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kyra_alden's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
judithdcollins's review
5.0
Check out my fun AuthorElevatorSeries Interview for all the exclusives. We go "behind the scenes" of the book, and some fun updates from and about the author. Her new puppy, update on her TV series, what she has been doing, her next book, and many more personal tantalizing tidbits! Do not forget to check out her exciting fun Book Tour, as well.
Exquisite! Her best yet.
A favorite Southern master storyteller and NYT bestselling author Kristy Woodson Harvey makes her entrance with grace and style with her first contemporary/historical fiction (inspired by real people and historical events) with THE WEDDING VEIL
The stunning inviting front cover with the elegant and iconic Biltmore House is a breathtaking backdrop for the four women across generations bound by a wedding veil heirloom and its connection to the famous Vanderbilt family. Yet, the story is much more. The author brilliantly explores the lives of these women and how they are shaped and connected.
Dual Timelines | Present Day:
Julie Baxter is preparing for her upcoming wedding to Hayes on the Biltmore House grounds, and her Grandmother, Babs (love), has passed down the family heirloom wedding veil for good luck. There is a lot of pressure surrounding this veil. When something occurs right before the wedding, that sends her running (rightly so and keeping her from making the biggest mistake of her life), her Grandmother Babs is there to drive the getaway car. (so much fun) Julia must do some soul searching about her life, future, past, and architectural career.
We then are transported to the picturesque British Virgin Islands, where Julie was to go on her honeymoon and now travels alone. She meets Connor (love), learns some hard facts about herself, and needs the courage to re-do her past and future separate from Hayes.
Not only does Julia, but her Grandmother Babs also has some difficult decisions to make. Her husband has passed, and she decides to go into assisted living. An old flame comes back into her life, she must decide if she wants to open her heart again for the future, no matter what others may say. Is she too old to experience love again?
Jules and Babs have a special relationship and love the letters between the two are charming. Kristy has a way with words, and you can tell she values family and has had some wise, strong women in her life.
Past 1879 I adore this history.
If you know the history of the Vanderbilts (Edith and George), you get to experience seeing and living at Biltmore through their eyes, to this iconic massive 250 room Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. George dies young, and Edith is left with this enormous house, employees, businesses, grounds, expenses, and upkeep on her own with a young daughter Cornelia.
Edith (love) is strong and courageous and thinks of ideas to keep George's legacy and some parts with her in the famous library (my favorite room) talking to his ghost.
As time moves on, Cornelia is grown, married, and has a family of her own, yet she wants a different life than Biltmore. Often we have to be brave enough to make our own decisions and not what our parents or family has planned. In order to keep up the financial end of Biltmore, they must open up the house for tours during trying times, and Cornelia has a hard time wrapping her head around it. She wants something different.
Then there is the ongoing mystery of the wedding veil, which keeps you turning the pages about how these families are connected. She balances emotion, loss, pain, love, history, and humor for an unforgettable story and characters that come alive on the page.
In THE WEDDING VEIL, Kristy masterfully explores how four generations of women bring their own personal histories to a family heirloom wedding veil. This beautiful and poignant novel evokes what invisible threads bind us and at the same time gives us the strength to make our own decisions for self-discovery.
Meticulously researched, a perfect blending of past and present, and fact and fiction. Each timeline was equally as compelling.
I enjoyed Kristy's author's note, research, and the inspiration behind the book. A poignant and deeply moving novel about how a wedding veil can define a family and how a family can lovingly reinvent itself.
While this is not her first book with dual timelines and multi-generational characters with a blending of contemporary and historical. Back in 2016, with [b:Lies and Other Acts of Love|25894055|Lies and Other Acts of Love|Kristy Woodson Harvey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1443036463l/25894055._SX50_.jpg|45776070] (another favorite), she features an unforgettable character, Lovey (Grandmother), and her past as well as her granddaughter, Annabelle.
However, THE WEDDING VEIL is the first historical/contemporary based on live events/characters— Biltmore and the Vanderbilt family. Once again, she creates a wise, funny, relatable, and strong grandmother influence in Babs for granddaughter, Jules. We all wish we had a Babs/Lovey person in our lives.
MOVIE-WORTHY! This book would make for a spectacular movie or tv series. I would also love a sequel to catch up with Connor/Julia and Miles/Babs and more about the enigmatic Cornelia and her life after leaving Biltmore and her three husbands. The minute I finished reading, I had to email Kristy.
Being an NC native, I adore Biltmore, rich in history and charm, and where I spent my first honeymoon (Grove Park Inn Asheville) and toured Biltmore and my second honeymoon in the Virgin Islands.
