I think A Tailor-Made Bride by Karen Witemeyer is rather cleverly written, the story being anchored to the name of one of the main characters, Jericho ‘JT’ Tucker. JT hates his name because it is associated with the mother who thought of nothing but her own vanity and wants, selfishly deserting him and his sister as children. As a result, JT has cared for his younger sister Cordelia since the tender age of eleven, and has developed a passionate hatred for female frills and fashions, anything that might promote vanity.
Enter dressmaker Hannah Richards. A modest, beauty-loving, God-honouring, caring young woman, Hannah finds herself up against JT’s narrow-minded views right from the very first day she moves to the small mid-West town where he lives. As far as Hannah is concerned, Jericho lives right up to his name. Like the biblical city, he is so sure of himself and his strength that he is unable to ‘acknowledge the possibility that someone else might succeed with methods that appear foolish and wrong’ in his sight.
Jericho struggles with Hannah’s growing friendship with his lonely little sister Cordelia. But under Hannah’s womanly influence, frumpy Cordelia gradually blossoms into an attractive young lady; beautiful on the inside as well as outwardly. How will Jericho react as Cordelia ceases to be invisible to the young man she desperately loves? Will he be able to let her go?
Jericho has some tough lessons to learn on forgiveness, trust and love before the walls he has built around his heart can come crashing down.