In the long list of my problems with this book was also the part where Angel said the purpose of a woman's life is to bear children. Okay, having children if you want them is all great, but are we really implying that women who can't have children, or perhaps end up with men who can't, have meaningless lives? Mama bit her lip and reached out a hand toward Papa, then stopped suddenly. She looked afraid again. Sarah looked from one parent to the other, struggling to understand. What had she done wrong? Wasn’t Papa pleased that she liked his presents? Sarah watched Papa’s dark eyes frown. He didn’t look happy. He looked angry. Like Mama looked sometimes when Sarah talked too much or asked too many questions. Michael and Angel/Sarah were wonderful characters and their love was epic but somewhere around 78 percent the story went pretty preachy for my tastes. Nonetheless the writing was strong and it is a nice story of redemption and spiritual rebirth.

For starters, if there was a god who literally spoke to me and told me that a particular person was "the one" that would simplify things quite a bit. Seriously, if god used his god-to-brain telephone to let me know that someone crazy, Courtney Love let's say, was the one, then I'd really have no choice but to pursue that person because nobody else would make me equally happy. I probably wouldn't wait until a pimp beat the holy bejeezus out of her to make my move and ask her to marry me the way Michael did in the book, but I'm just saying the path is a little clearer-cut. The point is, I don't belive in loving someone so much that they eventually love you, and maybe some couples end up together because one person engaged in an untiring pursuit, but I would think it's very rare that several rejections end with an equally shared love. Wearing someone out to the point that it's easier to say Yes than No is not really the same as making them love you. It'll do in a pinch, and if you're a lot better at being annoying than charming it's worth a shot, but overall it's not the best plan. First off, one thing I must note about this book, and it’s probably the one small element that held me off from reading it sooner than I did, or reading it at all for that matter. The book is categorized as Contemporary Christian Fiction as it’s based on the biblical story of Hosea and Gomer. Wait!! Don’t let that turn you off just yet. Just give me a few more moments to share its fabulousness; I swear I’m not a religious fanatic (See?? I’m swearing!). But before I move on let me explain my reading preferences.And in this case, I don't mean that Jesus is an important figure in the characters' lives or that their belief system informs their decisions. I mean that god literally speaks to the characters. In case you're wondering, god's words are differentiated by being in bold. On the plus, you can just flip through and still catch most of the god stuff. I kind of feel like god would have the graphic design sense to have his own font, but what do I know?

What was it about this man that got to her? She preferred the numbness to this stirring of emotion. Hope was torment. Hope was an enemy. And this man was a thorn in her side.

Redeeming Love

It was the 1850’s, and the California gold rush was in full swing. And it wasn’t long before Angel found herself in the midst of chaos. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.