Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

The Weekly Read

A day at the beach: A review of Shadows on the Sand by Gayle Roper

If Seaside, New Jersey was a real place, I’d book my next vacation there. Murder and intrigue notwithstanding.

Shadows on the Sand was my first Gayle Roper novel, and I’m not sorry I took the plunge. It was an enjoyable blend of romance and mystery. Thrilling in all kinds of ways.

In it, Carrie Carter runs a cafe and when her dishwasher turns up missing, and then dead, she finds herself looking for answers. Greg, a former police officer, a widower and a regular at the cafe, is drawn into the search. While the storyline has its predictable moments, the journey is fun and exciting, with enough twists and turns to keep you in it till the end.

Click here for a sneak peek at the first chapter.

I especially loved the characters. Carrie and Greg and the supporting “cast” became real to me. I believed their emotions, their struggles, their reactions. My only criticism of Carrie is that I kept imagining her older than the 33 years the author created her to be. She had a rough past, so maybe that’s why she seemed older in thought and deed.

I’m not sure what impacted me more, though: the story or the author’s note at the end. Roper reveals that she was recently widowed, a characteristic she shares with Greg in the book. His struggles became more meaningful as I realized she was writing, in part, from what she knew and experienced.

That, my friends, is the key to good writing. I appreciated Roper’s openness in sharing that particular struggle and transforming it into a creative work for the blessing of others.

Shadows on the Sand is Roper’s fifth book in the Seaside Seasons series. I’m looking forward to reading what I’ve missed in the other books.

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As part of the Blogging for Books program, I received a free digital copy of Shadows on the Sand from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

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Breaking the rules: A review of Raised Right by Alisa Harris

Everyone knows you’re not supposed to talk about religion or politics, right? Especially if you don’t want to start an argument.

Alisa Harris does both in her memoir Raised Right: How I Untangled My Faith from Politics. What she writes is sure to ruffle some feathers.

In a world where a vote for president often comes down to the lesser of two so-called evils, is purely partisan and sometimes divisive, Harris’ book is a refreshingly honest and humble point of view on faith and politics and where the two should (and shouldn’t) meet.

Harris was raised in a conservative Christian home in a family that actively protested at abortion clinics and always voted Republican. She believed then that the right people in power could save the country.

Through college and into adulthood, those beliefs were challenged and Harris began to question whether what she was taught to believe about politics and religion was the only way.

Her story navigates the waters where some fear to tread, introducing the idea that people can be pro-life and Democrat, opposed to abortion but pro-choice,   feminists who love their families and conservatives who care about the poor.

“Not all of them are right but neither are they heretics,” Harris writes.

In a time of questioning my political allegiances (and whether patriotic hymns should be sung in church), I couldn’t put the book down. It’s a well-written and wise reminder for Christians that politics does not save us. “We can make political the things that are political and make spiritual the things that are spiritual,” Harris says.

If you’re fed up with the religious aspects of politics, read this book.

If you want to understand the people who are fed up with the religious aspects of politics, read this book.

If you like a good true-life story, read this book.

Want a preview? Click here for chapter one.

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As part of the Blogging for Books program, I received a free copy of the book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

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