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Hope Springs #5
Wedding Cake
“Hinton’s down-home charm carries the light, feel-good story with ease.” — Publishers Weekly First came Friendship Cake, then Christmas Cake, and now Wedding Cake —another delightful chapter in the ongoing story of the ladies of Hope Springs, North Carolina, who, after a difficult year, are banding together to find the perfect husband for a dear friend. Author Lynne Hinton has cooked up a wonderful confection that fans of Jan Karon, Fannie Flagg, and Kaye Gibbons will want to devour. Wedding Cake is comforting, warm, and satisfying—and it comes with delicious recipes, too!
304 pages, Paperback
First published May 18, 2010
23 people are currently reading
270 people want to read
About the author
Lynne Hinton
25 books183 followersLynne Hinton is the pastor of St. Paul's United Church of Christ in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The author of numerous novels including Friendship Cake, Hope Springs, Forever Friends, Christmas Cake, and Wedding Cake, she lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
November 24, 2015
This book was a nice ending to the Friendship Cake series (at least I think this was the last book in the series). This group of friends stuck together through all the highs and lows each of them have faced. Anyone would be lucky to have a group of women like this in their corner. This book had the usual sad times, quirky moments with Beatrice's meddling and the women coming together in celebration. I have enjoyed all of the books I've read by Lynne Hinton and look forward to reading her others I have on my shelf.
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May 4, 2010This is an excellent example of Southern writing with the quirky characters, the iced tea, and the theme of love and family. The characters in this story are many of the same women as from Friendship Cake, with Margaret and Roxie missing, plus Pastor Charlotte has moved to New Mexico and heads a center for battered women. The central theme of love and friendship shows that the path is not always easy, and hardships and problems appear. The reader sees the problem of Beatrice and her daughter Robin, the unresolved issues with Jessie and her husband James, the uncertainty of new love with Donovan and Charlotte, and the love between deceased Roxie and Margaret and their living friends. I thoroughly enjoyed Friendship Cake, and met Lynne Hinton at a library event. She is very similiar to Pastor Charlotte, who still holds her Carolina roots very dear, but must embrace a new life in another state. As many Southern writers would comment, this novel is a good beach read, in words, a fun read that does not dwell on unpleasantness too heavily.
February 3, 2013
Demy expresses his disgust with the famous scene of the wedding cake: big rats appear, they had entered the cathedral-pastry. It won't be long before the magnificent dessert crumble. And it will not be long before Hamelin itself and its hypocrite priests crumble like Sodom.
August 29, 2016
This Hope Springs conclusion was a little too good to be true and I got tired of the wedding cake recipes, but it did have some good life-insights and unexpected surprises.
March 19, 2018
Sweet end to the Hope Springs series. I would have preferred a bit more then an off-stage conversation at the end of the book, but I liked the way everything worked out for everyone.
July 23, 2018
ups and downs of marriage
Highly unusual marriage occurs --stretching to practice willing to suspend belief
more realistic than previous books in dealing with interchange within a marriage
only one wedding cake recipe -- rest of recipes were for party food
Highly unusual marriage occurs --stretching to practice willing to suspend belief
more realistic than previous books in dealing with interchange within a marriage
only one wedding cake recipe -- rest of recipes were for party food
January 8, 2025
Love all ages
Great group of ladies ! There is so much love and kindness in this book . Everyone's hold read it. There is sadness and happiness and life and friendship, and we can all learn a lesson or two with this book. Great read!
Great group of ladies ! There is so much love and kindness in this book . Everyone's hold read it. There is sadness and happiness and life and friendship, and we can all learn a lesson or two with this book. Great read!
July 28, 2017
I enjoyed reading Wedding Cake, it definitely had some page turners and surprises as well as tears. I look forward in reading more of Lynne Hinton books.
May 17, 2018
Great story but not written very well. Maybe I'm to picky, but the decriptive narrative seemed way to repetitive & I found myself counting how many sips of tea...
March 7, 2019
Loved being able to see what happened to this group of women. Just a fabulous happy book.
May 7, 2019
I enjoyed these books so much! You’ll laugh, cry, & laugh some more.
June 7, 2023
This book was okay. It was nice to read once but I do not think I will be reading it again.
November 30, 2024
Another good story about the characters in Hope Springs.
September 6, 2012
To read this review and other like it check out my site at www.ufreviews.com
This is one of the books I picked up during a certain book retailers semi-annual massive clearance sales. I tend to buy a ton of books at like a buck a piece that I would have otherwise never read. This is probably not a book I would have picked up on my own, but yet it was a book I actually enjoyed reading. I could see myself reading this book a couple of years ago and not enjoying it nearly as much I do now. A few years ago I would not have been able to relate to anything these women were going through, but it's funny how as the years go by people change.
This is a story about a group of women, there story started I think four books before this one, and they are women who have grown children, finished college, some retired, some still working. But regardless these are all women who have lived life. As a group they have gone through some hard things, losing a member of the group to cancer, problems in marriages, the loss of loved ones, strained relationships with children. But through everything they have stuck together, and have been true friends to one another. I can only hope that I end up with friends as good as they are to each other.
Bea is a character that is perhaps a bit too over dramatized. She plays the role of meddling friend, and she has almost an overwhelming personality. I have to admit I had a hard time taking her seriously, but then she had a moment outside her house where she completely broke down in front of a stranger, and she became much more of a person in that moment.
I really loved Charlotte, I could probably read a book about only Charlotte. She is a pastor who now runs a domestic abuse shelter. She is a strong woman, who knows the job she does is so important to so many women, but it is a hard job to do. As she mentions throughout the book, she can't save them all, and the sad reality is a lot of women go back to their abusive situations, and Charlotte feels that loss every time she isn't able to "save" one of those women. It's totally understandable that after seeing the results of unhealthy relationships all day long she would have a hard time trusting any relationship she has.
Overall I think this is a story a lot of women would enjoy, I think my mom would enjoy reading this book. I had a couple of problems with the book, but they didn't make the book any less of a good read. My first issue was the pacing, well not so much the pacing, but the passage of time within the book. You would get a chapter or two that happened during times close together, and then a few weeks or months would have gone by. I felt like I missed out on events that happened during those times. I also felt like the end was wrapped up too easily in some regards and other things were completely left out. A character is alluded to having some kind of revenge plot with another for most of the book, but it is never addressed at the end of the book, felt like it left you hanging. Also at the end suddenly, and very much without warning, a character receives something that allows for her to just sweep in an solve everyone's problems. It felt almost like the author needed to tie things up at the end and wanted it all to end nicely, so she just wrapped it all up with a shiny new bow.
I did enjoy reading the book, so I'll give it three stars because it did have a couple of issues within it, but I think if you are looking for a relaxing read, this may be an option for many people out there.
This is one of the books I picked up during a certain book retailers semi-annual massive clearance sales. I tend to buy a ton of books at like a buck a piece that I would have otherwise never read. This is probably not a book I would have picked up on my own, but yet it was a book I actually enjoyed reading. I could see myself reading this book a couple of years ago and not enjoying it nearly as much I do now. A few years ago I would not have been able to relate to anything these women were going through, but it's funny how as the years go by people change.
This is a story about a group of women, there story started I think four books before this one, and they are women who have grown children, finished college, some retired, some still working. But regardless these are all women who have lived life. As a group they have gone through some hard things, losing a member of the group to cancer, problems in marriages, the loss of loved ones, strained relationships with children. But through everything they have stuck together, and have been true friends to one another. I can only hope that I end up with friends as good as they are to each other.
Bea is a character that is perhaps a bit too over dramatized. She plays the role of meddling friend, and she has almost an overwhelming personality. I have to admit I had a hard time taking her seriously, but then she had a moment outside her house where she completely broke down in front of a stranger, and she became much more of a person in that moment.
