Ahhh, a second chance. That is what we have in Lauraine Snelling's Streams of Mercy. A second chance for Anji and for others in the town of blessing, but also a second chance for me. I'll get back to that in a bit. This is Ms. Snelling's Book #3 of the Song of Blessings series, but many of the characters are from other other series. I would say almost all, if not all of her series connect with this town and the family of Bjorkland, which basically makes these connections in the forms of books a full saga which is continuing on.
I enjoyed Ms. Snelling's writings and the characters are well written and developed. The problem I had with the first book of this series was that I didn't know it was a series, let alone a saga and came in expecting the story about the mentioned characters in the book description. This time, I expected it, and I am pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. The town crisis created this sense of longing to help and to find out what will happen. It rapt me into the story and to the people and more than anything, it made me enjoyed it. What also helped was the ending. It wasn't as open-ended as the first one, but it gave me hope and that is what makes this book good. It imparted God's mercy, grace and hope, not only to the townspeople of Blessings, but also to this book's readers.
This is what I mean by a second chance. It was a second chance of love and life for the characters in Blessing. It was also a second chance for me as a reader. With this note, I must thank a follower of this blog, Debbie who encouraged me to give Ms Snelling's books another go. I'm glad I did. Thank you, Debbie. I think you'll enjoy this as well.
Streams of Mercy (Bethany House, October 2015)
Anji Baard Moen, recently widowed in Norway, returns to North Dakota with her children. She quickly settles back into life in the familiar surroundings of Blessing, teaching in the high school and writing articles for the Blessing Gazette. In the midst of an unexpected crisis, Anji is thrust into a role she never imagined. And almost without her even being aware, an old friendship begins to show signs of developing into something more.
Meanwhile, Thomas Devlin, a minister without a post, has arrived in town. Devlin supports himself as a journeyman carpenter, and with the town growing rapidly, he has no shortage of opportunities. Establishing himself in a new community has its challenges, but as the newcomer gets to know the young widow whose house he's been working on, he thinks he may have found yet another reason to stay....
Lauraine Snelling is the award-winning author of over 70 books,
fiction and nonfiction, for adults and young adults. Her books have sold nearly
5 million copies. Besides writing books and articles, she teaches at writers'
conferences across the country. She and her husband make their home in Tehachapi, CA. Learn more at www.laurainesnelling.com.  |
Streams of Mercy #3 By Lauraine Snelling / Bethany House Anji is a widow who returns home and lands a job teaching history at a local high school and writing for the local newspaper. She becomes friendly with the widowed owner of the printing press. Is there more to this friendship? Anji becomes attracted to a Carpenter working on her house. How does she make a choice between these two gentlemen? |
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