Weekend Reads #113 – The Bradford Sisters by Becky Wade

Happy Saturday y’all! I had such fun writing a series review last week that I decided to do another one this week 😉 A Bradford Sisters Romance is a sweet and sometimes heartbreaking set of standalone romances featuring three sisters. I loved every part of this series SO far. Book three comes out this spring and I can’t wait to read more about the Bradford sisters. If you enjoy sweet, Christian romance, I highly recommend it.

True to You by Becky Wade
Series: A Bradford Sisters Romance #1
Published by Bethany House Publishers on 2017-05-02
Length: 373 pages
Reviewing Kindle from Amazon
Rating:

After a devastating heartbreak three years ago, genealogist and historical village owner Nora Bradford decided that burying her nose in her work and her books is far safer than romance in the here and now.

Unlike Nora, former Navy SEAL John Lawson is a modern-day man, usually 100 percent focused on the present. However, when John, an adoptee, is diagnosed with an inherited condition, he's forced to dig into the secrets of his ancestry.

John enlists Nora's help to uncover the identity of his birth mother, and as they work side by side, this pair of opposites begins to suspect that they just might be a perfect match. But can their hope for a future survive their wounds from the past?

I first came across this book when another blogger posted her review for it. It sounded like something I would enjoy and I was right. True to You by Becky Wade is a sweet, heart-breaking and gut-wrenching story about two unlikely people falling in love. BUT it is more than that. I honestly don’t know how to describe it! It’s a beautiful story about redemption and acceptance.

The book opens with Nora Bradford playing a hostage with her sister at John Lawson’s security firm. This meet-cute is everything! I loved it. There’s the appropriate amount of swooning from the girl and the intrigue from the guy. It’s perfect. Nora accepts she’ll probably never see this man again, but he does reach out for other reasons and the story evolves from there.

Nora is a quirky librarian and owner of the historical village in her small hometown. She’s passionate with her work, but keeps her heart close. She’s been hurt before and doesn’t plan to let that happen again. When John asks her for his help in finding his birth family, she dives into the project. She loves genealogy and research, but she also finds herself falling for the former Navy SEAL.

John Lawson is a strong male lead that I fell in love with as Nora did. He has never wanted to know about his birth family. He loves his adoptive parents, but when he is diagnosed with a genetic condition he decides he needs to know. It’s the reason he tells himself he sought out Nora. Afterall he has a girlfriend and he is not the cheating type, neither is Nora.

This story is all about the plot twists. One I expected and may have even rolled my eyes at. But the other?! It blew me away! I cried so hard for these characters, and guys it’s been a long time since a book made me cry. Oh but Nora and John do!

Overall I really enjoyed Nora and John’s romance. It’s heart-breaking, but the author writes it beautifully. I couldn’t sit it down. I read and re-read passages. And the blend of Christianity into the story and the heart of the characters was perfect. I highly recommend you grab a box of tissues and read this one ASAP.

I received this book via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

Falling for You by Becky Wade
Series: A Bradford Sisters Romance #2
Published by Bethany House Publishers on 2018-05-01
Length: 368 pages
Reviewing eARC from Netgalley
Rating:

Willow Bradford is content taking a break from modeling to run her family's inn until she comes face-to-face with NFL quarterback Corbin Stewart, the man who broke her heart--and wants to win her back. When a decades-old missing-persons case brings them together, they're forced to decide whether they can risk falling for one another all over again.

While I loved True to You, the first book in A Bradford Sisters Romance, I adored Falling for You by Becky Wade. Willow and Corbin’s romance is not one I’d expected to like. It is a second-chance story about forgiveness, not of the other person but of yourself. It’s a hard pill to swallow but one Wade brings to life in a realistic and heart-aching way.

Willow is the eldest and seemingly perfect Bradford sister. She is home for the season to run her parents’ bed and breakfast while they take a much needed vacation. Willow is a driven, independent person. She has the typical first-born genes running through her and a stubborn streak. I loved her!

Corbin is a former NFL player, currently in rehab for his damaged shoulder. He relocated to Willow’s small town, not for her though it may have crossed his mind 😉 No it was for the stellar physical therapist and his declining father who needed a stable home. Corbin’s character is not what Willow remembers. He is a very different person so when life brings them back together Willow is skeptical to trust the front he shows in her presence.

While this story revolves around Willow and Corbin, it also focuses on Charlotte Dixon’s search for her great-aunt who went missing years earlier. She enlists Corbin and Willow’s help, forcing them to interact. I loved the mystery surround the disappearance and their investigation into it. But I perhaps loved what it revealed about Willow and Corbin. This isn’t a very light read. It deals with some heavy truths that Willow must accept about herself before she can enter into a relationship again.

Overall I loved Falling for You. Becky Wade‘s ability to pull at my heart-strings is a masterful. Willow and Corbin broke my heart and mended it all in one little book. If you enjoy second-chance romance with a Christian theme, I highly recommend it.

Then Came You by Becky Wade
Series: A Bradford Sisters Romance #0.5
Published by Bethany House Publishers on 2017-03-07
Length: 158 pages
Reviewing Kindle from Amazon
Rating:

A leather-bound journal. A single father. A woman in pursuit of freedom.

Garner Bradford, heir to the troubled Bradford Shipping empire, doesn't know much about babies. But he's going to have to learn fast because he's just become a single father to his newborn daughter. As he confesses through his journal entries, he's not entirely sure how to keep a newborn alive, whether or not he'll ever patch together his shattered heart, or how to forgive himself for his mistakes.

Career girl Kathleen Burke is wholly uninterested in settling down. She has big dreams, and none of them include Garner and his small hometown in Washington State. Yet she can't seem to get her handsome boss out of her head or her heart. There's something extraordinarily tempting about his beautifully sad green eyes. . . .

Told through journal entries, phone conversations, and letters, Then Came You is a unique, heart-stirring romance novella by acclaimed author Becky Wade.

Then Came You by Becky Wade is a prequel novella to the A Bradford Sisters Romance. It can be read at anytime of the series. It doesn’t spoil any of the books I promise. I read it after reading Falling for You, the second book of the series. However I think I would have benefited in reading it prior to the first book. Written as a journal by the Bradford’s father, Then Came You gives a glimpse into the lives of the sisters as children. It eludes to events that are discussed at in length in the novels. However Becky Wade gives enough details about these events in the novels that it isn’t necessary to read this first. Personally I like as many details as I can get 😉 Plus I loved getting to know their father and mothers better.

Don’t miss the final book in A Bradford Sisters Romance, out April 30, 2019

Sweet on You by Becky Wade
Series: A Bradford Sisters Romance #3
Published by Bethany House Publishers on 2019-04-30

Britt and Zander have been best friends since they met thirteen years ago, but unbeknownst to Britt, Zander has been in love with her for just as long. When Zander's uncle dies of mysterious causes, he returns to Washington to investigate. As they work together to uncover his uncles tangled past, will the truth of what lies between them also come to light?

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