This is the third book in Lessman’s The
Heart of San Francisco series. The first
book found true love for Cassie McClare, the second for her cousin Allie. This third book focuses on Meg, Allie’s sister,
who underwent an amazing transformation while spending her senior year in Paris
both in her physical appearance and in her self-confidence while also
discovering God’s call to serve women living in poverty doing whatever it took
to survive. Matron of this clan, Caitlyn
McClare, also comes to grips with her ability to trust or not to trust her
deceased husband’s brother, Logan. A quandary whose storyline spans this
trilogy.
The theme of this book is forgiveness,
forgiving those who have wronged us as well as forgiving oneself. Bram, loving known as Padre by his closest
friends, is wise beyond his years; explaining
the importance of forgiveness, “‘ People don’t realize just how much energy it
takes to hate and hurt someone who’s wounded them, nor how destructive that
hate can be….It’s like a gun aimed at themselves instead of the offending
party….It can destroy them and those they love.’” He also explains how, through prayer, to rely
on God’s power to be able to forgive; something that isn’t always possible
under our own power. The theme is well
developed, and Biblically grounded.
I was excited to see this third book of
the series on the list of books available for review. I’d enjoyed the first two
books, and was anxious to read the third.
What I found when I started reading the book was that I was tired of the
characters, tired of reading about Cassie’s smelly lasso and Allie’s stick both
of which they supposedly used to keep the man in their life in line. I was
tired of reading about Blake being a rake and family game nights. There seemed
to be a lot of redundancy of events and in dialogue. On the other hand,
wondering which man Meg would be interested in, even though it was fairly obvious
which one she’d end up with, kept my interest in the story, as did pondering how
Caitlyn and Logan would work out their differences.
The heavy emphasis on the importance or
impact of physical beauty was a concern while reading this book. There were a few instances like when Meg
reflected on the lesson that, “although the naked eye admires outward
appearance, it’s in the mind’s eye where true beauty and confidence begins,”
and when Devin states that, “For once I’ve met a girl whose beauty on the
inside is so powerful and deep, the surface beauty is almost secondary,” when
the author acknowledges the greater importance on\f inner beauty. For the most part, the reader encounters
evidence that the transformation from ugly duckling to beautiful swan was what
inspired men’s ardor and admiration for Meg.
I thank Revell
Publishers and Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for providing Surprised
By Love for my honest review. I did not receive
any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions expressed
here are strictly my own.
