Redeeming Love {Book Review}

 *I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group as part of their Blogging For Books program*

This is not the first time I have read this book by Francine Rivers. One of the first things I would like to say is that it is very graphic. I would not recommend this to younger readers. The first time I read it I was probably a Senior in High School, and in my opinion that was probably still too young. It is graphic, but it is also the cold hard truth. This is honestly probably on my favorite books. One thing I appreciate about Francine Rivers, is that she always shows a conversion process in her books. She shows how the Spirit works in the characters lives. She is a very deep author.  She has an awesome testimony in the back of this book. Sometimes I feel as though Christian authors today just write sappy love stories to please their readers, and often forget to incorporate God in their stories. In this book, we follow the lives of Michael Hosea and Angel. This is story is based off of the story of Hosea and Gomer in the Bible.  Angel was sold into prostitution as a very young girl. Her mother was also a prostitute and died when Angel was young. Angel lived a very rough life and learned that she had to keep a hard heart in order to survive. Michael Hosea saw her once walking down the street and immediately knew God was telling him to marry her. So bought her out of prostitution and married her. She tries so hard not to love him, but she eventually starts having feelings for him. Once she recognizes those feelings, she runs away. Michael goes after her and brings her home. She runs away again and Michael doesn’t go after that time, because he realizes that she needs to realize where home is. She changes and turns her life over to the Lord. She starts a house for women that are trying to get their lives back on track. She meets up with Michael’s brother-in-law who comes to bring her home. She humbles herself and does go back home for good as a changed person. This is a wonderful story. It is a reminder of how much God loves us and takes us out of sin and darkness. We sometimes run back to it, because it seems enticing, but God is where our home really is. I would recommend this to readers who like to read stories that are based off of stories in the Bible.