Title: Breath of Heaven
Author: Alana Terry
Genre: Contemporary Christian Fiction
Release Date: December 9, 2017
My Thoughts:
I have a problem with Alana Terry. Her books draw me in so thoroughly that I end up not being worth much until I finish them. One thing I really appreciate about some of them, such as the Orchard Grove books that I have read, is the realism. Breath of Heaven is the kind of story I can imagine happening to me.
Katrina and Greg have only been married for six months. Their honeymoon was spent on the trip from Southern California to eastern Washington State. Their first six months have been spent learning to pastor the small church that seems to have more than its share of gossipers who love to mind other people’s business. Now, Katrina feels more alone than she has ever felt in her entire life. I could identify, to an extent, with her, in her struggles adjusting to marriage. I remember how hard it was, that first year after we got married, to learn to live with someone so different from me. This author has described the conflict very well! I’ve never been a pastor’s wife, but Katrina’s experiences felt very real in that area, too.
When a rather nosy, bossy woman in the congregation decided to “help” Katrina gain a skill she didn’t have, I realized what was going to happen long before Katrina allowed herself to see the danger she was in. For chapter after chapter, I had to keep turning pages to find out what would happen—would she do the right thing, or give in to yet another person who wanted her to act a certain way, as she had been doing all her life? Would she ever be able to regain what she had at the beginning of her marriage? Or would the church drive an irreparable wedge between herself and Greg? And would she ever be able to trust anyone enough to share what was happening inside of her?
I loved Grandma Lucy when she appeared again, as in the other Orchard Grove books. In fact, I had just started to wonder when she would show up, and then, after another short chapter or two, there she was. She’s great! Mrs. Porter, on the other hand, was very annoying. I did end up laughing at her once, though, the Sunday afternoon that she came to visit the young couple. Poor Katrina, though, ended up terribly embarrassed.
If you love books that sound like real life, that you can relate to, and that keep you turning pages, try the Orchard Grove books. These are not necessarily easy, comfortable reads, but they are thought-provoking and clean. I am really enjoying this author.
I received a free copy of this book from the author. All opinions expressed are my own.
The Author’s Synopsis:
She hasn’t fallen out of love with her husband. She just can’t stand his church.
Nobody told Katrina being a pastor’s wife would be easy. But she never imagined that the stress she and her husband would face from his new job could so easily destroy their marriage.
In spite of her mother’s disapproval, Katrina marries a pastor whose job immediately plucks her away from her music, her symphony, and the city life she loves and plants her in the small town of Orchard Grove, Washington.
If she knew going into her new life that she’d be sacrificing her music career for a congregation full of gossips and backbiters and that the pressure of her husband’s new job would turn him into someone she hardly recognizes anymore, she might have reconsidered marrying him in the first place.
Unfortunately, it’s too late to do anything about that now.
Or is it?
About the Author:
Alana is a pastor’s wife, homeschooling mom, self-diagnosed chicken lady, and Christian suspense author. Her novels have won awards from Women of Faith, Book Club Network, Grace Awards, Readers’ Favorite, and more. Alana’s passion for social justice, human rights, and religious freedom shines through her writing, and her books are known for raising tough questions without preaching. She and her family live in rural Alaska where the northern lights in the winter and midnightsun in the summer make hauling water, surviving the annual mosquito apocalypse, and cleaning goat stalls in negative forty degrees worth every second.
Guest Post from Alana Terry:
I used to think being a pastor’s wife would be glamorous. Now I know better!
Although I’ve loved the different churches where my husband has been called to serve, being a couple in full-time ministry can definitely take its toll on a marriage.
Breath of Heaven is a novel in my Orchard Grove Christian women’s fiction series, which deals with real-life couples facing real-life issues. In Breath of Heaven, two newlyweds are thrown into the world of church politics, and the honeymoon period is quickly over.
I wrote this novel to give an inside peek at what it’s like if you’ve never been a pastor’s wife as well as to offer some hope and encouragement to women who know the stress of being married to someone in full-time ministry.
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