Jaded
Varina Denman
David C. Cook, Mar 1 2015, $14.99
ISBN: 9781434705457
Thirteen years ago in Trapp, Texas, Daddy Hoby Turner deserted his wife Lynda
and their seven year old daughter Ruthie.
The townsfolk led by the church the family attended blame Ruthie’s Momma
for Daddy leaving them; as they accept she committed adultery with one of the
elders without a second thought. The
good Christian flock shuns Momma for breaking one of the Commandments and her
guilt by association child. Over the
years Ruthie placed a fierce shield around her heart and soul to distance the
religious accusers from further hurting her; though the constant mistreatment
of Momma from their Good Christian former friends bothers her.
Arriving from Fort Worth, Dodd Cunningham,
accompanied by his high school senior brother Grady and their mother, arrives
in Trapp as the new pastor. Distrusting
Christians as two-faced phonies, Ruthie keeps her distance from the Cunningham
family, especially Dodd. However, the
new pastor and his sibling ignore her desires that they and their false God
leave her alone; instead the Cunningham siblings begin to breach her barriers.
The first Mended Hearts Christian romance is a pleasant inspirational
showcasing a bitter woman and a true-believer pastor reaching out to her;
though he never quite understands until very late how the love of his life
feels about being a pariah. Although
elements seem over the top of Guadalupe Peak, subgenre fans will appreciate this tale
of first comes love (of God and man) and then comes redemption.
Harriet Klausner
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