The Bad Luck Wedding Dress

It was my good luck to read Geralyn Dawson's first in a series of Bad Luck Brides. I have read the trilogy of the menaces when they were adults and thoroughly enjoyed their childhood antics in trying to get a new mama. All of the characters were well developed. I loved it.

Geralyn Dawson is quickly becoming one of my favorite romance authors. After reading THE BAD LUCK WEDDING CAKE and THE BAD LUCK WEDDING NIGHT, I was dying to read the first installment, THE BAD LUCK WEDDING DRESS. And to my pleasure, I was not disappointed. THE BAD LUCK WEDDING DRESS tells the story of the seamstress Jenny Fortune who moves to Fort Worth to pursue her dream of dressmaking. Her shop does very well until the superstitious Big Jack Bailey accuses Jenny of making a "bad luck wedding dress," which he claims caused the accidents of two of his daughters when they wore the supposed cursed dress. Jenny's business falls on hard times, for the people of Ft. Worth have no desire to buy bad luck dresses. Enter widower Trace McBride. The father of the three McBride Menaces, Trace is in need of a mother for his rambunctious daughters. He soon realizes that Jenny would be the best choice for the job. The two agree to marry - Trace gets a mother for his children and Jenny gets financial support after her business does not bring in enough money. And, of course, the pair fall in love. Jenny helps to heal Trace's demons, and she, in turn, receives the family she's always longed for. THE BAD LUCK WEDDING DRESS is an adorable story. Trace McBride is the kind of man any woman would dream of having: kind, tender, yet all too human. Jenny is fiesty yet bighearted. The chemistry between the couple leaps off the pages. The McBride Menaces, although naughty, are sweethearts who just need a mother's tender touch. By the end of the novel, you'll be sighing in contentment and brimming with the infamous "warm fuzzing feeling." This book is just that wonderful. Elaina S.

Big Jack Bailey blames dressmaker Jenny Fortune for the calamites that beset his three daughters after they wore Miss Fortune's showcase wedding dress at their weddings. Jack believes the designer cursed the dress since she can not find a groom of her own. Saloon owner Trace McBride, who raises the three female "McBride Menaces" by himself, rents space to Jenny to run her business. His three girls decide that Jenny is the perfect Momma to replace their dead mother; being menaces they will do what it takes to bring their dad and momma Jenny together. With Jack's word of mouth accusing Jenny of seemingly every catastrophe in the region in the last year, her business suffers; who wants to buy a happy occasion gown from a woman who creates curses. To prove her best wedding dress is not a bringer of bad luck, Jenny decides she needs to wear it at her wedding; she agrees with the menaces that Trace is perfect for her, especially since she loves the dope, who refuses to have a second wife after the mistreatment he and the girls received from spouse number one. This is reprint of a fantastic mid 1990s often amusing with plenty of pathos western romance that grips the heart and soul of readers due to the key cast especially the once burned Trace and his girls. Jenny is a courageous person who sees the three menaces as precocious children needing love, warmth and hugs to help guide them. Fans will appreciate this fine tale that holds up quite well and seek the sequels (THE BAD LUCK WEDDING CAKE and THE BAD LUCK WEDDING NIGHT). Harriet Klausner

...Jenny Fortune is struggling to keep her seamstress business afloat. It seems that all three of Big Jack Bailey's daughters have met up with a streak of bad luck after wearing her masterpiece wedding dress. Being a suspicious fool, Big Jack Bailey determines MissFortune (as he dubs her) has placed a curse on the dress and sets out to destroy Jenny and her business. Trace McBride, local saloon owner, widower and father of three wild girls also known as the "McBride Menaces", rents out the space Jenny uses for her business. Because Trace is extremely busy trying to earn money so he can build his girls' a dream house and gain back his respectability as an Architect the girls begin to spend a lot of time with Jenny and decide she is going to be their new Momma. Continually placing their women weary Father and Jenny in constant contact by their antics the Menaces are determined to force this stubborn pair to fall in love. Jenny figures the only way to turn her luck around is by getting married in her own "Bad Luck Wedding Dress" and proving to her clientele that the dress and her creations aren't cursed. Trace seems like the most likely candidate, unfortunately, he has been seriously burned by his former wife and is dead set against remarrying. But his daughters, who are even more stubborn than he is, have other plans . . . This story is filled with endearing characters. There's a wounded hero crying out for love to heal his tortured heart, a charming, understanding and unpredictable heroine and three adorable little girls who add touches of humor and warmth to this terrific love story. If you're like me and like your books brimming over with emotion, sensuality, tenderness and laughter you will cherish this book

Not your typical cookie-cutter romance novel where they fall for each other, hate each other, FINALLY sleep together and then live happily ever after. The typical ending is halfway through the book, and then it gets interesting. We laughed, we cried, we had a wonderful time, this book and I. Even the second time around. Cliches are true too, ya know. And this book makes them refeshing.