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I bought this book at a library sale for a quarter. It sat in my "unread" pile for a long time. Based on the picture alone, I picked it up yesterday as I was looking for something "light" to read.

Oh my. I wish I could say I was brilliant enough to have written this book.

It has quirky characters that draw lots of response from me. Most I like deeply; there is one I dislike deeply -- which is exactly what the author intended. There are interesting, out-of-the ordinary events that kept my attention. I finished the book in a day; I would not have been able to sleep had I tried to leave it unfinished overnight.

One of the things I liked the very best was the way Scripture and a relationship with Christ was woven into the story as a natural extension of some of the characters. It was not preachy. It was not sermonizing. When a character thought of Scriptures or spoke them, it was clear that they did so because it was a normal part of their lives. Some people find it natural to swear excessively. Some people find it natural to quote Scripture. I am one of the second; so were most of the characters in the book, though they had different interpretations of the meaning of those Scriptures.Being that this was a normal part of the characters' lives, this does not come across as an overtly religious book, rather a great book with people in it who happen to have Christianity as the basis of their lives.

Another thing I liked very much was that the characters in the book who clearly love Christ are not cut from one mold. Some of them grew up outside of the church. One is gay. One is a tender, tough former military man. Another is a former playboy who becomes a blind priest. All have found their way to a relationship with Jesus.

There are several marriages that play out in this book. They are a study of what makes a good marriage -- friendship, respect of self and the other, willingness to give. Another marriage is abusive, and we see the struggle of the wife to stay both married and right with Christ.

This book haunted my dreams -- in a good way. I will be thinking about it for some time.

This is the first of Lisa Samson's books that I have read. I will be looking for more. ( )

I had a bit of a hard time getting thru the first few chapters, then I couldn't put the book down! ( )