Again, this is my first book by this author, so please take my opinion for what it is. I did like Rachel's writing style and found it to be very readable. The story seemed to be trying to be a mystery and focused a lot on secrets of the past, whereas I wished it would have focused on the family dynamics of the present-day. The faith element seems on the nose in some scenes, and while I love the idea of layered family secrets, they were pretty obvious from the beginning of the story. Because of that, some of the story-arcs just fell flat for me. I'm just a reader that would much prefer to get into one or two character's heads and get to know them really well instead, I felt like I was skimming each person's story. Perhaps this shows my youth and frame of mind at this point in life, but I was much more interested in Taylor and Jack's marriage than I was Jimmy and Colette's relationship from years ago. From the get-go, I was less than thrilled with the four different points of view. I found it to be an intriguing story, but struggled with the telling of it. This was my first book by Rachel Hauck, and I think perhaps not the best one to start with of her books. Taylor begins a mission to convince Jimmy that the chapel is worth saving-and that forgiveness and healing might happen within the chapel’s walls. When a post-mortem letter from Taylor’s Granny Peg shows up, along with an old photo, she is driven to uncover family secrets and the secret to her own happiness, starting with an assignment to photograph an unknown, obscure wedding chapel back in Heart’s Bend. Jack, while genuine in his love for Taylor, can never seem to find the right way to show her he really cares. When she falls head-over-heels for Jack Gillingham, a top ad man, their whirlwind romance and elopement leave her with doubts. Leaving her hometown of Heart’s Bend, Tennessee, she put a lot of things behind her, including her family’s string of failed marriages.

Photographer Taylor Branson is trying to make a life for herself in New York. But now a realtor wants the land the chapel sits on, and he sees no reason to hang onto the past. Retired hall-of-fame football coach Jimmy Westbrook never imagined anything would come of his labor of love-building a wedding chapel for Collette Greer, the woman he fell in love with in 1949. An old, forgotten chapel holds the key to love and forgiveness.

The wedding chapel by rachel hauck