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rebekahmorris's review
3.0
I could sum this book up in two words: Forgiveness & Drama
But I should be a little more specific.
First of all, this is part of a series, but it can also be a stand alone. I read it without reading any other books in the Miller’s Creek series and didn’t really feel like I was missing much. The author did a great job of showing and explaining what true forgiveness is and what it is not. The message of forgiving as Christ forgave was part of the story and not just thrown in to make a book “Christian.” This is what bumped the story to 3 stars.
Dakota–I felt sympathy for her, yet couldn’t understand her at times. At the beginning of the book I had no idea she was even supposed to be a Christian because of her temper and anger. (Why do the Irish always get blamed for temper?) It took me by surprise when she prayed, or pointed out the right things about forgiveness because she sounded like such a strong Christian, but her actions from only a short time before did not fit with that image. Dakota was a writer/author, so that was fun even if it was only in the story a little bit.She seemed to be an incredible woman who could almost single-handedly remodel an old farmhouse with gutting (down to the studs, installing new fixtures, sheet-rock, painting, trim, countertops, etc. etc. and all in a couple months?! Add to that knowing and buying all the things she needed, writing, training a dog, and surviving on not much sleep. That seemed a little far fetched to me.
Chance–This guy may have been a Christian at the beginning, but he didn’t act like it either. He was rude, angry, unforgiving, and just plain mean. He did get better, and I ended up liking him, even though I really wanted to shake him, or tell him a thing or two at times!
I kept expecting the drama to start, but it was quite late in the book before it came. And then it had me scratching my head.Bad Guy #1 somehow manages to get a trained German Shepherd dog away from Dakota without her knowing and without the dog making any sound whatsoever, or being attacked by said dog. Huh? After that drama was over, things seemed to be settling down a bit, and then BAM! More Drama! Bad Guy #2 that you don’t really expect, shows up. He’s creepy, horrible, and downright cruel. He takes Dakota to a secret underground–fortress-like place–one that has cameras, trip wires for anyone approaching, guns and I don’t know what else. It has several rooms, a secret backdoor, computers, bathroom, etc. Somehow he’d been able to build this entire thing in a few months while working a full time job, and without anyone knowing anything about it! Oh, and did I mention that the FBI were on the lookout for him and had somehow missed his building this? (Nor did they notice some other things.) This all left me scratching my head and going, “huh?” It felt like it was just added for thrills.
Overall if there hadn’t been so much drama I probably would have liked it better. Sometimes drama can be over the top and this story sure felt that way. I really liked the forgiveness part of the book (even though it felt as though the author was throwing every possible circumstance in the characters’ backgrounds to prevent forgiveness).
There was some kissing, talk of abuse by an ex-boyfriend, and some really bad bad guys.
While I have read another book by this author and really liked it, this one wasn’t a win for me.
But I should be a little more specific.
First of all, this is part of a series, but it can also be a stand alone. I read it without reading any other books in the Miller’s Creek series and didn’t really feel like I was missing much. The author did a great job of showing and explaining what true forgiveness is and what it is not. The message of forgiving as Christ forgave was part of the story and not just thrown in to make a book “Christian.” This is what bumped the story to 3 stars.
Dakota–I felt sympathy for her, yet couldn’t understand her at times. At the beginning of the book I had no idea she was even supposed to be a Christian because of her temper and anger. (Why do the Irish always get blamed for temper?) It took me by surprise when she prayed, or pointed out the right things about forgiveness because she sounded like such a strong Christian, but her actions from only a short time before did not fit with that image. Dakota was a writer/author, so that was fun even if it was only in the story a little bit.
Chance–This guy may have been a Christian at the beginning, but he didn’t act like it either. He was rude, angry, unforgiving, and just plain mean. He did get better, and I ended up liking him, even though I really wanted to shake him, or tell him a thing or two at times!
I kept expecting the drama to start, but it was quite late in the book before it came. And then it had me scratching my head.
Overall if there hadn’t been so much drama I probably would have liked it better. Sometimes drama can be over the top and this story sure felt that way. I really liked the forgiveness part of the book (even though it felt as though the author was throwing every possible circumstance in the characters’ backgrounds to prevent forgiveness).
There was some kissing, talk of abuse by an ex-boyfriend, and some really bad bad guys.
While I have read another book by this author and really liked it, this one wasn’t a win for me.
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