Kristen HeitzmannReseñas

Fun story, but a little predictable.

Grace is a novelist who wants to have one of her stories on Broadway. She singles out a Broadway producer, Devin and tries to convince him that this novel will work on Broadway.

58339

54701

58323

58328

There are seasons where easy to follow, happy endings (even predictable ones) are just what I need to relax. This book was just that. I didn't figure out everything, but most, and it didn't change how much I enjoyed reading it.

53925

53926

54133

54084

54066

56137

56504

55761

55035

54940

54658

A good story and well written. I liked the way that the author made the characters so real - Lance's dilemma of wanting to do God's will but not knowing what exactly needs to be done is so true. I could definitely relate to the problem of having a few options and needing to determine which one I am going to do first. We don't always get the answers we want but as long as we trust Him things eventually work out the way they should

Borrowed½

Historical Christian Romance - hit all the marks. Authentic historic development, great character development, and interactions. Add the struggles coming to a relationship with God in an ungodly place like a mining town was quite well described. Without giving away too much plot, the reality of vigilante justice was real and harsh, quite often going well past true justice.

At first, I have to say that I didn't like the way the book started out, and it was confusing at times with the start of each chapter as far as whose point of view was being explored. I had high hopes for the book being that I liked the last book I read by Kristen Heitzmann, and so I held on to see if it would get any better. Fortunately it did, and then it sped up. I did feel like part of the plot was drawn out too much, the characters too intense, and almost annoying. But once it did pick up, the plot smoothed out and became more exciting.

In Secrets, Lance is sent on a mission for his grandmother. With her in the hospital and recovering from a stroke, he's hard-pressed to help her, and would do anything for her. The only wrinkle to his plan is meeting Rese, and having to befriend her to get what he wants. It doesn't help that she's a prickly construction gal whose idea of living doesn't involve letting people get too close. With the secrets they both are keeping, though, it's anyone's guess as to whose plans will unravel first. I am already on to the next book in this trilogy so I can see what happens to them next!

Yet again, Kristin's writing was both gripping and interesting from start to finish! Reading all 3 books in the trilogy was worth it and necessary to see just how much the characters were able to grow through their trials.

In The Breath of Dawn, Quinn Reilly has to contend with a bitter past with her church fanatical family, and in the process ends up helping the Spencers through a different sort of pain and come out stronger because of it. This book was highly satisfying and great as a standalone or to read in conclusion.

Though the book started out with a "drop you into the action" scene, it didn't grab me right away and pull me in. It took me a while to start caring about the characters and what happened to them.

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS--read at your own discretion.

I liked that we had flawed characters--some with flaws we and others could see and some with flaws that are more internal. It was also nice to see the characters confront some of their flaws and fears.

I do wonder if the author intended that all "artistic" characters had some disability? Natalie has an eidetic memory and she's used sculpting as a way to cope with her problem of faces getting stuck in her memory. Fleur is blind but paints. And Natalie seems to lose her sculpting ability once she loses the eidetic memory feature.

I liked that the town seems to look out for Fleur and adapt to her--saying hello to her as they approach or she approaches, for example. I like Piper and Fleur as roommates and I like that Piper is able to see below the idiosyncrasies of Miles and Natalie to what lies beneath.

Though it is never directly stated that any of the characters are Christian, Natalie and Aaron both seem to be--or at least believe in the power of prayer. Trevor tells Aaron that he's undecided, yet Aaron seems to have no problem with Trevor hanging with Natalie despite that difference. (To be fair to Aaron, he's dealing with a very ill wife and rehabbing from a leg injury himself as well as trying to be a father to his now one-armed son. We do see Trevor starting to change but in my mind, it's too soon to know if that change will "stick".

I like Whit's and Sara's loyalty to Trevor. It bothers me that Sara still seems hung up on Trevor even though she's married to Whit and the mother of his child. Even Whit seems to feel Sara is with him because Trevor came as a package deal. We don't see enough to know whether Sara reacts this way to all his dates or if it's just because his relationship with Natalie seems different. (It seems prior to Natalie, Trevor pretty much stuck to surface dating--people he wasn't really interested in being with long-term.) I hope that her behavior was out of concern for Trevor--both that he not hurt Natalie and that he not be hurt by a relationship--rather than out of jealousy or out of fear that if Trevor had a steady relationship, she would not be important to him anymore.

Though I don't like that the little boy lost his arm, I like that he adapts quickly, taking it in stride and not seeing it as a handicap. He wants to climb walls, run, etc. just like all other little boys.

I guessed that the quotes in the intervening pages between chapters were from "Paradise Lost" even before that was revealed. I didn't quite understand the motivation of that character though. I guess he wanted to pass what he felt was his mission on to someone he felt would continue it in a better way than he could. But it was a bit disturbing.

First of all, I have to say that I love Kristen Heitzmann’s writing style. She makes you think more than your average christian fiction author and isn’t afraid to use big words. Wish more authors would do that. She has the ability to write a very interesting story. By the time I hit chapter 2, I was hooked and lost hours of sleep because I couldn’t put it down.

I gave this four stars for two reasons. First, I found the second half of the book a little too drawn out. Secondly, and more importantly, I didn’t like how certain aspects of Hawaiian mythology were mixed with Christianity. Heitzmann certainly made an effort to incorporate Hawaiian life/culture into her book. I learned a fair bit. She also made sure the focus remained on the Lord. However, I believe taking Hawaiian mythology and applying it/redirecting it to Christianity is not biblically accurate. I also think aspects of Nika’s relationship with Jesus not in line with what scripture teaches us (and therefore what we experience) as believers. Keeping this in mind, however, this is a very enjoyable book that I would recommend to others. :)