THE WEDDING CHAPEL
A lonely wedding chapel built as a tribute to lost love just might hold the long-awaited secret to hope and reconciliation.
For sixty years, the wedding chapel has stood silent and empty. Retired football hall-of-famer Jimmy “Coach” Westbrook built the chapel by hand, stone by stone, for his beautiful and beloved Collette Greer, whom he lost so many years ago. The chapel is a sanctuary for his memories, a monument to true love, and a testament to his survival of the deepest pain and loss.
Photographer Taylor Branson left her hometown of Heart’s Bend,
A lonely wedding chapel built as a tribute to lost love just might hold the long-awaited secret to hope and reconciliation.
For sixty years, the wedding chapel has stood silent and empty. Retired football hall-of-famer Jimmy “Coach” Westbrook built the chapel by hand, stone by stone, for his beautiful and beloved Collette Greer, whom he lost so many years ago. The chapel is a sanctuary for his memories, a monument to true love, and a testament to his survival of the deepest pain and loss.
Photographer Taylor Branson left her hometown of Heart’s Bend, Tennessee to make a new life for herself in New York. Taylor had lots to run away from, not least of all a family history of broken promises and broken dreams. Love catches Taylor off guard when she falls for Jack Forester, a successful advertising executive, and their whirlwind romance leads to an elopement – and then to second guesses. Jack, in spite of his very real love for Taylor, is battling his own demons and struggles to show her his true self and the depths of his love for her.
When Taylor takes a photography assignment in Heart’s Bend, she is thrown back into her own past and encounters family secrets buried deep beneath the sands of time. And when Taylor and Coach’s journeys collide, they each rediscover the heartbeat of their own dreams as they learn that the love they long to hold is well worth waiting for.
- Zondervan
- Paperback
- November 2015
- 384 Pages
- 9780310341529
Buy the Book
$15.99
About Rachel Hauck
Rachel Hauck is an award winning, bestselling author. Her book, The Wedding Dress, was named Inspirational Novel of the Year by Romantic Times, and Once Upon A Prince was a Christy Award finalist. Rachel lives in central Florida with her husband and two pets and writes from her ivory tower.
Praise
“Hauck tells another gorgeously rendered story.” – Romantic Times, 4 1/2 stars TOP PICK!
Discussion Questions
Communication is one of the threads of this book. Jack and Taylor
struggle to share their true hearts, and Jimmy and Colette lost sixty
years of their relationship because they didn’t press for the truth.
Same with Taylor and her dad. What are ways you’re weak in
communication? Have you given up in some ways?
Taylor believes she saw her father cheating on her mother. But it wasn’t
what she imagined. The room was dark, draped in shadow. Talk
about how we misunderstand each other and situations because we
don’t “see things properly.” What are ways to combat these
misunderstandings? What would you have done if you were Taylor?
Young Collette and Jimmy loved each other so much they said their vows
to each other before Jimmy shipped off to war. Were their words
valid? Or does a recognized official have to pronounce a couple
married? Talk about the power of words.
While I’d never advise young people to casually make a pledge of
marriage without witnesses, I would remind them the things they say
to each other in their youthful zeal do matter. How can we teach our
kids, or ourselves, to be mindful of our words?
Jack didn’t have a great childhood. But Sam Gillingham reached out,
wanted to be his father. But Jack refused to see his effort, so
ingrained in the pattern of the foster care system. How can we access
love even when we’ve had—or have—a bad relationship with our
dads?
What do you think about Jack being adopted at age thirty? What’s the
significance of that event?
Taylor and Jack jumped into marriage before considering the cost. Often
people “do,” then “think.” We condemn ourselves for making a
mistake. Talk about a time in your life, or in the life of someone you
know, when a supposed mistake worked for good.
The book has a happy ending. Was it what you expected? Wanted?
Who was your favorite character and why?