him but this does not mean her troubles vanished. It only means she found a shoulder to cry on. The story is a journey full of several ups and downs which keep readers tied to it.

An Insight to the tale: It is a story of a man’s intense ego which releases all sorts of negative emotions in the heart of his sons. This story talks about, how a father’s need to control his kids, turned them against him and distorted their childhood to the extent that they never could get over it. On the surface, we can see only the emotions which author pens down through beautiful dialogues but if we dig a little deeper, we can gather magnificent takeaways from the book. A need to stand up against evil takes plenty of courage, but this is a necessity because while you may think, by not standing up you are affecting only yourself, you’ll be amazed to see the roots of the cowardice spread way deep and affect your dear ones too. Patience’s virtue is exhibited in Aden’s selfless care and unconditional love. This is the much-needed attribute in today’s society wherein everybody is fighting to push themselves on the person they love and its impressively depicted by Kathleen Fuller in this tale. Reading this book will get your confidence back in the concept of marriage. Though you may feel otherwise in the beginning, as the story progresses, you will be amazed how strongly you’ll be spellbound by the idea of marriage. Credit goes entirely to author’s beautiful writing. Contradictory emotions gripping on a lady who is torn between her duty to be supportive of her husband till eternity and to be a mother to her distressed sons is penned down with incredible sensitivity. A Strong bond of friendship is also given importance. Most importantly the power of greed and how it can turn one’s world upside down is written with utmost care. The other impressive and sensitive subject touched in this book is, how difficult it is for unmarried girls to take care of themselves if they have lost their parents. Not because they are incapable but for the simple and yet disturbing need of society to play the role of self-claimed guardians to them and not always with pure and best intentions.

Writing Style : Her writing style is crisp and clear. She has only elaborated scenes which needed elaboration and did not unnecessarily fill pages by throwing a detailed description about everything. She has described human emotions with perfections. There are signs of humor here and there which keep you interested in the book till the last page. Moreover, she did not stray from the title of the book and kept coming back to the “Reluctant Bride”. She managed to maintain suspense, the longing of readers for true love to march in Aden and Sadie’s lives and real emotions right till the end. I applaud her writing style and I am highly impressed with the depth of sentiments she managed to dig-up without drowning readers in pointless conversations. Every dialogue is realistic and each scene leaves readers wanting to read more.

My thoughts : This book has an undeniable magnetic hold to readers. Flood of emotions are everywhere in it and I could not believe I had these many emotions in me. Even though I do not have kids, I could definitely feel sorry for a mother who could not suggest her thoughts in raising her sons, even though I do not have a sibling who tortured me, my heart went out to Aden for everything he went through. Several such emotions wait for you if you read this book. A few questions left unanswered and this bothered me a little bit, but this should not eliminate this book from being a good read.