Positive Grace by Deb Haggerty

Deb’s Dozen: Chinese influences to bring down the US extend to the highest levels.

Cheryl Colwell’s book, The Land Lord, brings political suspense to the fore. One premise is that Chinese people are buying US businesses and land to the extent more of the US is controlled by China than Americans. A second premise is that Americans against this takeover are willing to commit treason rather than use our legislative processes to bring about change. In a book where one is constantly in doubt about who are the good guys and who the bad, twist after turn after twist takes place until the unlikely denouement takes place.

And of course, there is a love story. Dain Ryder is one of President Robert Bradley’s trusted few. President Bradley puts Dain on a secret task force to root out the mole and traitors in the government. He sends Dain to meet a beautiful professor of Asian studies, Lien Chan, who, although a US citizen, has a great love for her native land. Along the way, we meet Secret Service agents Krueger and Johnson, Chinese agents Jimmy Wu and Li Kui. The threads of political suspense and involvement at all levels are tangled.

Great story, I’d rate it five stars, except there are some obvious flaws. The book is formatted in double-spaced type which makes it difficult to read. The editing of the book is also flawed. The detractors of the president want him to declare Marshall law—instead of martial law. There are details left out that would have made the story more exciting and less confusing. But even with all of these things, The Land Lord is still a good book worth reading.

Cheryl Colwell has written several novels. She lives in southern Oregon and her tagline is “Stunning Suspense.” You can learn more about Cheryl and her books on her website. CherylColwell.com.

BookCrash gave me a copy of The Land Lord, but I was in no way obligated to write a favorable review.

Deb’s Dozen: Contemporary romance brings two people together despite their brokenness and childhood traumas.

Francine Rivers has written a clever contemporary romance, The Masterpiece. She moves between the pasts and presents of her two main characters in almost every chapter. The device, however, allows us to learn in much more detail the backgrounds of the characters than a normal flashback would. Once I’d read a few chapters, I was hooked and read the book straight through.

Grace Moore, a divorced unwed mom, desperately needs a job. Roman Velasco, a moody but talented artist, needs a personal assistant. Despite some fits and starts, Grace ends up working for Velasco. She needs the income so she can find a place of her own for herself and her son, Samuel. Grace represents many women today-both those who married too young and for the wrong reasons, and those who became pregnant out of wedlock. Grace is not perfect, but she’s been forgiven by God and is trying to walk the right path.

Roman Velasco, aka Bobby Dean Bird, came out of the foster system a bitter man determined to survive. In his alter-ego, BDB, he paints graffiti on walls and buildings in the city-daring the danger of heights and capture. As Velasco, he paints contemporary art that sells but does not fulfill him. He is searching for something to fill the hunger within.

As they work together, Grace and Roman fall in love, but the path to true love is rocky. And therein lies the cleverness of Rivers’ story. By bringing us chapters of their pasts, Grace and Roman live for us, and we understand and care for them much more deeply than if she’d written their story as a straight romance. I could not put the book down-five stars. That said, the book is extremely long (494 pages), but The Masterpiece, a story of love, redemption, and grace you’ll find well worth the time to read.

Francine Rivers is a New York Times best-selling author who has won lifetime achievement awards from several literary associations. Some of her bestsellers are Redeeming Love, the Bridge to Haven, and The Mark of the Lion series. Francine and her husband live in Northern California and enjoy time with their three children and five grandchildren.

Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. gave me an advance reader copy of The Masterpiece, but I was in no way obligated to write a review.