{"id":18057,"date":"2014-12-04T23:06:08","date_gmt":"2014-12-05T04:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/?p=18057"},"modified":"2014-12-04T23:06:08","modified_gmt":"2014-12-05T04:06:08","slug":"the-festive-bride-by-diana-brandmeyer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/?p=18057","title":{"rendered":"The Festive Bride by Diana Brandmeyer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/div>\n
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MY REVIEW:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Widower Roy Gibbons is at the end of his rope trying to be both father and mother to his young daughters. They need a woman’s touch and they have requested a new mother for Christmas. Alma Pickens is in absolutely no hurry to marry. She is content living with her father and taking care of him and their home. Her father’s newest plans changes everything for Alma but she is not certain she is happy about it.<\/p>\n

“The Festive Bride” is a somewhat different story about an arranged marriage. Although both Roy and Alma have agreed to her father’s suggestion, neither is sure it is a good idea. With interesting characters and some unexpected twists, this sweet Christmas romance is another fun addition to the 12 Brides of Christmas collection. It is just right for a long winter’s evening by the fire or any cozy reading spot.<\/p>\n

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This book was provided for review by Shiloh Run Studios.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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When Roy Gibbons finds Alma Pickens as a mother to give his daughters for Christmas he thought it would be a simple arrangement. But this is the only wedding Alma will have, and she is determined to make it festive. Will this bride be more than Roy bargained for?<\/div>\n
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More About The Festive Bride<\/em> with Diana Brandmeyer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Diana\u2019s novella\u00a0is a poignant story of love between a widow and a\u00a0widower, which reflects her own personal experience\u2013though she didn’t have to fall in love quite so fast!\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The 12 Brides of Christmas<\/em>\u00a0stories all feature gifts and that\u2019s where Diana began thinking about her story. \u201cI wanted to set my novella long enough after the Civil War that healing had begun; it was a time for the country to breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n

It took some thinking to find out what was available at the time that could be used.\u00a0\u201cI wasn’t sure paint would have been used on glass. I asked my son, an artist about the paint Alma uses for Roy\u2019s gift and found out I was on the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she wrote, she fell in love with the quirkiness of her heroine\u2019s character. \u201cShe was fun to write. I named her after a friend of mine which could be what made her so special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diana\u2019s own family traces back to Revolutionary days, though she wouldn\u2019t want to be a pioneer herself. \u00a0\u201cI like reading about this time period, love looking at the old houses and wondering what it would be like\u2026but live during that time? No. I\u2019m way too spoiled by microwaves, cell phones and warm cars!\u201d<\/p>\n

Diana is thrilled to be part of\u00a0The 12 Brides of Christmas<\/em>\u00a0ebook collection. \u201cThis has been one of the most exciting writing endeavors I’ve had, 12 authors one topic\u2014Christmas!\u201d<\/p>\n

For her, personally, Christmas was a simpler time growing up. \u201cOur family Christmas\u2019s were not huge affairs. My mom stressed the importance of making gifts and the love that goes with that effort is worth more than an item you can buy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who is Diana Brandmeyer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"DianaA multi-published author, Diana Brandmeyer began her career\u00a0in 1987 writing devotionals for children. From there, she\u00a0\u201cfollowed the stories that God placed in my heart. I\u2019m\u00a0not saying He told me to write them, but the ideas that I get I feel do come from him. At first it was contemporary fiction, then I was led to write about the journey my family took to become well blended.\u00a0Now I\u2019m writing a historical fiction novel. I love the surprising way God works.\u201d<\/p>\n

She writes historical and contemporary novels and a non-fiction book based on her experiences joining two families into one:\u00a0\u00a0We\u2019re Not Blended-We\u2019re Pureed, A Survivor\u2019s Guide to Blended Families<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Together, Diana\u00a0and her husband have three sons, several daughter-in-laws and an adorable grandchild.\u00a0She lives in Illinois, not far from where\u00a0The Festive Bride<\/em>\u00a0takes place.<\/p>\n

For more information, you can visit Diana\u2019s website:\u00a0http:\/\/dianabrandmeyer.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Or find her on social media:\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, and Pinterest<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MY REVIEW: Widower Roy Gibbons is at the end of his rope trying to be both father and mother to his young daughters. They need a woman’s touch and they have requested a new mother for Christmas. Alma Pickens is in absolutely no hurry to marry. She is content living with her father and taking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,57,34,116,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-christmas","category-historical","category-novella","category-romance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18057"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18057"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18063,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18057\/revisions\/18063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}