Hello Readers!
I am sitting in my living room enjoying the beautiful sound of the light rain falling outside my door. There is a rainbow to the south and the sun setting in the west. Such bliss.
As you may have guessed... this post means I have finished yet another book. I believe "Beauty for Ashes" makes around book number 37 for the year.
As I was reading I kept thinking about what I would post on this book. I still have not settled completely on what I will write but here it goes...
The book falls into the Inspirational Romance category. It is set in the late 1800s between Philadelphia and New York in a time of great industrial advances. Both families that are present in this book are from wealthy backgrounds.
Elizabeth, the lead female, is young and looking for an escape from a life and possible marriage of abuse. She meets Justin, a recently widowed father of two looking for nothing more than a marriage of convenience.
In many ways this book really hit me. Mostly because of a conversation I had on Monday with my friend and sister in Christ, Courtney. Courtney and I were discussing the ups and downs of life and relationships. She spoke about how often girls are just looking for a man to rescue them from the point of life they are in. This could be from any situation, but just a feeling that the life with the man in question looks better than what you can see in front of you. A marriage of convenience. I feel many girls struggle with this at some point in their lives, whether it is at 15 when getting pregnant seems like a great way to keep that cheating boyfriend around, at 22 when you are finished with college but not dating anyone, or at 27 when society starts to have their doubts about your relationship status. At any point, a marriage or relationship of convenience is not what God has planned.
BUT, the great news is, as the book is titled, God can make beauty from ashes. No matter the situation, if you give God control, he can remove the fear, doubt, and worry from you and turn things into a beautiful story that not even you could imagine.
"Beauty for Ashes" had a great story line for young ladies. One that teaches hope and redemption through Christ alone. I did however have a few complaints about it. While the story at the end was incredibly enticing to keep reading and turn the page, the overall description of the scenery was missing. It was really hard to get a good picture of what the country looked like where this was taking place. As a reading junkie, this is important to me. It is hard to get completely enthralled in a character or story line when you can't picture where and when it is taking place.
Overall, this book was good. I really liked the message that it gives about giving all of your circumstances to God and he will set before you a path you could never imagine for yourself. It is worth reading if you like inspirational romance, but don't think you are going to get a good look into history.
