Book Notes: August 4, 2021 - Staci Stallings - Contemporary Romance

 Welcome back for another book review post! I'm late getting it out tonight, but I'm determined. This'll be a short one, but I hope you'll see something you're interested in checking out. 

Book Review: Deep in the Heart by Staci Stallings

Deep in the Heart by Staci Stallings
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well-written and Thought-Provoking

This book wasn't what I expected, but it was good in many ways. 1. It is most definitely an inspirational romance with lots of instances od church attendance, prayer, and characters working through how to live a life that pleases God. 2. It shows that Christians are human beings with faults and they have to work hard to do better every day. 3. I became invested in the characters. 4. I enjoyed seeing how the author wrote the sermons for the church scenes.

Since I was looking for a clean, fast, easy read, this book surprised me in that it wasn't so easy to get through. It made me wonder where the author was going and when the characters would wake up. In some places, I kept thinking, "How long are y'all gonna drag your feet? When are you gonna wake up and grow up?" But if I'm honest, everything that happened needed to happen the way it did.

Technical stuff...no misspellings that I noticed...some formatting issues in switching POVs that kinda threw me, but not too often...

This story continues in a series, but I'm satisfied with the closure in book 1. So in my opinion, this book stands on its own pretty well. But, if you like to see how characters' lives continue after the HEA, the author has provided their continuing adventure.

If you're looking for a story with more depth, one that contains strong Christian themes and characters who are struggling to overcome serious obstacles, this might just be the book for you.

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Book Review: To Protect & Serve (Courage #1) by Staci Stallings

To Protect & Serve by Staci Stallings
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Good But So Long

Wow! This story was so long. There were lots of places where I wondered 'why is this even in here?' It was a good story with some well-crafted characters, but I had a hard time liking the heroine and understanding her. If I'd been working for her, I'd have thrown my files in her face and walked out. I did find the hero easier to relate to. I loved the faith element in the story but thought that could've been showcased in better ways. There were some places in which the faith element was like a ghost in the corner and I wondered why the author didn't just say it straight out. If I wasn't a Christian myself, I could easily have inserted 'universe' into the section I'm thinking of.

Overall, this book would've been better with a good content edit. If you don't mind spending some time in a contemporary, inspirational romance novel, it'll probably be a good fit for you.

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 Thanks so much for reading! I hope you'll see something you can add to your TBR. I'll see you next time.