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Stephen Murray was born in England and raised in different countries throughout Southern Africa. Upon completion of his high school education, he returned to England before moving to California in 1976. He has traveled extensively throughout the world. Stephen owns a computer software company. Apart from traveling and writing, he enjoys theatre, concerts, music, reading and current affairs. The Chapel of Eternal Love and the sequel, Return to the Chapel of Eternal Love, are his first published works of fiction. Stephen has recently completed another work of fiction – a murder mystery. He makes his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he has lived since May 2003.
Reviewed by Deborah Stone for Readers' Favorite
Return to the Chapel of Eternal Love: Marriage Stories from Las Vegas by Stephen Murray is the sequel to The Chapel of Eternal Love. This book picks up five years later when Rosemary is about to retire as the wedding planner for the Chapel of Eternal Love. Couples from five years before are invited to celebrate with them and this gives us a chance to see what has happened in the lives of those couples we met in the first book. This book will stand alone, but if you want the full impact, I recommend reading the first book before this one. Return to the Chapel of Eternal Love is full of emotion and joy as well as some heartache. Did all of the marriages last? Are any of them still happy with the choice that they made five years earlier? How many will return to celebrate a virtual stranger that they met on their wedding day? There are some surprises as we revisit these couples and see where their lives have taken them. As the new pastor seeks a replacement for Rosemary and plans this unorthodox reunion of almost strangers, God seems to have a hand in what is going on.
Stephen Murray has provided us with another tender and moving tale that will require tissues before it is over. This well written and well conceived story is moving, tender, and heartbreaking while being a pleasure to read. Stephen Murray has a way of holding your attention while taking you into his story and making you glad you came. I thoroughly enjoyed finding out what happened to the couples we met in the first book, and witnessing the end of an era and the beginning of a new one for the wedding chapel. Stephen Murray's sequel brings everything full circle and has a lot of impact. After reading Stephen Murray's first book, The Chapel of Eternal Love: Marriage Stories from Las Vegas, I was anxious to read this sequel and I was not disappointed for one second.
