Review - Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

California's gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep.

Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside.

Then she meets Michael Hosea. A man who seeks his Father's heart in everything, Michael obeys God's call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel's every bitter expectation, until despite her resistance, her frozen heart begins to thaw.

But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband's pursuing love, terrified of the truth she no longer can deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael does...the One who will never let her go.

A powerful retelling of the book of Hosea, Redeeming Love is a life-changing story of God's unconditional, redemptive, all consuming love.

I read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers back in 2008. But I think it deserves a review.

Angel is beautiful. The type of woman that any man would consider himself lucky to have known. But Angel is a prostitute. And has been since she was very young - and named Sarah - thanks to the death of her mother.

When Michael Hosea is in town for supplies he sees Angel walking around with her body guard. Michael feels God telling him that Angel is the woman that he's supposed to marry. But Angel is angry and has zero self confidence despite her beauty. She's damaged and broken and can't even fathom someone loving her without strings attached.

But that's just what Michael does.

And Angel runs.

More than once. It makes me want to walk up to her and slap her and shout "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!" Well, her problem is she doesn't feel like she deserves a man like Michael. Someone who loves her despite her past and occupation.

This story is a retelling of the story of Gomer and Hosea. And it's a wonderful romance novel full of compassion and the ups and downs of love. It's a great story of hope and redemption and God's unfailing love.

Being that Angel is of questionable past, there may be sections that aren't really suitable for... younger readers... but other than that I recommend this book to anyone. Christian fiction fans or not.

Looking For Something To Read?

No IMM this week. I'm pretty broke so I don't get books as often as I'd like, although I hear the Borders around here may be liquidating some time soon. If it does... expect a BIG IMM post soon. :-)

On with the reason we all came here today.

Are you looking for something to read? I am. I've got a lot of books that I haven't read yet, but I'm having trouble deciding which one to move on to next. And now that both my girls are here with me I don't have as much time to read as I did before.

Here are some suggestions if you find yourself with "readers' block".

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

Blurb from GoodReads: In this splendid retelling of the biblical story of Hosea, bestselling author Francine Rivers pens a heartbreaking romance between a prostitute and the upright and kind farmer who marries her; the story also functions as a reminder of God's unconditional love for his people. Redeeming Love opens with the Gold Rush of 1850 and its rough-and-tumble atmosphere of greed and desire. Angel, who was sold into prostitution as a child, has learned to distrust all men, who see her only as a way to satisfy their lust. When the virtuous and spiritual-minded Michael Hosea is told by God to marry this "soiled dove," he obeys, despite his misgivings. As Angel learns to love him, she begins to hope again but is soon overwhelmed by fear and returns to her old life. Rivers shines in her ability to weave together spiritual themes and sexual tension in a well-told story, a talent that has propelled her into the spotlight as one of the most popular novelists in the genre of Christian fiction. This is one of her best. - Cindy Crosby

and Falling, fly by Skyler White
Tagline from Goodreads: In a dark and seedy underground of burned-out rock stars and angels-turned- vampires, a revolutionary neuroscientist and a fallen angel must put medicine against mythology in an attempt to erase their tortured pasts...but at what price?

Fire Bringer by David Clement - Davies

The blurb from Goodreads for this one is really long. So I'll give you my take on it. It's kind of like Harry Potter, but for deer. I picked it up from the library before a trip to Maine and ended up really enjoying it. I wasn't sure I would. There's a prophecy that a deer with a mark that looks like an oak leaf will more or less lead their kind to freedom. So Rannoch, "the chosen one", must make the decision whether or not to return home and liberate his herd from Sgorr and the Sgorrla. I highly suggest picking this one up!

There ya go. Three recommendations from moi. All books that I've read and loved. Not exactly mainstream books but still awesome. Doesn't hurt to go outside the box every once in a while right?

Follow Friday #8

To see my review of Graceling click here! 

Follow Friday is hosted every week by Parajunkee over at Parajunkee's View.

This weeks question:

Q. Keeping with the dystopian and apocalypse theme that seems to be running rampant on parajunkee.com, I have one very hard question for you: If you were stocking your bomb shelter, what books would you HAVE to include if you only had space for ten?


This is a hard question. I can't imagine only being able to take 10. And it's hard to choose between the ones I like.... Hmmm.... We'll just say the Bible doesn't count in this 10, because we'd have to pack that.

1. The Chronicles of Narnia (this does come in a form where they're all in 1 book! HA!) - CS Lewis
2,3,4. The Hunger Games trilogy - Suzanne Collins
5. Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen
6. Graceling - Kristin Cashore
7. Redeeming Love - Francine Rivers
8. Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne
9. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
10. Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson

Unfortunately that leaves no room for Harry Potter... crap. Hmm.... I'll make someone else keep my Harry Potter books for me. Hehe.