God's Gift

by Dee Henderson

Missionary work in Africa was the most difficult and faith-affirming work James Graham had ever faced, and warm, homey presents from a Good Samaritan back home gave him the hope he needed to carry on. But an injury brought his work to a sudden halt and sent him home to Chicago.

There, James met the woman who'd sent those thoughtful gifts, the charming Rachel Ashcroft, and he was intrigued by the shadow of sadness that haunted her expression. Bringing the light of happiness back to Rachel's lovely face gave new purpose to his life, but was this only a temporary respite? Or would James be able to release his past and open his heart to receive the gift of Rachel's love?

Genres: Christian Fiction, Christian, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Christian Romance, Adult Fiction

232 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1998

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Dee Henderson is the author of 27 non-fiction and fiction titles, including Jesus our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus the Truth and the Life, The Good News Project, Taken and the acclaimed O’MALLEY series. Several titles have appeared on the USA Today Bestseller list; Full Disclosure has also appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list. For details visit: DeeHenderson.com

Reviews

[Elizabeth Dragina]

Loved how their relationship progresses and her book writing!! I connected to Rae through her book.... lol

[Sidney W.]

Here is another Christian fiction I think you will like. God's Gift by Dee Henderson. When I bought it, I thought it was her latest book. I think because Amazon sent me an email saying it was new. Now, I'm wondering if the ad said it was now available on the Kindle. Doesn't matter. I still enjoyed it. At the end of the book, I learned it was her second book and came out in 1998.

Due to an unknown illness, thirty-five year old James Graham is sent home from Zaire after six years working in missionary construction. His plan is to get well and go back to work a few more years before returning to Chicago to work with his partner Kevin building and remodeling homes.

James' mother introduces him to Rae Ashcroft who is grieving the loss of Leo, the man she may have married if he had lived. Leo, who had been her partner in an investment company, died in an automobile accident eighteen months ago.

She introduces James to her lawyer friends Dave and Lace who end up dating each other eventually. The foursome has some nice times together.

Rae works many hours a week and is also researching and writing a book so she doesn't have much time to socialize. Also, she is afraid to get too close to another man after what happened with Leo. James wants to get back to Africa as soon as he can and is not interested in a serious relationship.

However, God has other plans for these two. Perhaps that is the meaning of the title, God's Gift. It is difficult to tell more without giving away the story. It is a romance rather than a thriller Dee Henderson is known for, but still, the story takes some interesting turns and twists that fooled me.

I have read other Dee Henderson books and enjoyed them all. This one is no exception.

[JaneReads]

I really enjoyed the characters, especially the friend group and how supportive of each other they were and how they made James feel like a part of the group. I felt like the writing was choppy and scenes changed abruptly leaving me to figure out where/when we were now.

[Jeni Enjaian]

A review from my old blog...

I fell in love with Henderson's O'Malley series. I felt connected to these characters even though all of them were ten to fifteen years old than me. Her combination of suspense and romance went right up my alley.

This book, published before the O'Malley series but after the prequel Danger in the Shadows, did not have that same vibe. I struggled to enter the book. Henderson loaded a good deal of back story even before the twentieth page.

The relationship between Rae and Leo, a character deceased before the beginning of the novel also confused me. Not until much later in the book does Henderson reveal that Rae and Leo were days away from being engaged. For several pages I couldn't figure out whether Leo was just a business partner, a husband, a fiance or a really good friend. I think that that relationship would have been one to clarify towards the beginning.

Once I got into the book I enjoyed it. I chafed though at the slow pace of the book. Nothing really drove the book, nothing drove Rae and James' relationship one way or the either. Of course the relationship went through its ups and downs but nothing dramatic, like in the O'Malley series laid the undertow to the relationship story.

I still enjoy Dee Henderson but I would not recommend this book to someone who had never read any of her books before.

[Lisa Blair]

Dee Henderson is a great writer. However, its obvious that she took her different writing sessions and literally stuck them in her book without re-reading to see how the different sections flowed together. Too bad! Just a few transitions and this five-star book would have stayed five-stars, but the lack of editing bumped it down to 3-stars.

Example 1: Character is walking through the airport, then wham! We're in the church nursery in the very next paragraph. (It needs a page break - stars, dash, something!)

Example 2: Character is viewing a new home, then wham! We're with a new character in their living room. (Where are the story transitions?)

[Lydia Chaney]

This author is wow.
I love books that keep me invested and that I can easily follow along with and this book did not disappoint in those areas.
I teared up a few times and smiled. I related to SEVERAL areas in this book so it was healing in a way.

[Angie]

Engaging, easy to read, gentle, tactful. Dee Henderson presents great pictures of good, deep friendhips. She handles the romantic relationships in this novel very well. I enjoyed reading this book and it was just what I needed on a cold, snowy, icy night.