I am a massive fan of the author and cannot wait to see what she comes up with next. Since her debut, I have read every book, and fans of Emily Giffin, Patti Callahan, Therese Fowler, Brenda Janowitz, and Diane Chamberlain will love this one. Kristy will be the next Reece Witherspoon, I predict.
I am honored to be mentioned with all the other fine women in the book and am so grateful. Assured to be a big hit for readers of contemporary and historical.
A special thank you to the author and #GalleryBooks and the author for a print ARC to read, enjoy, and review. I also purchased the hardcover and cannot wait for it to arrive today.
Blog Review Posted: www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating:
Exquisite! Her best yet.
A favorite Southern master storyteller and NYT bestselling author Kristy Woodson Harvey makes her entrance with grace and style with her first contemporary/historical fiction (inspired by real people and historical events) with THE WEDDING VEIL
The stunning inviting front cover with the elegant and iconic Biltmore House is a breathtaking backdrop for the four women across generations bound by a wedding veil heirloom and its connection to the famous Vanderbilt family. Yet, the story is much more. The author brilliantly explores the lives of these women and how they are shaped and connected.
Dual Timelines | Present Day:
Julie Baxter is preparing for her upcoming wedding to Hayes on the Biltmore House grounds, and her Grandmother, Babs (love), has passed down the family heirloom wedding veil for good luck. There is a lot of pressure surrounding this veil. When something occurs right before the wedding, that sends her running (rightly so and keeping her from making the biggest mistake of her life), her Grandmother Babs is there to drive the getaway car. (so much fun) Julia must do some soul searching about her life, future, past, and architectural career.
We then are transported to the picturesque British Virgin Islands, where Julie was to go on her honeymoon and now travels alone. She meets Connor (love), learns some hard facts about herself, and needs the courage to re-do her past and future separate from Hayes.
Not only does Julia, but her Grandmother Babs also has some difficult decisions to make. Her husband has passed, and she decides to go into assisted living. An old flame comes back into her life, she must decide if she wants to open her heart again for the future, no matter what others may say. Is she too old to experience love again?
Jules and Babs have a special relationship and love the letters between the two are charming. Kristy has a way with words, and you can tell she values family and has had some wise, strong women in her life.
Past 1879 I adore this history.
If you know the history of the Vanderbilts (Edith and George), you get to experience seeing and living at Biltmore through their eyes, to this iconic massive 250 room Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. George dies young, and Edith is left with this enormous house, employees, businesses, grounds, expenses, and upkeep on her own with a young daughter Cornelia.
Edith (love) is strong and courageous and thinks of ideas to keep George's legacy and some parts with her in the famous library (my favorite room) talking to his ghost.
As time moves on, Cornelia is grown, married, and has a family of her own, yet she wants a different life than Biltmore. Often we have to be brave enough to make our own decisions and not what our parents or family has planned. In order to keep up the financial end of Biltmore, they must open up the house for tours during trying times, and Cornelia has a hard time wrapping her head around it. She wants something different.
Then there is the ongoing mystery of the wedding veil, which keeps you turning the pages about how these families are connected. She balances emotion, loss, pain, love, history, and humor for an unforgettable story and characters that come alive on the page.
In THE WEDDING VEIL, Kristy masterfully explores how four generations of women bring their own personal histories to a family heirloom wedding veil. This beautiful and poignant novel evokes what invisible threads bind us and at the same time gives us the strength to make our own decisions for self-discovery.
Meticulously researched, a perfect blending of past and present, and fact and fiction. Each timeline was equally as compelling.
I enjoyed Kristy's author's note, research, and the inspiration behind the book. A poignant and deeply moving novel about how a wedding veil can define a family and how a family can lovingly reinvent itself.
While this is not her first book with dual timelines and multi-generational characters with a blending of contemporary and historical. Back in 2016, with [b:Lies and Other Acts of Love|25894055|Lies and Other Acts of Love|Kristy Woodson Harvey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1443036463l/25894055._SX50_.jpg|45776070] (another favorite), she features an unforgettable character, Lovey (Grandmother), and her past as well as her granddaughter, Annabelle.
However, THE WEDDING VEIL is the first historical/contemporary based on live events/characters— Biltmore and the Vanderbilt family. Once again, she creates a wise, funny, relatable, and strong grandmother influence in Babs for granddaughter, Jules. We all wish we had a Babs/Lovey person in our lives.
