Oh, where to begin with this book?

On the basis of a dream (that she believes came from God), Belle Bannister drives from Georgia to Acorn Hill, PA, expecting to find a husband, get married, and settle down--all by the first weekend in June, which isn't all that far away. She ends up staying at the Grace Chapel Inn where Aunt Ethel takes to her like she's one of the family and decides to help her get to know the single men in town.

Aunt Ethel's three nieces, who run the inn, aren't quite sure what to make of this--nor do I. It does seem a bit impetuous to leave everything you know behind and rush off to a new place--and expect to find the man of your dreams there and be married in a matter of weeks. Can God choose to speak to us in a dream? Yes. He's done it in the Bible, so there's no reason he couldn't do it now. But I'm not sure he does this as often as people THINK he does. I suppose if I had a dream that I KNEW without a doubt was from God, then I would follow what God asked me to do. But I think that before I would know without a doubt, I would have done a lot of searching and questioning--making sure that what I was being told was supported by the Bible etc. I would also expect that if God was directing that path that God would open the doors and remove obstacles. In some respects, Belle does have that. She manages to get a long-term room at the inn because the weather has kept most people away. The sisters who run the inn like her enough to include her in some things not usually open to inn guests.

The husband search is a bit annoying. Every single man is presented as "is this the one?"--even inn guests. It is good that Belle is being upfront about it and not hiding her ambition behind something else, but it does kind of make her a one-dimensional character. The men don't seem to know how to take her and seem to cope with this by trying to avoid her or hiding (all the while being friendly with Jane, one of the sisters who run the inn, because all she wants is friendship and they don't feel threatened). In at least one case, Jane has to counsel one of the men to be honest about his feelings and to just tell Belle that he doesn't feel the same way about her (Belle) as she might about him and that he doesn't fit into her wedding plans as the groom (some do agree to provide wedding services such as flowers).

Belle eventually seems to be a bit jealous of Jane and her relationship with all these men (even though at this point it is mostly friendships). Jane is friends with the pastor, the florist, a writer who is a guest at the inn, etc. plus her ex-husband visits to talk with her!

Eventually, Belle faces the decision of whether to give up on her idea that her dream came from God and go back to Georgia or stay in Acorn Hill (possibly as a single woman) and be content. She decides she likes Acorn Hill enough to stay even if she stays there as a single woman. She decides to buy the house--of course, it turns out that she's not the only one interested in that particular house.

Her husband-to-be shows up as a deus-ex-machina man whose name has never come up in the book before that time, even in a mention of someone visiting a relative. (and yes, other men visiting relatives are mentioned in the book, so it wouldn't have been hard to do). So in true fairy-tale-fiction form, she finds her man before the end of the book. (Wish life happened the way fiction does.) ( )

This is a nice, easy read series that makes me feel I've just spent an hour on a summer afternoon relaxing on the front porch, drinking lemonade, talking to whoever passes. ( )

Along the same lines as the other books in the series. Very sweet and inspriational. ( )

It's nice to find something comparable to the Jan Karon series. ( )