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,

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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.

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  • Zondervan
  • Paperback
  • November 2015
  • 384 Pages
  • 9780310341529

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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?