MOVIE-WORTHY! This book would make for a spectacular movie or tv series. I would also love a sequel to catch up with Connor/Julia and Miles/Babs and more about the enigmatic Cornelia and her life after leaving Biltmore and her three husbands. The minute I finished reading, I had to email Kristy.
Being an NC native, I adore Biltmore, rich in history and charm, and where I spent my first honeymoon (Grove Park Inn Asheville) and toured Biltmore and my second honeymoon in the Virgin Islands.
I am a massive fan of the author and cannot wait to see what she comes up with next. Since her debut, I have read every book, and fans of Emily Giffin, Patti Callahan, Therese Fowler, Brenda Janowitz, and Diane Chamberlain will love this one. Kristy will be the next Reece Witherspoon, I predict.
I am honored to be mentioned with all the other fine women in the book and am so grateful. Assured to be a big hit for readers of contemporary and historical.
A special thank you to the author and #GalleryBooks and the author for a print ARC to read, enjoy, and review. I also purchased the hardcover and cannot wait for it to arrive today.
Blog Review Posted: www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating:
bookswritingandmore's review
5.0
Simply incredible. I have no words good enough to explain this novel. All I can say is all the stars and all the gushing.
reneesmith's review against another edition
5.0
In Kristy Woodson Harvey’s latest, an heirloom wedding veil becomes a symbol of female empowerment as women from the past & present and in various seasons of life take steps to discover who they are (at times apart from their romantic partners), what they really want from life, and how to make their dreams come true. I enjoyed the dual timeline narratives & learning details about the Biltmore women. (Biltmore House is one of my favorite places!) My favorite characters were grandmother Babs & her granddaughter Julia. I loved the second-time-around love theme & the emphasis on true romantic partners supporting each other’s dreams . . . I listened to the story while moving out of the home I’ve lived in for 21 years. So as I was cleaning out my mother’s room & deciding which possessions to keep & which to let go of, this story of a cherished heirloom and the strength to be found in families touched my heart.
booklover1974's review
4.0
3, 5
I absolutely loved this author's last book, Under the Southern Sky, so in my mind this new novel would be something like that and I got disappointed. That's on me though, not the novels fault. I just expected something else with more feelings.
With the perspective from four different women it was hard for me to keep being interested all the way through but I really enjoyed the historical fiction part of it
I absolutely loved this author's last book, Under the Southern Sky, so in my mind this new novel would be something like that and I got disappointed. That's on me though, not the novels fault. I just expected something else with more feelings.
With the perspective from four different women it was hard for me to keep being interested all the way through but I really enjoyed the historical fiction part of it
susanthebookbag's review
5.0
I love historical fiction and Kristy Woodson Harvey is one of my must-read authors so when I found out that her new book was historical fiction, I was through the roof excited. I couldn't wait to read the story she created. I've loved everything that she has written so I knew this would be excellent.
The Wedding Veil did not disappoint. Four generations sharing the same beautiful wedding veil. Oh, the stories that veil could tell. I loved reading about the love that the veil came to mean to each bride as well as learning about each woman and the lives that they lived. What an amazing group of strong, independent women forging ahead with their lives.
As with any historical fiction story I read, I love learning the actual history that the author has researched and placed into their story. To weave such an entertaining, enlightening story around history is truly special.
I absolutely loved everything about The Wedding Veil and highly recommend it, especially for historical fiction fans. And if you have not read KWH's stories yet, this one would be a great one to start with.
The Wedding Veil did not disappoint. Four generations sharing the same beautiful wedding veil. Oh, the stories that veil could tell. I loved reading about the love that the veil came to mean to each bride as well as learning about each woman and the lives that they lived. What an amazing group of strong, independent women forging ahead with their lives.
As with any historical fiction story I read, I love learning the actual history that the author has researched and placed into their story. To weave such an entertaining, enlightening story around history is truly special.
I absolutely loved everything about The Wedding Veil and highly recommend it, especially for historical fiction fans. And if you have not read KWH's stories yet, this one would be a great one to start with.
chandvi's review
3.0
As much as I really wanted to love this book like many of it’s reviewers have, it didn’t quite hit the mark. This concept of having a historically significant family intertwined with a normal family through a supposedly lucky talisman was intriguing but I felt the present day storyline to be a bit rushed unlike it’s historical counterpart. The events in Julia’s story felt too conveniently placed where as Cornelia/Edith’s story felt more natural to read.
vickilynn51's review
3.0
Cute story. Closer to 3.5 stars. Two totally different story lines. For me, it took too long to connect them.
dumpling3579's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. The historical and fictional weaving made the story a bit clunky; it was as if I was reading two different novels simultaneously.