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How Sweet the Sound: Make a Joyful Noise / Then Sings My Soul / Heart Songs
How Sweet the Sound by Jacquelin Thomas\Francis Ray\Felicia Mason released on Jan 25, 2005 is available now for purchase.
- GenresChristian
550 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
10 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Jacquelin Thomas
122 books404 followersJacquelin Thomas is an award-winning, best selling author with 94 titles published. Her books have garnered several awards, including two EMMA awards, the Romance In Color Reviewers Award, Readers Choice Award and the Atlanta Choice Award in the Religious & Spiritual category. Jacquelin was a 2005 honoree at the Houston Black Film Festival for the movie adaptation of her novel, Hidden Blessings. She was the first recipient to receive the Writers Achievement Award at the North Carolina Book Festival in Winston-Salem. She also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Romantic Times Magazine.
Jacquelin has published in the romance, women's fiction, inspirational and young adult genres. Her second book in the YA series, Divine Confidential was nominated for a 2008 NAACP Image Award.
Jacquelin is happily married to her best friend and is the proud mother of three children. Jacquelin and her family live in North Carolina.
Jacquelin has published in the romance, women's fiction, inspirational and young adult genres. Her second book in the YA series, Divine Confidential was nominated for a 2008 NAACP Image Award.
Jacquelin is happily married to her best friend and is the proud mother of three children. Jacquelin and her family live in North Carolina.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 20, 2019
Sweet anthology centered on music. Meaningful and uplifting stories sure to please music lovers.
June 25, 2017
Wholesome romance
What God brings together, let no man tear a part. I love when authors come together and can capture the essence of characters. I picked up this collection because of the late Francis Ray, I was going down memory lane and wanted to visit stories she has written that I haven't had time to read. Thus How Sweet the Sound: Make A Joyful Noise. This collection speaks to the heart and love of God. Recognizing that if you follow Him, you shall never be forsaken, and that He will provide the desires of your heart. For Desiree it was really touching to see long to sing and come into forgiveness. It was even more beautiful to see T.C even as pastor get a second chance at love. You see we all have choices to make and what we find is if you put your trust in God. He shall provide all your needs.
What God brings together, let no man tear a part. I love when authors come together and can capture the essence of characters. I picked up this collection because of the late Francis Ray, I was going down memory lane and wanted to visit stories she has written that I haven't had time to read. Thus How Sweet the Sound: Make A Joyful Noise. This collection speaks to the heart and love of God. Recognizing that if you follow Him, you shall never be forsaken, and that He will provide the desires of your heart. For Desiree it was really touching to see long to sing and come into forgiveness. It was even more beautiful to see T.C even as pastor get a second chance at love. You see we all have choices to make and what we find is if you put your trust in God. He shall provide all your needs.
December 9, 2021
This was a great compilation of 3 novellas. Each written by a different author. All new authors for me. African American Christian books are hard to find. So don’t miss this one. I read this on Libby through my local library. I gave a 4 but really a 4 1/2. All the stories was clean, romantic and had some characters that were common to each novel but not dependent on that fact. I think each could be read separately and still great reads. Don’t pass on this.
February 26, 2020
I liked the interaction of the characters. There are three different stories by three different authors, but I liked the story lines. I did, however, feel that the middle story should have been placed first because the action of that story takes place after that of the first. These stories would definitely be considered Christian fiction.
February 28, 2019
True Love Prevails
It is so refreshing to read three stories that have come out of the church. The three couples in these stories prove that you can fall in love without all of the sexual undertones.
It is so refreshing to read three stories that have come out of the church. The three couples in these stories prove that you can fall in love without all of the sexual undertones.
September 20, 2018
Simplistic.
March 22, 2016
This book contains three novellas by three different authors, all of whom are new to me. I picked it because I liked the idea of reading about choirs and choir members. But I also choose it for the cover, which I usually don't do. Still I couldn't resist, it's so colorful!
"Make a Joyful Noise" was a fun story about a man with a past who takes over a small church choir - and finds himself saddled with a feisty young woman who loves the Lord but can't sing. I've been a choir member in a number of different churches, and I've never been the worst singer but I'm definitely not the best, either. I thought the author did a great job portraying various attitudes about music in the church. I also loved the fact that our heroine stood up for herself and what she wanted in life; she didn't just fold as soon as he said he loved her. Her attitude was really healthy. I give this story 4 stars and will look for more books by this author.
"Then Sings My Soul" is the second story in the book but takes place about a year before the previous one and uses some of the same characters. The clash between traditional and contemporary music is made worse by the fact that the MCs personalities are so different, too. But when they're forced to work together he stirs up old personal issues she needs to deal with. The author did a great job showing that both of them needed to grow for their relationship to work, and that if you're not right with God nothing else in life will be right, either. This well-written story hit all the right spots for me and gets 5 stars. I'd read more by this author, too.
"Heart Songs" didn't appeal to me as much. This story is only very loosely connected to the others, which was a pity as I liked that setting and all the music and singing involved. The MCs here weren't hits with me, either. I didn't care for the 47 year old rich widow who's eager to show off to everyone at her reunion that she looks 35, and the televangelist didn't interest me much either.
