This book is based on the love story from the Bible of Hosea and Gomer. Gomer is a prostitute and Hosea is a Godly man told to marry her. It's their struggle (she finds it hard to turn away from the life she has always known and basically born into). So if god tells you directly that California's hottest prostitute is the one, I would highly suggest getting a second opinion. St. Francis maybe? Is that a guy? Which scene do you feel best shows how Angel was resigned to relying on no one but herself? What events caused her to do so? Why do you think she never cried out to God? A splendid piece of work exploring both physical love and a love of God…There is not one false note in this wonderful novel.”

The most redemptive part of the book is the idea that Michael is constantly forgiving Angel for her past. I suppose that's a somewhat enlightened view of things, and I wouldn't expect that many men of god living during the gold rush would be too excited at the prospect of making a hooker into a wife. Warts and all. LOTS of warts and all. In his kindness God called you to his eternal glory by means of Jesus Christ. After you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.” For starters, if there was a god who literally spoke to me and told me that a particular person was "the one" that would simplify things quite a bit. Seriously, if god used his god-to-brain telephone to let me know that someone crazy, Courtney Love let's say, was the one, then I'd really have no choice but to pursue that person because nobody else would make me equally happy. I probably wouldn't wait until a pimp beat the holy bejeezus out of her to make my move and ask her to marry me the way Michael did in the book, but I'm just saying the path is a little clearer-cut. Alex, please. I didn’t see any harm in it. It made it easier. She asked me this morning if she was old enough yet to meet you. She asks me every time she knows you’re coming. How could I say no to her again? I didn’t have the She blinked, frightened and confused by his manner. He was her papa. Mama said so. He even brought her presents every time he came. Mama gave them to her. Maybe he was angry that she had never thanked him. “I want to thank you for the presents you—”

Now this was a man who was told by God, that he should marry Angel and deliver her from her bondage. But Angel wasn’t buying it. The more he tried to convince her, the more convinced she was of his insincerity. In what ways was God calling Angel while she was relying only on herself? What good was He working? First off, one thing I must note about this book, and it’s probably the one small element that held me off from reading it sooner than I did, or reading it at all for that matter. The book is categorized as Contemporary Christian Fiction as it’s based on the biblical story of Hosea and Gomer. Wait!! Don’t let that turn you off just yet. Just give me a few more moments to share its fabulousness; I swear I’m not a religious fanatic (See?? I’m swearing!). But before I move on let me explain my reading preferences.

Sarah's story is a powerful one. I felt that it often went too far into the descriptions of what she was feeling...thus, instead of giving the facts, it presented images and drew out emotions where bare facts would have been much less sensual. We didn't have to go down into the depths to feel how revolting her life was. We didn't have to spend two chapters on her being sold at the age of eight and raped by a monster, over and over again, over the next number of years.Then she meets Michael Hosea, a man who seeks his Father’s heart in everything. Michael obeys God’s call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel’s every bitter expectation, until despite her resistance, her frozen heart begins to thaw. For those seeking a cleaner read by Francine Rivers (and to prove that I'm not just being deliberately controversial) try The Atonement Child [ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...] or And the Shofar Blew [ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...] or even The Last Sin Eater [ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...] but avoid Bridge to Haven [ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...]. The Scarlet Thread is mediocre [ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...]. Enjoy!