Mother's Wedding Dress: Button String Bride / Wedding Quilt Bride / Bayside Bride / The Persistent Bride

by Cathy Marie Hake

These four closely related stories will warm your heart with family love and traditions. Each bride has a legacy of faith to leave with generations to come. And the heirloom chest will forever be symbolic of their love.

Book 1 - Kristin Billerbeck: “Bayside Bride.”
Many opportunities are opening to women of the late 1920's, but Jo Mayer, a runaway, can only find work as a maid at a San Francisco mansion where illegal activity is brewing. Who can she trust? And how can the Bayside Bride leave her legacy, now that the beloved heirloom trunk has been stolen from her?

Book 2 - Colleen Coble: “Wedding Quilt Bride.”
Hoping to get her mind off herself, Faith Cole makes a trip to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, to visit her great-grandmother in the spring of 1889. Convinced that a disability will keep her from ever marrying, Faith shuns the hope in her mother's wedding trunk. But will she be The Wedding Quilt Bride who makes the next addition to the chest?

Book 3 - Gina Fields: “The Persistent Bride.”
Carly Simmons would like to enjoy the treasures in her antique wedding chest, but love hasn't been able to catch up with this woman of the fast-paced modern world. When Carly meets an intriguing man through her social services work, could her reaction to him forever label her as The Persistent Bride?

Book 4 - Cathy Marie Hake: “Button String Bride.”
In 1858, orphaned, Charity Davis must join Ethan Cole's wagon so she can can continue along the Oregon Trail. Can a lady and a rough carpenter be equally yoked? Happily enough, she becomes his Button String Bride. With hope and love, Ethan carves a beautiful wedding chest to protect her wedding gown and beloved button string - all heirlooms to be passed on to their daughters and granddaughters.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Christian, Historical, Christian Romance, Historical Fiction

338 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

As a child, Cathy Marie Hake had an imaginary playmate. Now "grown up," she indulges in a host of imaginary friends as she writes. She teasingly says she decided if those voices in her head were talking, she might as well write down what they said and make a living by doing it. She met her sweetheart in the High School department at church and married him after finishing nursing school. They live in Southern California and have two children and two dogs (one of them even moos - one of the dogs that is, not the kids). Faith in God, a loving family, and a wacky sense of the ridiculous keep her going.

Known for surfing across the kitchen on a dropped dill pickle slice, waterskiing on sea anemone spit, and using Right Guard® as hair spray; she considers herself living proof that God does, indeed, possess a healthy sense of humor.

Cathy loves classical music, romantic getways with her husband, and Diet Pepsi Free®. "I need chocolate to survive, love my friends, and enjoy a deep personal relationship with the Lord. Although an extrovert, I'm very conservative on a personal level."

In her writing, Cathy attempts to capture a unique glimpse of life and how a man and woman can overcome obstacles when motivated by love. In her inspirational pieces she enjoys the freedom of showing how Christ can enrich a loving couple's relationship.

Reviews

[Christina Sinisi · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a long, hard school year, this professor needed some short and sweet historical novels to transport me to another day and time. This four-in-one set fit the bill perfectly.

Not to say that these stories were all fluff. One encompassed the hardships of wagon trains moving west, another the terrible decisions leading to the Johnstown flood, another to post-World War I edging toward the Great Depression, and finally the hardships we bring on ourselves.

In all cases, look to the Lord. Thank you, God, for being beside us through it all.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liking it so far!

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed hearing the story about the buttons on a string. My grandmother collected buttons; sewing them in designs for wall art.

[Terry Yaceyko · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED Story 1 - the Button String Bride was my absolute favorite.

[Sally Mander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good. Nice stories that loosely join together.

[Dawn Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t care for the transition from author to author.

[Leslie aka StoreyBook Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 short stories about a trunk that is passed down through generations and how each woman deals with issues in their life through prayer and strong christian beliefs.

good books and easy read

[Richelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love it!!! its has four clean romances! perfect!!! :)

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Button String Bride was very good. The Wedding Quilt Bride was good. The other two were just okay.

[Marilize · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good. Not fantastic, but I liked it.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an alright read. The stories were just too short for me, and being short, progressed quicker than I would have liked.

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful story collection with a believable thread connecting each. Particularly enjoyed the first, (foundation,) which captured my imagination.

[Tenille · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. The 4 stories that all connected by family was a great idea.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Button String Bride is ok, Wedding Quilt Bride is about a girl with a limp and the Johnstown flood, Bayside Bride is dumb, The Persistent Bride is about a social worker and her client and is ok.