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Thunder Bay
Evacuated from the Congo, missionary Becky Merrill returns to the only home shes ever Bay Island. Her heart longs for Africa; but plans for a new camp are made, and shes chosen as director. Larry Newkirk has his hands full with the reality of police work, not to mention the job of island handyman. When he meets the faith-filled Becky, his soul and heart are tugged in an unexpected way. Larry begins to question his relationship with the Lord... and with Becky. When the camps site is sabotaged and Beckys past resurfaces, can the Lord use a realist and a dreamer to accomplish His plans for a future of ministry and romance? Fall in love with this inspiring love story and our entire collection of Christian romance novels from Heartsong Presents!
176 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 9, 2022
It's hit or miss with Heartsong Presents. This is a solid miss.
First, there's Becky. She's an accountant and 'numbers' person when it suits the author, but then she's a 'dreamer' with no grasp of reality, the other half of the time. Please. Make up your mind. She has no money, but is staying at a friend's cabin... doing nothing. Funded by mission groups, while not doing mission work. I... don't think that's how it works.
Then there's Larry, who's too factual to have true faith. But apparently that's fine with the author, because that's never resolved. In a 'faith' book, a character with unresolved issues seems kind of wrong. But apparently his faith doesn't matter, as long as he's solid, dependable, and handsome.
Becky is from Sacramento, signs up to be a missionary to the Congo, ends up in the interim doing bookkeeping on an island in Lake Erie, then goes to the Congo, then is sent home and goes back to the island... and how any of those places are related isn't clearly conveyed. What does Lake Erie have to do with her mission work in the Congo?
Regardless, she's *convinced* that God wants her in the Congo... even when God orchestrated unrest and then rips her out of her hut and throws her back stateside. But it's *God's will* for her to be there, right? She never considers anything else... like maybe it's NOT His will. Which is... No. Just... no.
And EVERYTHING is attributed to God. Pg. 45, she says that 'she defended her position and won a job she didn't want, while managing to embarrass herself - it HAD to be God's doing'! Um, no. People embarrass themselves just fine without intervention, thanks. Not *everything* is God's doing - man does just fine at screwing up on his own.
The author tries to paint contentment in a bad light, as well - like being American and having conveniences makes us of less use to the Lord, lazy and shallow. I don't for a *MOMENT* agree with that. We have far more opportunities out of our blessings and abundances to help people - and just as many emotional and physical difficulties to draw us closer to the Lord.
We also have the constant 'I need nobody but God' thing from her... which on pg 96 suddenly becomes 'why did she wish Larry were here to make everything better?'. The character waffles on her purpose, her feelings, her worldview, her conviction and is misguided and a MESS, throughout the book. There's no rhyme or reason to half the things we're told about her thoughts.
But the worst part of this book is the writing. Homigosh, the WRITING. For all of the editors and proofreaders she thanks, it's... a badly written book. Either that, or 1981 (or whenever this was penned) was a bad year for writing. Larry - who's 27 - prays God help 'the young lady'. ?!?!?! This is about Becky, the one he's spending ALL of his time with - and she's 'the young lady' He 'could hear her light, quick breaths from the lively jaunt'. ←Not kidding, it's BAD writing. Stilted, preposterous at times, and awkward as heck. It make reading the book kind of uncomfortable.
I made it thru, which bought it a star, but I didn't enjoy it at all... and won't be keeping it.
First, there's Becky. She's an accountant and 'numbers' person when it suits the author, but then she's a 'dreamer' with no grasp of reality, the other half of the time. Please. Make up your mind. She has no money, but is staying at a friend's cabin... doing nothing. Funded by mission groups, while not doing mission work. I... don't think that's how it works.
Then there's Larry, who's too factual to have true faith. But apparently that's fine with the author, because that's never resolved. In a 'faith' book, a character with unresolved issues seems kind of wrong. But apparently his faith doesn't matter, as long as he's solid, dependable, and handsome.
Becky is from Sacramento, signs up to be a missionary to the Congo, ends up in the interim doing bookkeeping on an island in Lake Erie, then goes to the Congo, then is sent home and goes back to the island... and how any of those places are related isn't clearly conveyed. What does Lake Erie have to do with her mission work in the Congo?
Regardless, she's *convinced* that God wants her in the Congo... even when God orchestrated unrest and then rips her out of her hut and throws her back stateside. But it's *God's will* for her to be there, right? She never considers anything else... like maybe it's NOT His will. Which is... No. Just... no.
And EVERYTHING is attributed to God. Pg. 45, she says that 'she defended her position and won a job she didn't want, while managing to embarrass herself - it HAD to be God's doing'! Um, no. People embarrass themselves just fine without intervention, thanks. Not *everything* is God's doing - man does just fine at screwing up on his own.
The author tries to paint contentment in a bad light, as well - like being American and having conveniences makes us of less use to the Lord, lazy and shallow. I don't for a *MOMENT* agree with that. We have far more opportunities out of our blessings and abundances to help people - and just as many emotional and physical difficulties to draw us closer to the Lord.
We also have the constant 'I need nobody but God' thing from her... which on pg 96 suddenly becomes 'why did she wish Larry were here to make everything better?'. The character waffles on her purpose, her feelings, her worldview, her conviction and is misguided and a MESS, throughout the book. There's no rhyme or reason to half the things we're told about her thoughts.
But the worst part of this book is the writing. Homigosh, the WRITING. For all of the editors and proofreaders she thanks, it's... a badly written book. Either that, or 1981 (or whenever this was penned) was a bad year for writing. Larry - who's 27 - prays God help 'the young lady'. ?!?!?! This is about Becky, the one he's spending ALL of his time with - and she's 'the young lady' He 'could hear her light, quick breaths from the lively jaunt'. ←Not kidding, it's BAD writing. Stilted, preposterous at times, and awkward as heck. It make reading the book kind of uncomfortable.
I made it thru, which bought it a star, but I didn't enjoy it at all... and won't be keeping it.
September 24, 2012
Do opposites attract? She's a dreamer, he's well-grounded in reality. A not very complicated love story about meeting someone at the wrong point in your life, and trying to make things work despite very different worldviews.
There were some great parts of this book, don't get me wrong. I loved the supporting cast, and even thought the ex-boyfriend was interesting. I do think the ending was a bit rushed and honestly the resolution didn't feel very realistic. Still this was a fun quick read, even if it's not the best I've ever read.
There were some great parts of this book, don't get me wrong. I loved the supporting cast, and even thought the ex-boyfriend was interesting. I do think the ending was a bit rushed and honestly the resolution didn't feel very realistic. Still this was a fun quick read, even if it's not the best I've ever read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews