Meredith Resce

This is a review for Sparks Fly by Laura D. Bastian ONLY. Full review of entire box set coming soon.

I was pretty excited to read my first novella from the My Funny Valentine box set but from the beginning I felt like this story was more on the slow side, and I fought to figure out exactly why. I never did get my answer, and the pace never really seemed to pick up either, leading to an ok read.

I don’t know why this is called Sparks Fly because the only electricity is at the various job sites that Adam works (he’s an electrician), and even those scenes are dull. I didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters and the tedious predictability made it even worse. Samantha was my favorite character of the whole story, and sadly she was just a side character. Adam and Mia were lukewarm at best, and their story was overall sweet, but the relationship felt forced and the epilogue felt rushed.

I’m not saying the overall story is bad, per se. I just wish I could’ve connected more with the characters and cared about their situation. The writing was decent, but the flow felt off the entire time I read, and it just didn’t jive with me. It makes me sad because I love this author and was hoping for more sparks!… (meer)

Title: The Greenfield Legacy (A Novel)
Authors: Meredith Resce, Amanda Deed, Paula Vince, Rose Dee
Pages: 258
Year: 2012
Publisher: Even Before Publishing
My rating is 4 stars out of 5.
What a roller coaster of emotions as the plot thickens around a family torn apart at one time by bitterness and fear. By the end of the novel the brilliance of weaving such a captivating and heart rending novel was just amazing. It starts with a father denying his daughter, Mattie, marriage to a man she loves as he envisioned her marrying someone he considered a more equal partner.
When Mattie learns her boyfriend is going to Vietnam, their time together results in a child being born. While that alone was tough, it was even tougher being forced to let the baby be adopted without Mattie having held her. Then, as readers continue on, they will learn both the history of the family and how Mattie now lives her life guarding her heart from any type of love for fear of being hurt again.
Legacy is the major theme of the novel and being able to decide what type of legacy to leave. Will it be an unforgiving one or one redeemed by faith in Jesus? The way the characters are related is slowly revealed as well as the untangling of the mystery of why some of them have acted so distant. There are budding romances, tears of good-bye, but more so of the hope and peace Jesus can bring to any heart that is open to Him.
The authors did a superb job of crafting the characters very lifelike with both positive and negative aspects of human nature. Time wasn’t rushed in the novel, but used to show how God’s timing is perfect along with how forgiving or breaking down the walls around the heart can take a chunk of time. Even when forgiveness is given or received it takes our human hearts, minds and souls time to heal. Only the healing and moving forward as a changed person can happen because of Christ, which is shown as truth in the book.
I loved how married couples were shown to sometimes lose their first love and need work to be reminded why they got married in the first place. There are some answers still left open in the book, so don’t expect all loose ends to be tied up. I think it allows for thought and imagination on the part of the readers. So take time to read the novel and think about what type of legacy you would like to live out before others so that it is passed down from one generation to another. Also consider purposely passing down your faith in Jesus Christ and reading His Word as well as praying daily for those who are to come after us. Great story!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”… (meer)