Restoring Love

A Contemporary Novel 

Paperback, ebook

January 2, 2017

by Jennifer Slattery (Author)

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: New Hope Publishers
• ISBN-13: 978-1625915139

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.

My thoughts:  RESTORING LOVE is the first book I've read by Ms. Slattery, but if this is any indication of her writing skills then it certainly won't be the last.

I wasn't real sure what to think of the book when I opened it and started reading. It is women's fiction more than a romance (though there is a romance included) and women's fiction isn't really my favorite genre. 

But then, the story reached out and grabbed me. 

 I liked Angela, and even though she probably dressed in appropriately for an "old" woman (she isn't really old, but to a woman who's young enough to be her daughter, maybe she is) she had a fun sense of style. I'm glad she went for more modest when she changed her wardrobe, but I hope she kept her colorfulness. 

Mitch-- a true hero. I loved him. But he was also a string that was unfinished. I wonder what happened with him, with his business, with his son. I'd like to know more about him.  I could relate to so much in his life. Like his son. 

Bianca-- not a woman I was fond of, but my heart hurt for her and the impossible situation she found herself in. I was so glad she had Virginia, Mitch and Angela in her life.  

I LOVED this book!  And I will read more by Jennifer Slattery.  If you haven't read RESTORING LOVE it is the perfect book for a new year. 

I was given  a  free copy of this book. All opinions are my own.