I really loved Charlotte, I could probably read a book about only Charlotte. She is a pastor who now runs a domestic abuse shelter. She is a strong woman, who knows the job she does is so important to so many women, but it is a hard job to do. As she mentions throughout the book, she can't save them all, and the sad reality is a lot of women go back to their abusive situations, and Charlotte feels that loss every time she isn't able to "save" one of those women. It's totally understandable that after seeing the results of unhealthy relationships all day long she would have a hard time trusting any relationship she has.
Overall I think this is a story a lot of women would enjoy, I think my mom would enjoy reading this book. I had a couple of problems with the book, but they didn't make the book any less of a good read. My first issue was the pacing, well not so much the pacing, but the passage of time within the book. You would get a chapter or two that happened during times close together, and then a few weeks or months would have gone by. I felt like I missed out on events that happened during those times. I also felt like the end was wrapped up too easily in some regards and other things were completely left out. A character is alluded to having some kind of revenge plot with another for most of the book, but it is never addressed at the end of the book, felt like it left you hanging. Also at the end suddenly, and very much without warning, a character receives something that allows for her to just sweep in an solve everyone's problems. It felt almost like the author needed to tie things up at the end and wanted it all to end nicely, so she just wrapped it all up with a shiny new bow.
I did enjoy reading the book, so I'll give it three stars because it did have a couple of issues within it, but I think if you are looking for a relaxing read, this may be an option for many people out there.
April 25, 2013
I wish i could give this ZERO stars!!
Ok, so heres the deal. A few times a year B&N has a huge sale where a bunch of books with insanely minor typos (like one errant comma) go on sale for 1.99. There are literally hundreds of books and i go through them all. Sometimes i want a bio, sometimes i want a sad book, sometimes i just want a “check your brain at the door” book to read in between the serious and depressing ones. This was one of those books. This is a book about a bunch of southern ladies, all very close friends, all going through some kind of problem in their lives. I thought, cool, a light beach read. HOLY SHIT! Remember that awful tv show “Seventh Heaven”? Well this book is the equivalent of that horseshit. Everyone is prim and proper and always does the right thing. One of the characters, Beatrice, is such a meddling nosy bitch, that more then once i wished she was a real person so i could hunt her down and bury an axe in her mouth. At one point, she actually forces a vow renewal ceremony down her friends throat and then plans the entire thing herself with no regard to what her friend wants. Her friends response? “well thats just Bea!” Um, no! Thats just a nosy twatwaffle! I refuse to stop reading a book, no matter how bad, so i kept reading this one. And i wanted to kill myself because of it.
FINAL REVIEW
This book should be set on fire.
Ok, so heres the deal. A few times a year B&N has a huge sale where a bunch of books with insanely minor typos (like one errant comma) go on sale for 1.99. There are literally hundreds of books and i go through them all. Sometimes i want a bio, sometimes i want a sad book, sometimes i just want a “check your brain at the door” book to read in between the serious and depressing ones. This was one of those books. This is a book about a bunch of southern ladies, all very close friends, all going through some kind of problem in their lives. I thought, cool, a light beach read. HOLY SHIT! Remember that awful tv show “Seventh Heaven”? Well this book is the equivalent of that horseshit. Everyone is prim and proper and always does the right thing. One of the characters, Beatrice, is such a meddling nosy bitch, that more then once i wished she was a real person so i could hunt her down and bury an axe in her mouth. At one point, she actually forces a vow renewal ceremony down her friends throat and then plans the entire thing herself with no regard to what her friend wants. Her friends response? “well thats just Bea!” Um, no! Thats just a nosy twatwaffle! I refuse to stop reading a book, no matter how bad, so i kept reading this one. And i wanted to kill myself because of it.
FINAL REVIEW
This book should be set on fire.
May 16, 2019
Hinton returns to Hope Springs, North Carolina in a novel centering on weddings. It's not completely necessary to read the previous books, but readers may be lost without the characters' back stories. Although this book is a sweet treat, the plot is fairly skimpy and often only seems like a rehashing of things that have happened in the past.
