Reads Like Real Life Tale

 Mitch, a contractor and house-flipper, is restoring a beautiful old house in an idyllic Midwestern neighborhood. Angela, a woman filled with regrets and recently transplanted to his area, is anything but idyllic. She's almost his worst nightmare, and she’s also working on restoring something—herself. As he struggles to keep his business afloat and she works to overcome mistakes of her past, these two unlikely friends soon discover they have something unexpected in common—a young mom who is fighting to give her children a better life after her husband's incarceration. While both Mitch and Angela are drawn to help this young mother survive, they also find themselves drawn to each other. Will a lifetime of regrets hold them back or unite them and bring redemption along with true love?

Restoring Love, part of New Hope Publishers’ line of contemporary missional fiction, demonstrates how God can turn our greatest tragedies and failures into
beautiful acts of love and grace that can impact the lives of others. Readers will connect with the realistic characters and find they can relate to the complex situations that makes Jennifer Slattery's book so appealing. Readers will be inspired to see how God wants to use us to restore people's perception of love in action.

Available on Amazon

My Take:

This story was such an enjoyable, yet emotional read. Maybe because it seemed like I was able to relate to multiple characters in the story. Angela, is a single woman, divorced, and getting her life back together after years of living like a failure. With the help of God and her daughter she if finally back on her feet. She has a growing relationship with God and wants to serve him. She is also avoiding men! Needless to say, they have not been very positive influences in her life. 

Mitch is a contractor who flips houses with his partner Dennis. Also single, but with lots of baggage. His son has a serious drug problem, which the ex-wife is in denial of. Mitch is also church going, godly man; always looking out for those in need and the good of others. 

Angela ends up on the same street as Mitch's most recent flip! And coincidentally the same street Bianca lives on with her three children and looser husband. As the book plays out, Angela and Mitch are both drawn to Bianca and attempt to demonstrate God's love for her by trying to help her. They each know what it's like to have baggage in their past and really want to save Bianca's children from the same regrets. Their mission throws them together unexpectedly, yet honesty and vulnerability seems to drive a wedge in their relationship rather than benefit it. Is it always best to be open when the past is water under the bridge?

Jennifer is an amazing story teller, and she kept me glued to the very end, with a couple of late nights. I love Jennifer's ability to reach out to the reader as she writes and make the reader feel like part of the story. Her insight into the realities of heartbroken people with messed up lives, makes the book seem all the more like a true story instead of a fictional tale. I love how God's love, grace, and forgiveness all come together to draw us to the Heavenly Father. She also addresses some pretty nitty-gritty issues like abortion and drug addiction. 

The only down side is that the story ends a bit abruptly. The author kind of wraps it up quickly and leaves you wanting more. As in her last book I read, maybe she is leaving it open for a sequel.... I am not sure, but I sure would love to have more closure in the lives of the characters.  But this may just be her style. Quick ending or not, I am sure you will enjoy and benefit from reading this book. It will give you insight into loving those who seem a bit unlovable, through the grace of God.

I received this book from the author to review. I was not asked to post a positive review and all opinions are my own. 

Meet the Author:

Jennifer Slattery is the founder of Wholly Loved Ministries, and in that capacity, helps women embrace and live out who they are in Christ, find healing and restoration in His unfailing love, and enjoy the deep emotional and spiritual freedom only He can provide. (Go HERE to learn of upcoming Wholly Loved events.) She loves interacting with women and women’s group on a personal level and speaks locally and nationally on topics pertinent to women juggling all the demands and uncertainties in today’s fast paced, ever-changing culture. (You can find out more about her speaking endeavors HERE.)

Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

As a multi-published author, Jennifer also has a deep love for story and has four novels out with New Hope Publishers with a fifth one releasing this winter. She’s a regular contributor to Crosswalk.com, Internet Cafe Devotions and Christians Read. She  co-hosts Living by Grace, a modern-day “meet at the well” Facebook community. As a content editor for Firefly, a southern fiction imprint for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, she loves working with writers to help them strengthen their manuscripts and grow in their gifting. When not writing, you’ll likely find her at one of Omaha’s many coffeehouses.