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Review: Lexi's heart, Terri, Willow Creek #1

Normally I'd do this in three posts, but due to dwindling readers... and the fact the more I post, the more readers I lose I'm putting them all in one post.


Forty-three-year-old Lexi Carlisle’s abusive marriage ended three years ago. Deeply scarred by the experience, and helplessly watching her beloved mother succumb to Alzheimers, Lexi is devastated. After selling her fancy home, she rents a cottage in Heart’s Haven, a special place unlike any other. Slowly learning to live again, she despairs of ever delivering the message of love that burns within her heart for her ever-worsening mother. But Mitch Gaynor, a handsome Christian author, reminds Lexi that with God all things are possible, planting within her battered and distrustful heart the seed of hope for a miracle. But can she open her fortressed heart to God? And is Mitch a part of His plans for her future?

Review:
This one cut a little too close to home in places and had me in floods of tears. Though there are some smiles in there too, and I can almost guarantee Ms. Latham will have any reader go through every emotion there is in the course of this book. I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. Lexi and Mitch are well rounded characters who stay under the readers skin long after the story is finished.



Despite a bustling day care center and a new foster child, Terri Hayes hungers for a family of her own. Then a plumbing mishap leaves her homeless and questioning God’s plan. Steve Evans’s gracious offer of his basement apartment as a temporary solution is an answered prayer.
Steve is a successful writer and a good father, but Terri is horrified when Steve’s book research leads him to a harsh confrontation with the parents of her foster child.  She needs to distance herself from Steve, but her efforts fall short as his two scheming daughters plot to make Terri their new stepmother.

Will harsh words and sneaky plans drive Kelsey’s family further apart and put a wedge between Terri and Steve? Or does God have another plan in store?

Review:
This is the first of Ms. Srock's books I have read, and I loved it. Pulled in almost from the first page, the only thing that stopped me reading in a couple of days was being sick. The scheming secondary characters are brilliant and made me laugh--my own teenagers are the same-- and the main characters of Terri and Steve are just as enticing.



With a father known as the town drunk and a mother who fled when he was only six, Ryder learned early on that the world can be a cold, unforgiving place. Only two people in his life ever understood him "Mama" Stallings and sweet Ali Maclaren. But after a tragic accident, guilt chases Ryder from the town that's labeled him trouble, and from Ali. 

Seven years later Ryder returns after Mama Stallings's death and finds that Ali is considering marriage to a man with a mean streak he masterfully hides from all but Ryder, a man who'll do whatever's necessary to remove Ryder from Willow Lake, and Ali's life, forever.

Can Ali find a way to forgive Ryder and can Ryder forgive himself before another tragedy occurs

Review:
Another winner from the pen or keyboard of Ms. Manners. Ryder and Ali are wonderful characters who leap to life off the page and have you yelling at the book at them in places, that's when your not crying or laughing with them.


Comments

Delia Latham said…
Clare, thank you so much for reviewing Lexi's Heart...and I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

Boy, can I ever relate about often feeling like I'm posting just to be posting. Then again, there are SO MANY blogs out there, I guess if we get readers at all we've accomplished something, right? Hang in there, chin up, keep on truckin', fight the good fight, and all that...
Sharon said…
Clare, Thanks so much for posting a review for Terri. And remember. Just because we don't always see the good we're doing, it's never wasted.

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