Is God good? Are the circumstances He allows into our lives always for our good? Why does He allow bad things to happen to us? Why does He allow us to have a dream or desire and then take away the fulfillment of it? These are some of the questions with which the characters wrestle in "God's Gift". The book has a good ending, but I thought Henderson left the theological questions unanswered. An epilogue could have solved that issue nicely.

[Bethany]

This was an all Saturday blitz! Not a bad story, and the characters had decent arcs. I did get a little distracted with how often they said their first names to each other in a scene, and having a "Leo, Rae, Lace and Dave" and later a "James" in a friend group... it's just too many similar sounding, short names! I kept wanting to call her "Race". But that can't really be a point away from it, it just annoys me when names aren't divvied up differently better, but whatever. It was a quick read and a pleasant one at that.

[Charmette]

Not exciting, but a gentle read about a sweet couple and the trials of faith they experience.

[Denise Kettering]

This is a solid Christian fiction romance with compelling characters that demonstrate their faults. James Graham is a missionary work in Africa when he develops an illness that causes him to return to the states where he encounters Rae Ashcroft. The two begin to develop a relationship but both are tentative about it because of their previous losses and so they have to figure it out whether it is worth it to pursue the relationship and risk hurting each other or themselves in the process. I found this to be a good straightforward romance.

[Helen Smith]

James is building medical clinics in Africa when he gets a bug bite that leaves him in constant pain. He has to return to the States to recover and get his strength back. He meets a Rachel and they become great friends and fall in love. He breaks up with her because he doesn't want her to have to take care of him. She ends up in an accident which may leave her paralyzed. These two learn to love through loss and health issues. Would recommend.

[Mel]

A missionary in Africa who returned to Chicago for sabbatical and ended up staying due to his delibitating mysterious muscle pain. He met a girl with demanding work hours as a stock broker, who still managed to serve in the church's nursery every Sunday. The story is a little unbelievable given a missionary usually doesn't steer away from his calling and the push and pull of their relationship. Maybe it's the 90s Christian novel. It's a little meh and shallow for me.

[Kay]

Ms Henderson has a lovely writing voice and a talent for developing her characters with real human issues and emotions. Both James and Rae have personal battles to work through and challenges from their every day working life. The secondary characters actually pull the story together and make this truly enjoyable read.

[Carole M. Acosta]

Beautiful

Great read. Beautiful story, well developed and written . The characters struggles are moving and pull at your heart strings. Good lesson about faith and trusting God in the darkest of times.

[LeAnn McDaniel]

Wonderful story

I loved so much about this book. The character development was great with a good story line. I also liked the ending. It is not your typical tied in a bow everything is fairytale wonderful kind of an ending. More realistic than most endings! It I a great read!

[Anna Teague]

I have read this book twice. It was more enjoyable the first time, but still a good read. To me the characters are SO relatable. The first time I read it I absolutely ADORED it, the second time I did not 100% like the way it ended… but the rest was *SO* good.

[Vanessa]

Good to read a book based on Christian faith and a romance but mostly from the Man's point of view. Enjoyed.

[Jill]

This book started out a bit slow for me...
but once I got into the story I started to enjoy it more...
A nice easy read...

[BRUCE A. KNIEGGE]

Dee Henderson

God's Gift, By Dee Henderson, Great book for everyone. I love Dee and her gift of writing good stories..
She is a great example of a clean author.

[Faith]

One of her earlier novels, and it shows. Innocent enough read, but it lacked the urgency and the ability to connect with characters.

[Caroline Milburn]

Missionary. Sweet but too much struggle.

[Janet Evans]

Not a bad book, but not Dee Henderson's best. It was a bit choppy and skipping from setting to setting. Overall it was a good read, good story- just not up to the standard of all her other books.

[Glenn]

3.5 stars is about right. Not a good as other stories by this author... slow in places and a few surprises.

[Sheri Jesse]

Good read with some heartbreaking moments. The characters were very realistic and are ones I could be friends with. I would like to read more about both couples in future books.

[Gina]

Heartwarming 💗

[Patti Abernathy]

Not as well developed as her later books.

[Sarah Lantz]

this was classic feel good romance - it was cute, tugged the heart strings a little and had a nice, happy ending. no complaints but also nothing special.

[Callie Carpenter]

For Dee Henderson this is a different storyline then her other books. But I love it because it is not your typical storyline. While it might be slow for some people, personally I prefer slow romances over quick ones.

[Jaime Habersat]

what a good story and reminder that you never know what someone is going thru till you are going thru it to

[Olusola Anyanwu]

I enjoyed this. Worth reading.