Joely is the middle of the Crockett sisters. She was the one who when everything came crashing down after their father's death decided that with her mother's help she would take over Paradise Ranch and see if she could save it.

Coming home from California with her possessions in tow Joely and her mother, Bella, are involved in a horrific accident. Joely is left broken, physically and emotionally. Her soon to be ex-husband never checks on her. Her sister's take turns hovering over her. And all she wants to do is be left alone to wallow in whatever it is that is going on with her.

Enter Alec Morrissey....Gabe's good friend and best man. Joely's two older sisters have found love and decided in a show of unity to share their wedding day. Joely is Matron of Honor and is mortified that she is going to have to go through this in a wheelchair. (The former beauty queen in her has enough pride to not want to be pitied or babied.) This is when we meet Alec.

He's a former championship Bronc rider who lost part of his leg in Iraq. He has a prosthetic leg and scars on his soul that haven't quite healed yet. Immediately he sets Joely on edge with his words of wisdom and way of making her think about what she is doing and why. Joely half the time wants to know who the heck does this guy think he is talking to her like that and the other half wondering why bother, what's left for her?

He doesn't tell her right away just how he knows what she is going through and where his "wisdom" comes from. He too has kept his missing limb a secret from most people...doesn't want the pity or worse, revulsion he has seen in the eyes of others when they "get a load of his stump". But when Joely finds out about it....yup, it's emotional to say the least.

Now Alec starts getting ghosts of his past catching up with him. His good buddy and ex-rodeo buddy Vince connects with him to tell him of his acquiring the one bronc Alec could never master and referring to some tequila fueled silly bet made a long, long time ago. Joely and Alec fight a lot over this...why is it she has to face her past and yet he won't?

As with every romance we get our mending of broken hearts, broken families and broken dreams. Joely learns to stand on her own two feet, figuratively and literally, while Alec learns what trust is really about and how great forgiveness can be.

Not sure who the next story is about or when it's coming out so we'll just wait and see. ( )

Lizbeth Selvig's writing connects to her readers. The Seven Brides for Seven Cowboys series was a discovery I do not regret. Thanks to Avon, Edelweiss and Ms. Selvig, I have loved every single book. Have nicknamed them the five star collection and will continue until the end. I was blessed to received an ARC of The Bride Wore Starlight in exchange for an honest review. It would have been so easy to see this read as a dismal look at life's heartbreaking moments. However, with a little bit of laughter, quite a few tears and outstanding writing this story became about appreciating the blessings and the lessons from each experience whether good or bad. Make the most of the time you have and the people you love. I am getting emotional just from writing this review. ( )

It been a while since I had read a Liz Selvig book and I had heard some good things about this series, go I thought I would pick one up and why not begin with The Bride Wore Starlight, her latest book.
So the story is about Joely Crockett; Joely and her mother were involved in a nasty car accident 9 months ago and those 9 months have been the toughest of her life as not only is she battling to walk again, she is dealing with the emotions from the crash, an unfaithful husband who doesn't even bother to turn up at the hospital and now she has to face the pitting remarks at her two sisters double wedding. But what she didn't expect is running into a man like Alec Morrissey, a man who accused her of milking her injuries to get attention from everyone.
Alec Morrissey knows how Joely feels more than anyone. Alec used to be a big rodeo star, before going into the army with his cousin Buzz, but when his tour was done, he not only lost his cousin and his family, but a part of himself too. Add to that a friend from the past is trying to get him back in the rodeo, which makes Alec dig his heels in more. After an uneasy start Alec and Joely became a little more than friend, but their pasts are holding them back, will they overcome these obstacles or will they stay caught up in the past.
The book is a part of a series and I will be honest, you really do need to read the series, before getting into this book as there are a lot of references and characters they really have very little explanation. Now while I found the writing superb, I found that the plot had issues, some parts of the story needed a little streamline and other parts needed to be expanded, I honestly think that was the biggest issues I had with the book, I felt that the book was on the cusp of greatness, but the bumpy ride the plot gives you was just a little to bumpy to deal with. Now when it comes to the characters, I found Alec's character very likable, I struggled with Joely's characters, her character come across as so self-centered in the beginning, that when her real personality came through later in the book, I struggled to like her.
But please don't think that there are not great parts to the story, because there really are. The lesson of overcoming adversity was great. I really loved Joely's sister Mia and her Grandmother Sadie. The character Heidi was hysterical, even though I am sure she was not meant to be and I am sure I will never see a skunk and not think about this book (for the right reasons) and when the first time Joely parallel parked after her accident had me laughing like an idiot.
When it came to rating this book I really struggled, as I felt it deserved a better score that what I ended up giving it, but the plot issues were just a little too much for me to overcome. The book has such an inspiring message that I truly loved and I will be going back and reading the series from the beginning, I give The Bride Wore Starlight 3 and 1/2 stars.
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