Book Review:: Redeeming Love

Wow. It's been a long time since I've done a book review! We've had a lot of things going on and it's been hard....

So without further ado, here in a VERY LONG book for you.

The tag line of this book is "A story of love that won't let go - No matter what!" Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers is just that.

Angel was taken by a 'step-father' at a young age and sold into prostration as a young child (Read Chapter 1). Years later she finds herself in California working to live among the men of the gold rush. That is until a man named Michael Hosea steps into her room saying God has told him to marry her and take her away from this. It took multiple attempts, a strong faith in God's will, and an almost deadly beating for Michael to do what he believes God is calling him to do.

He takes Angel away to his farm, nurses her back to health and depends completely on God to grow their love. As her love for Michael grows, Amanda (the name he gave her for her new life) becomes fearful and unworthy. As Gomer does in the the book of Hosea, she runs back to the life she knows only to have Michael retrieve her. Unable to give Michael want she thinks he wants, Amanda runs again. This time, Michael waits for her to return on her own.

Through Biblical truths, promises and faith, this love story becomes a story of the love God has for us as well as the love we can have. A love that forgives, embraces and is never ceasing, never ending.

A modern day Hosea and Gomer.

I'm not much for love stories but this one was good. It wasn't a sappy love story, focusing only on the people. It was all about the love of God and His all-consuming heart for His people. 400+ pages of redemption, faith and the power of God. Francine Rivers wrote a wonderful story.

Disclaimer: I received this book from WaterBrook Multnomah for this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Book Review:: A Wreath of Snow

This was my first Liz Curtis Higgins historical fiction read. I recently read The Girl's Still Got It and really enjoyed it. I honestly didn't put the author and books together until I got all my resources together for this book review. Oops.

Not that it's a bad thing though.

I just had no idea she did historical fiction (I love historical fiction). I only know her from her Bible/Devotional works (Bad Girls of the Bible ring a bell?).

She did a fantastic job with this book as well.

I am not normally into romance/love stories. I find them predictable and all the same. And I still said she did a fantastic job. Even though I saw it coming I couldn't figure out how it was going to work out! This never happens for me with this sort of thing.

It is a well written, quick read. Quite an enjoyable way to start off the holiday season that is just around the corner.

A Wreath of Snow  tells the love story of a young Scottish teacher, Meg Campbell, and a newspaper writer, Gordon Shaw, in the late 1800's. Yes, a love story. A Christian based loved story. Within this story is a tragedy that left the Campbell family in ruins and Gordon Shaw shamed. A freak Christmas Eve storm slams Meg and Gordon together. Meg bares her soul to Gordon as they walk back to the train station in the dark, cold night. Gordon, in turn, lies to her then comes clean. Some how, against Meg's pleading, Gordon ends up back the Campbell house under false pretenses to wait out the storm so he can return home by train in the morning. During his stay God opens up the door for him to be truthful. A whirlwind of events happen. Healing happens. And, yep, love happens.

Read the first chapter here.
Or view a video here.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah for this review. All opinions expressed are my own.