Review: Love Finds You in Bridal Veil, Oregon

by Miralee Ferrell

She was only sixteen when Nathaniel Cooper shattered her world, leaving town without her after she agreed to elope with him. Four years later, Margaret Garvey is at long last beginning to open her heart to handsome, gentle Andrew Browning. But then Nathaniel returns to the small logging community of Bridal Veil, Oregon. His shocking revelation as to his reason for leaving could destroy Margaret’s belief in everything—and everyone—she’s ever trusted.

In the midst of a desperate soul-search, the young school teacher takes in two orphans on the run from an abusive foster parent. When circumstances point to one of her temporary charges as a suspect in the murder of a local man, Margaret’s position in the community, along with her reputation, is challenged.

It’s been awhile since she fully trusted God, but she finds at this time in her life that only He has the answers to all her questions. She waits and prays, determined to protect the orphaned children while painfully torn between the two men, whose reactions to her situation are in complete opposition. Then a raging firestorm threatens to destroy the town, and both of her suitors are in the thick of the danger. Somewhere in the midst of her pleas for their safety, Margaret sees what her heavenly Father had planned for her all along.

Miralee Ferrell opens a revealing window into historic Bridal Veil, Oregon and the workings of a turn-of-the-century logging community. Margaret Garvey’s story is one of life’s lessons painfully learned. It is a revealing look at the human inclination to resist God’s gentle leading, as well as our tendency to allow our own clamoring needs and desires to override the still, soft whisper of His voice.

An interesting tale with a couple of genuine surprises for the reader. I enjoyed Love Finds You in Last Chance, California by this author, and she doesn’t disappoint with this second contribution to the Love Finds You collection. She brings an entertaining story full of well-rounded characters, packs it with accurate geographical and historical detail, and then peppers in all the right ingredients to keep those pages turning long into the night.

It’s a genuinely good book that lovers of Christian fiction won’t want to miss.

Reviewed by Delia Latham

Review: The Pastor's Wife

by Jennifer AlLee


Six years after abandoning her husband, her marriage, and a congregation of saints, Maura Sullivan returns to Granger, Ohio for the reading of a will. Its contents will bring the bitter woman not only back to a town she never wanted to see again, but trapped in the parsonage she disliked even as a newlywed. And back to the church that robbed her of her husband’s time and affections.

Maura is mad at God, and equally angry at Nick. And the secret she harbors within her heart leaves little room for healing or forgiveness. It also could be the one thing that forever destroys any chance of reconciliation with her estranged husband.

Nick Shepherd doesn’t know whether to be mad or glad when the will of a departed parishioner stipulates that he open his home for six months to the woman who left him without a word of good-bye. For six years, he and his wife have had no contact—not a phone call, not a letter, not even a greeting card. Can they live under the same roof now, with so many things unsaid, so many wounds untended…so much love unheeded?

In this charming story of hurt and healing, of sin and redemption, Jennifer AlLee paints an eye-opening peek into parsonage life. In Maura and Nick’s story, pastors and their wives become people—real people, with real problems and concerns. With lives and loves and marriages that suffer from lack of attention when the church becomes “the other woman” in the relationship.

Everyone who has ever had a pastor should read The Pastor’s Wife. Every pastor with a wife he’d like to keep should read this book. Every pastor’s wife who feels neglected, abandoned, and unappreciated should read this story. Any person who plays any kind of role in the church should read it, and be prepared to see their shepherds in a brand new light.

Nice writing, and thoughtful handling of a delicate issue.

Reviewed by Delia Latham

Review: Third Time's a Charm

by Virginia Smith

Tori Sanderson loves her job. She loves the great pay checks and the trendy clothes she buys with them. She especially loves the distinct possibility of a great promotion, but she’ll have to win the favor of an overbearing boss to get it. What she does not love is trying to make it happen with her competition breathing down her neck—both professionally and … well, unprofessionally.

Outside of the office, her closest friends are her sisters. When Joan and Allie decide Tori’s job is taking over her life and it’s their duty to help her find Mr. Right, little sister is in for a rollercoaster ride of change.

She can’t imagine herself with a man like Ryan Adams. No money, no real career, absolutely zero interest in expensive clothes and toys. Still, something about the handsome farm boy sends tingles down her spine. Trouble is, it’s hard for Tori to trust love when her own father didn’t love her enough to stick around.

Pressure builds in the office. Emotions threaten to suffocate her at home. And love comes calling without an invitation. Can Tori release old hurts to make room for new happiness? And will she allow a heavenly Father to show her the love her earthly one did not?

This final offering in Virginia Smith’s Sister-to-Sister series is filled with laugh-out-loud humor on the one hand, and tear-jerking sentiment on the other. It’s a sometimes painful look into the hurting heart of a woman abandoned by every little girl’s natural hero—her daddy. While the author’s style seems light-hearted, there are moments of genuine, bald emotion that make the tale unforgettable. Smith possesses an admirable ability to deliver compelling storylines with messages of faith so subtly interwoven as to be near undetectable.

Good writing, good storyline, good way to tie up a series!

Reviewed by Delia Latham