Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
Reviewed by Lori Twichell, Radiantlit.com
Genre: romance, historical
Publisher: Multnomah
Publication Dates: October 16, 2007

Sarah knew that she was beautiful. In her short eight year life, she’d been told often how beautiful her mother was and how much she resembled her mother. Her life wasn’t perfect, but it was good. Sarah didn’t really know her father that well. He was just a man who visited every now and then and brought trinkets for her. So when the day comes that he argues with her mother, Sarah’s world turns upside down. She discovers that he never wanted her. He doesn’t care about her. That’s when her mother loses him because of Sarah’s existence. That’s also when Sarah’s childhood ends with her being sold into prostitution. And thus Angel was born.

Michael Hosea is a good man. A solid man who listens to God, Michael has been praying for a wife and life companion to be by his side. So when he sees a beautiful woman called Angel and he hears God whisper that she’s the one, he’s full of hope and joy. This turns quickly to confusion and shame when he learns that the stunningly beautiful woman God has chosen for him is a prostitute.

Thus begins a journey of love, loss, agony and redemption that will reach into your heart, grab you, and never let go. Michael pursues Angel with dogged faithfulness. He often argues with God. He doesn’t understand. But he knows that Angel is meant to be his companion.

Angel, on the other hand, doesn’t understand anything about love. She’s heard ‘I love you’  all her life but it never meant anything beyond the few minutes spent with a man. She doesn’t know how to love, trust, or understand how anyone could really find her of value beyond her body. She doesn’t know who she really is. Why should anyone else care about that?

I’ve said before that Francine Rivers has the ability to weave emotion onto the page so that as you’re reading it, you’re also seeing it, feeling it, touching it and experiencing it for yourself. The sense of unworthiness that Angel has throughout the book is one that all of us have experienced at some point. None of us is worthy of the love that God bestows upon us. His favor and his blessings don’t belong to us. They must be for some other favorite child. It can’t possibly be that I am His beloved. And yet, it’s true. God loves each of us as if we were His only beloved child.

This truth is revealed in exquisite detail through Rivers’ retelling of the story of Gomer and Hosea from the Bible. Every whisper from Satan about inadequacy, every setback, every moment of self doubt is revealed in this beautifully aching love story. Francine Rivers shows us how beautiful and glorious redemption is while making it very clear that God’s love knows no bounds.

If you have not read this story, don’t hesitate. This book is one that should not just be read, but should be owned and re-read when life gets tough. It should be gifted to those around us who need to feel God’s peace and grace. This is more than just a story. It’s a lesson we all need to learn, remember and every now and then, painfully re-learn. Francine Rivers has not just written a story. She’s given each of us the gift of God’s love crafted with words surrounding a beautiful, heart-wrenching tale that will change your life.

Rated PG-13. This story is about prostitution and later, the love between a man and a woman. Though Rivers handles it with beautiful taste and decorum, she does address the issues. For that reason, the content and story itself is rated PG-13.

*Review Copy provided by Multnomah/Waterbrook