My Review: The Chance by Robin Carr

The Chance (Thunder Point)

About the Book:

With its breathtaking vistas and down-to-earth people, Thunder Point is the perfect place for FBI agent Laine Carrington to recuperate from a gunshot wound and contemplate her future. The locals embraced Laine as one of their own after she risked her life to save a young girl from a dangerous cult. Knowing her wounds go beyond the physical, Laine hopes she'll fit in for a while and find her true self in a town that feels safe. She may even learn to open her heart to others, something an undercover agent has little time to indulge.

Eric Gentry is also new to Thunder Point. Although he's a man with a dark past, he's determined to put down roots and get to know the daughter he only recently discovered. When Laine and Eric meet, their attraction is obvious to everyone. But while the law enforcement agent and the reformed criminal want to make things work, their differences may run too deep…unless they take a chance on each other and find that deep and mysterious bond that belongs to those who choose love over fear.

My Comments:

I liked Eric; he seems like a guy with his head on straight; a guy who has had some rough times but who has decided that that life is going to get better.  He made a nice contrast with two of his employees--one a man his age who has been running from life for many years; the other a teen who seems to be heading down the wrong path--or is he?

Somehow Laine just didn't ring true with me; it's not that I didn't like her, it's that the various parts of her personality didn't add up.  When she and Eric get together things get very steamy very fast, and we have front row seats.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  This was a light easy read with the requisite happy ending, and it was just what I needed when I read it.  Grade:  B.   

Review: The Chance

The Chance: A Novel

About the Book:

Dubbed the “Queen of Christian Fiction” by Time magazine, #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Karen Kingsbury is arguably America’s favorite inspirational novelist with a dozen bestsellers to her credit. In The Chance, she delves deeply into a theme that resonates with us all: It’s never too late for those willing to take a chance.

Years ago, the day before Ellie moved from Georgia to California, she and her best friend Nolan sat beneath the Spanish moss of an ancient oak tree where they wrote letters to each other, and sealed them in a rusty old metal box. The plan was to return eleven years later and read them. But now, as that date arrives, much has changed. Ellie, bereft of the faith she grew up with, is a single mom living in a tired apartment trying to make ends meet. Sometimes she watches television to catch a glimpse of her old friend —Nolan, now an NBA star, whose terrible personal tragedies fueled his faith and athletic drive in equal measure. But Nolan also suffers from a transcendent loneliness that nothing has ever eased.

In their separate lives, as Ellie and Nolan move toward the possibility of a reunion at the oak tree, Kingsbury weaves a tale of heart-wrenching loss, the power of faith, and the wounds that only love can heal.

My Comments:

This book is prototypical Karen Kingsbury.  It is a heartwarming story that plays on readers' emotions.  It is filled with faith content and is as much about characters' spiritual journeys as it is about their relationships with each other.  The moral of the story is clearly that forgiveness is necessary not only for eternal life but also for happiness in this world.  Kingsbury is also telling her readers that while believers may have to endure suffering in this world, in the end, even in this world, God will work it all out for the best.  Those who like a lot of faith with their fiction will enjoy this story; those who like a more subtle approach or who don't like religious stories should pass.  

Thanks to the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade:  B.