Posts Tagged ‘Covered Bridge Charm’

The character who often steals the page in Dianne Christner’s new book Covered Bridge Charm is soft and fluffy and full of mischief. Not words commonly used for a handsome, romantic protagonist, but this character isn’t even human–he’s a rabbit–so these descriptions are apt.

The character I fell in love with in this sweet romance is Cocoa, the rescued bunny who provides comic relief and gentle nudgings for the couple who drive the storyline, Carly and Adam. Cocoa is a character close to my heart because he is a rescued animal who has an important role in this delightful book. Cocoa is even featured on the front and back of the book riding in Carly’s bicycle basket.

Although, Covered Bridge Charm is set in Oregon, as I’ve been reading it, images of Union County pop into my mind. First of all, the book features covered bridges. Union County has become a tourist destination for our covered bridges. Joe and I were even lucky enough to have dinner on The Pottersburg Bridge during the 2015 Covered Bridge Bluegrass Festival. So I’m having no trouble bringing the bridge scenery to life in my imagination.

Secondly, the book focuses on Carly’s challenges trying to improve the lives of the residents at the Sweet Life Assisted Living Facility where she works. As soon as I began reading about the people at Sweet Life, I was reminded of Edgewater Place here in Plain City.

The appeal of Covered Bridge Charm is the interwoven storyline of how women across generations face struggles involving faith and independence to find love and happiness–something we can all relate with regardless of our religious upbringing or background. Carly hopes to reunite Martha, a resident of Sweet Life, with her long lost love who she met at one of the local covered bridges when she was a girl. On her quest to find Martha’s old friend, Carly’s relationship with Adam blossoms as they explore the covered bridges seeking answers.

I first learned about Dianne Christner’s writing a few years ago when she wrote a series of books that were set right here in Plain City, Ohio. The drugstore even got a mention in the second book in the series, Something New!

The books, a trilogy called Plain City Bridesmaids, feature Mennonite characters and a love story set against a Mennonite background. The tag line for the series is: “Fall in Love the Mennonite Way.”

Christner, who currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona, was raised Mennonite and uses her memories of her former way of life to make her stories ring true.

Like Christner’s other books, Covered Bridge Charm is a warm romance that invites readers into a world of faith and family and a view of falling in love “the Mennonite way.” Even if you were not raised in a Mennonite church, many of the situations and characters will feel very familiar.

To find out more about Dianne Christner, visit her web site HERE or her blog HERE. Her blog contains a recent posting about how she came up with the ideas for Covered Bridge Charm. Read it HERE.

You can also read about all of Dianne Christner’s books including the series, Plain City Bridesmaids, on her Facebook page HERE.

Buy your copy of Covered Bridge Charm by going HERE.

I want to thank Dianne for sending me a copy of Covered Bridge Charm. It was a wonderful surprise to find a book in the mail–probably the best surprise anyone could send to me. I’ve enjoyed immersing myself in Carly and Cocoa’s lives and cannot wait for more charming adventures from Dianne’s imagination.