I did like this: "My entire life has been spent as somebody's daughter. His wife. Their mother. When do I get to be me?" "Maybe when you stop picking up and parading around in the labels other people put on you." Still, this was my least favorite story and gets 2 stars. The writing was fine, so if the characters sounded appealing I'd try this author again.
"Make a Joyful Noise" was a fun story about a man with a past who takes over a small church choir - and finds himself saddled with a feisty young woman who loves the Lord but can't sing. I've been a choir member in a number of different churches, and I've never been the worst singer but I'm definitely not the best, either. I thought the author did a great job portraying various attitudes about music in the church. I also loved the fact that our heroine stood up for herself and what she wanted in life; she didn't just fold as soon as he said he loved her. Her attitude was really healthy. I give this story 4 stars and will look for more books by this author.
"Then Sings My Soul" is the second story in the book but takes place about a year before the previous one and uses some of the same characters. The clash between traditional and contemporary music is made worse by the fact that the MCs personalities are so different, too. But when they're forced to work together he stirs up old personal issues she needs to deal with. The author did a great job showing that both of them needed to grow for their relationship to work, and that if you're not right with God nothing else in life will be right, either. This well-written story hit all the right spots for me and gets 5 stars. I'd read more by this author, too.
"Heart Songs" didn't appeal to me as much. This story is only very loosely connected to the others, which was a pity as I liked that setting and all the music and singing involved. The MCs here weren't hits with me, either. I didn't care for the 47 year old rich widow who's eager to show off to everyone at her reunion that she looks 35, and the televangelist didn't interest me much either.
I did like this: "My entire life has been spent as somebody's daughter. His wife. Their mother. When do I get to be me?" "Maybe when you stop picking up and parading around in the labels other people put on you." Still, this was my least favorite story and gets 2 stars. The writing was fine, so if the characters sounded appealing I'd try this author again.
October 31, 2022
Three excellent love stories set to music
In Jacquelin Thomas' Make A Joyful Noise, Bradley Rhodes is a gospel musician/manager who wants to get back into the world of gospel singing. He comes to Peaceful Rest church in tiny Somerset, TX in search of a new singing sensation. He finds a choir in need of his teaching skills and one member who in his words, "sounds like a bird with a cold." When Desiree Coleman challenges him to teach her how to sing, neither of them thought the challenge would bring them together as a couple.
In the late Francis Ray's Then Sings My Soul, Professor Grace Thompson, Bradley's predecessor at Peaceful Rest, is conflicted when she, a traditional musician who loves the old hymns, must team up with Professor Caleb Jackson, whose style is more up-tempo and modern, to help their college win a local singing competition. Sparks fly as their styles clash, but some of those sparks turn out to be romantic.
In Felicia Mason's Heart Songs (my favorite of the three), Rev. T.C. Holloway (whom we saw in both of the other stories as mentor and friend), returns for his 25 year college reunion and runs smack into the one who got away. Back then, Carys Shaw was Carys Chappelle, his first love and a woman he never shared these feelings with because he thought he had nothing to offer her but the advice she always came to him for. Now they're older, wiser and both widowed. They often sang together in the gospel choir in college- can they still harmonize now?
Easy read, great read, especially if you enjoy music. I could almost hear the songs the characters sang from the authors' descriptions.
In Jacquelin Thomas' Make A Joyful Noise, Bradley Rhodes is a gospel musician/manager who wants to get back into the world of gospel singing. He comes to Peaceful Rest church in tiny Somerset, TX in search of a new singing sensation. He finds a choir in need of his teaching skills and one member who in his words, "sounds like a bird with a cold." When Desiree Coleman challenges him to teach her how to sing, neither of them thought the challenge would bring them together as a couple.
In the late Francis Ray's Then Sings My Soul, Professor Grace Thompson, Bradley's predecessor at Peaceful Rest, is conflicted when she, a traditional musician who loves the old hymns, must team up with Professor Caleb Jackson, whose style is more up-tempo and modern, to help their college win a local singing competition. Sparks fly as their styles clash, but some of those sparks turn out to be romantic.
In Felicia Mason's Heart Songs (my favorite of the three), Rev. T.C. Holloway (whom we saw in both of the other stories as mentor and friend), returns for his 25 year college reunion and runs smack into the one who got away. Back then, Carys Shaw was Carys Chappelle, his first love and a woman he never shared these feelings with because he thought he had nothing to offer her but the advice she always came to him for. Now they're older, wiser and both widowed. They often sang together in the gospel choir in college- can they still harmonize now?
Easy read, great read, especially if you enjoy music. I could almost hear the songs the characters sang from the authors' descriptions.
May 24, 2016
A good trilogy from some great authors. 3 different stories about I just think the middle story should have been the first story. When I read it in the order it is in the book, I felt like I was going backwards instead of moving forward. But otherwise they were good stories.
January 17, 2013
I loved reading this book. I like the way the stories fit together. The writing styles were different but flowed well together.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews