Jeri Odell

I really wanted to like this book. I bought it to add to my Christmas collection as a nice clean book that I could read over every year. I understood that all four novellas would be romances but I thought the stories would be a little more developed. In all but three of the stories the girls met the guys and then were engaged within 3 months. I liked the last story a bit more because at least the couple already knew each other and had a history so the romance developed a bit more naturally.
I didn't find the writing amazing but on the plus side they were all clean stories. I read another Christmas book in this Romancing America series that I enjoyed a lot more. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep this one or not. I don't think I would be interested in reading it a second time.… (meer)

A friend sent me this book in a box of books she'd finished. It was a quick read. As another friend (not the one who sent me this) would say, it belongs in the law enforcement subgenre of inspirational romance.

What I liked:
-Delanie has regular meetings with friends (girls) and they all seem to try to hold each other accountable.
-Delanie does something to try to make her friend see that marrying an unbeliever is troublesome (and she does it out of love and care for her friend). Delanie also recognizes that if she wants to stay a friend to this woman, she needs to say her piece and then respect her friend's wishes.
-Delanie has boundaries and she isn't afraid to let Eli know what they are.
-Delanie is a capable police officer (as is Eli).

What I didn't like:
-Though Delanie has boundaries she's set for herself, she apparently doesn't have any trouble allowing a segment of the population to believe she's a pregnant teenager (not sure if she's supposed to be married or not). Granted, it is for a good reason (to catch those involved in a baby-selling ring) but still . . . it seems a bit odd for a Christian to agree to this.
-Undercover work is based on subterfuge and lying. Again, not something that most Christians would aspire to doing, even though most of the time, the undercover work serves to reveal things that couldn't be discovered easily in other ways.… (meer)