This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
A Measure of Mercy
Bethany House (October 1, 2009)
by
Lauraine Snelling
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Award-winning and best selling author Lauraine Snelling began living her dream to be a writer with her first published book for young adult readers, Tragedy on the Toutle, in 1982. She has since continued writing more horse books for young girls, adding historical and contemporary fiction and nonfiction for adults and young readers to her repertoire. All told, she has up to sixty books published.
Shown in her contemporary romances and women’s fiction, a hallmark of Lauraine’s style is writing about real issues of forgiveness, loss, domestic violence, and cancer within a compelling story. Her work has been translated into Norwegian, Danish, and German, and she has won the Silver Angel Award for An Untamed Land and a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart for Song of Laughter.
As a most sought after speaker, Lauraine encourages others to find their gifts and live their lives with humor and joy. Her readers clamor for more books more often, and Lauraine would like to comply … if only her paintbrushes and easel didn’t call quite so loudly.
Lauraine and her husband, Wayne, have two grown sons, and live in the Tehachapi Mountains with a cockatiel named Bidley, and a watchdog Basset named Chewy. They love to travel, most especially in their forty-foot motor coach, which they affectionately deem “a work in progress”.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Eighteen-year-old Astrid Bjorklund has always dreamed of becoming a doctor. She had intended to study medicine in Chicago or Grand Forks, but when a disaster wiped out a major portion of her family’s income, Astrid stayed home instead, receiving hands-on training from Dr. Elizabeth.
Joshua Landsverk left Blessing two years ago, but he’s never forgotten Astrid. Returning to town, he seeks to court her.
Astrid is attracted to him, and when the opportunity unexpectedly opens for her to go to Chicago for medical training, she finds it difficult to leave. Love blossoms through their letters, but upon arriving back home, she makes a heartbreaking discovery. She learns he’s left town–again. Believing Joshua no longer loves her, Astrid makes an impetuous, heart-wrenching decision.
Will she regret the choice she’s made? Will she have to give up love to pursue her dream?
If you would like to read the first chapter of A Measure of Mercy, go HERE.
Learn more about Lauraine and her books on her Website.
MY REVIEW:
For the most part I enjoyed A Measure of Mercy. The segments about the practice of medicine and Astrid’s medical training were particularly interesting. I also appreciated the strong spiritual thread that was woven throughout the book. However, I had a little difficulty keeping all the characters straight since I had not read the previous books set in Blessing. I also felt that with all the emphasis on Astrid wanting to be sure if God was calling her to Africa, her decision was made rather recklessly.
It is obvious that there will be other installments to this series but I felt like there were too many strands of the plot that were just left hanging and unresolved. For my own personal tastes, the ending was unsatisfactory. So although I did enjoy the book and found it well written and entertaining, I will probably wait until the series is complete before reading the sequels. I just don’t like to have to wait to find out what happens next.
