Wednesday, May 14, 2014

The Chapel Wars (2014)

The Chapel Wars. Lindsey Leavitt. 2014. Bloomsbury USA. 304 pages. [Source: Review copy]

Holly, our heroine, has inherited her grandpa's wedding chappel, Rose of Sharon. This wedding chapel is one of the classiest in Las Vegas, at least that is what Holly and her family would have us to believe. Her grandpa had a certain standard to uphold. No gimmicks. Just real romance. In other words, no preachers in Elvis suits. But poor financial decisions from several years ago has left the chapel in big trouble. Grandpa Jim knew this before he died. He failed to mention it, of course. But he speaks the truth in a letter to his favorite grandchild, Holly. Seventeen IS young to be THE BOSS, but, Holly is super-smart. She is GREAT at numbers. She has vision too. She's going to give it her ALL. She is not afraid to make decisions and stand behind those decisions even when other employees disagree. In other words, hello, Elvis. She knows that she absolutely cannot save the business IF she binds herself to WHAT WOULD GRANDPA DO?

One of the highlights of this novel, and there are many, is the romance. Grandpa left TWO letters behind. One for Holly. One for Dax. Dax is the boy-next-door. The boy-from-the-wedding-chapel-next door. He not only works at the chapel next door, he is the grandson of the owner. These two businesses share a parking lot. Though they've never really spoken before her Grandpa's death, after his death, these two become something...

I loved, loved, loved the developing relationship between Holly and Dax. I loved their conversations. I loved their dates. I loved how everything was far from perfect. I loved the emotion and tension between these two.

I also loved the character development. Many members of Holly's family were developed. And Holly had a circle of friends that were developed too. This made the novel believable. Readers were invited to share a life, a messy life.

This one will most likely be one of my favorite YA books of 2014. I just loved, loved, loved it.
© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

1 comment:

Ms. Yingling said...

There have been more YA but MG apprpriate romances this spring, so I'll be looking forward to having this one for my readers in the fall. Love the cover, too!