SUMMARY: The ladies of Hope Springs miss their pastor friend Charlotte Stewart, who has moved to New Mexico. They haven't fallen out of touch, and still hope to find her a husband before it's too late. Weddings seem to be in the air, because Jessie is getting ready to renew her vows, Beatrice's daughter is getting married, and even Louise receives a proposal. Can the ladies put aside their past regrets and make the best decisions for their futures?
SUMMARY: The ladies of Hope Springs miss their pastor friend Charlotte Stewart, who has moved to New Mexico. They haven't fallen out of touch, and still hope to find her a husband before it's too late. Weddings seem to be in the air, because Jessie is getting ready to renew her vows, Beatrice's daughter is getting married, and even Louise receives a proposal. Can the ladies put aside their past regrets and make the best decisions for their futures?
May 17, 2010
This was a thoroughly delightful book - full of surprises. It showed clearly the friendship of a group of women. There were three quite different marriages, and one thaat didn't end in marriage. It also touched on the relationship between a mother and her daughter. After finishing the book reactions that sounded strange when reading about them began to be believable. The female preacher in "Wedding Cake" was head of a shelter for abused women and I think she gave a true picture of life there.
October 19, 2010
This book was not the best use of my time.
If given the choice, I will always take a pass on white cake (unless it's angel food or poppy seed--something more interesting). That's my impression of this book, reviewed in more detail here:
http://mariesbookgarden.blogspot.com/....
If given the choice, I will always take a pass on white cake (unless it's angel food or poppy seed--something more interesting). That's my impression of this book, reviewed in more detail here:
http://mariesbookgarden.blogspot.com/....
March 15, 2012
Given the title, it is not a really big surprise that this book deals with marriage issues. The interesting part is that the relationships considered include the abusive relationships of the women at the women's shelter that Charlotte runs, and the scars left by James having abandoned his wife and children.
October 10, 2012
I tried. I probably got about half way through before I put it down for good. I just couldn't connect to this book they way I would've liked. Maybe I am just too young, since all the characters of the book are in their fifties or older, but I doubt that's really the problem. It just didn't flow right for me.
December 4, 2010
5th in the Hope Springs Series (after Christmas Cake)
Bea is up to something - again. And, it includes her being a busybody again. She gets hurt.
Louise receives an unusual proposal.
Jessie gets hurt.
Charlotte? Read on.
Bea is up to something - again. And, it includes her being a busybody again. She gets hurt.
Louise receives an unusual proposal.
Jessie gets hurt.
Charlotte? Read on.
October 20, 2011
The further adventures of the Hope Springs Cookbook committee. Another delightful story about the true friends who see each other through thick and thin. There is always a delightful mix of humor and tenderness in the relationships of the women in this series.
December 29, 2011
I've read all the hope springs books and though they are not a challenging read, they are a fun diversin and have some lovely characters. Some of the plot is predictable but a great curl up on the couch read.
April 28, 2020
Don't know why I didn't do a review when I read this in 2016, but I gave it 5 stars and kept quiet. Now I've re-read it and think it was just adorable. And all was tied up in a nice bow and everyone lived happily ever after. I SO love happy endings. Thank you, Lynne.
Read
July 19, 2012I just could not get in to this one for some reason.
December 1, 2010
Overall, this was not a good story. However, it did have several parts that I would consider to be "good." Not a book I would recommend to others. It just wasn't something that I enjoyed reading.
May 7, 2011
This book was a very delightful addition to the Hope Springs series. The "wedding" theme was paramount in the book as the ladies of Hope Springs encountered weddings on different levels.
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July 31, 2011a great book and a quick read. So many weddings going on in Hope Springs.
August 24, 2012
Ehhh...
It was a 5hr(ish) read, not really impressive.
It was a 5hr(ish) read, not really impressive.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews