{"id":810,"date":"2008-10-06T00:48:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-06T00:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/blue-blessed-heart.html"},"modified":"2008-10-06T00:48:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-06T00:48:00","slug":"blue-blessed-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/blue-blessed-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Blessed Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253836597526921266\"<\/a>
Blue Heart Blessed <\/a>by Susan Meissner<\/a>
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (February 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736919171
ISBN-13: 978-0736919173
From Amazon.com
Product Description<\/p>\n

In this moving new novel by critically acclaimed author Susan Meissner, readers will once again delight in the masterful storytelling that resulted in the author\u2019s A Window to the World (2005) being named among the top ten Christian novels of the year by Booklist Magazine.<\/p>\n

Left standing at the altar, Daisy Murien, a wounded but hopeful romantic, opens a secondhand wedding dress boutique, hoping to soothe her broken heart while giving doomed wedding dresses a second chance at love. Her predictable days take a sharp turn, though, when the retired Episcopal priest who blesses the tiny, blue satin heart she sews into each dress falls ill. When the priest\u2019s brooding and recently divorced son arrives with plans to take his ailing father away, a contest of wills begins between two stubborn\u2014and hurting\u2014souls. While fighting to keep Father Laurent close by, Daisy finally begins to understand why she has routinely convinced potential buyers not to buy the one gown that started her business\u2014her own: She doesn\u2019t want to give up on the dream of a fairytale romance.<\/p>\n

This compelling story is about the magnificence of unconditional love and God\u2019s impeccable timing in bringing it about.<\/strong>==<\/em><\/p>\n

I loved this book! I thought it was much better than the mystery I read by the same author entitled Sticks and Stones<\/a>. It was a fairly quick read, and I could really sympathize with Daisy being nearly stood up at the altar by her ex. To heal her aching spirit, she opens up a bridal shop, selling used wedding gowns. Her store is set up in a renovated hotel, and the rooms have been converted into apartments. The tenants include Daisy\u2019s widowed mother and Daisy\u2019s widowed aunt, both whom assist her in running her shop. When the anniversary of Daisy\u2019s breakup with her ex-fianc\u00e9 looms, she finds herself feeling depressed, especially since she can\u2019t find the courage to sell her wedding dress.<\/p>\n

The tenants of her apartment complex are like an extended family to Daisy. Max, her magician childhood friend, is there help her through the rough times. Retired priest Father Laurent, another tenant, blesses the blue hearts that Daisy sews into the wedding dresses she sells at the shop. Since Daisy\u2019s father is dead, she finds that Father Laurent is a sympathetic substitute father. She goes to him for advice, and he doles it out, in his loving, heartfelt manner.
When Father Laurent falls ill, Daisy\u2019s world turns upside down when Ramsey, Father Laurent\u2019s son, returns to care for his dad. Daisy finds herself smitten with the brooding man, and she wonders if they can ever settle their differences and learn to get along. Meanwhile Father Laurent continues to give advice: Daisy should not focus on earthly love, but on the heavenly love of Jesus.<\/p>\n

~Cecelia Dowdy~<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blue Heart Blessed by Susan MeissnerPaperback: 288 pages Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (February 1, 2008) Language: English ISBN-10: 0736919171 ISBN-13: 978-0736919173From Amazon.comProduct Description In this moving new novel by critically acclaimed author Susan Meissner, readers will once again delight in the masterful storytelling that resulted in the author\u2019s A Window to the World (2005) being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,73,66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-talk","category-harvest-house-publishers","category-susan-meissner"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paovYP-d4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}