"Marcia Schuyler" - By Grace Livingston Hill

      Have you ever finished a book with a sigh and just wanted to run to the author and give her a big hug? That's how I felt when I finished this book. It's so good! I think it's the first romance novel I've ever read, and liked. Not to mention, it's the first romance novel that's clean; no rated R nastiness. That's one of the biggest reasons I like it so much. I'm quickly becoming a Grace Livingston Hill fan. Isn't it amazing how, even though a person has passed away, they can still leave an impact for generations to come?
     The book is about two sisters: the wild and beautiful Kate and the child-like dreamer Marcia. But the reckless Kate can never be tamed it seems. For on the eve of her wedding day, she elopes with a Captain, leaving her family and her fiance, David, in a cloud of disgrace and confusion. In a desperate attempt to patch up the marriage and go on with the wedding as planned, Marcia steps up to the plate of "the bride". Suddenly, she is thrown into a new life of woman-hood, of running a household, of being a wife that she had merely dreamed of the day before. And all these things she is forced to face alone in fear of bringing more pain than needed to David, who had lost his love, his life, and his future in one huge sweep.

      Personally, while reading this, I was getting annoyed with David. Yeah, I know, heartless me for beating up a guy who just lost everything he loved in life. But after a while, I just wanted him to get over it. Come on guy, suck it up and move on with life. I was even more annoyed with Marcia for not saying these things to him! It's a good thing patient and caring Marcia was stuck with him and not me, I guess, and it helped the story even more (the fact that Marcia is patient and caring, not the fact that David didn't marry me). Great book, great story. Read it.