My very first BookSneeze book review - Love, Charleston by Beth Webb Hart

When I heard about BookSneeze - it sounded like the perfect situation for me!  They sent me a complimentary copy of the book Love, Charleston by Beth Webb Hart, in exchange for a quick review on my blog - win-win situation for me - I get a book (which I LOVE) and I get inspired to actually use the blog I have had for 2 years are written on three times!  When I got the book in the mail - it was like Christmas in August!

Love, Charleston is a  "christian romance novel" set in, of course, Charleston South Carolina.  I automatically assumed it was historical so I was pleasantly surprised to find that is was set in 2008/2009. The book follows two families whose lives are intertwined.  We have Roy, a widower Episcopal preist and his daughter Rose, who answer the call to move from a small, country church in his home town - to a large, very historical church in Charleston.  We also have Lish & Anne, sisters, and their cousin Della.  Lish has the "perfect" life - a doctor herself, married to a doctor with 2 kids (& 1 on the way) and a beautiful home.  Anne is single, a bell ringer at St. Michaels and waiting, sort of patiently, for God to bring someone special into her life.  Della is married to a great guy  who adores her - handsome & creative - but she is unsatisfied with their position in life.  She is a writer, but takes a full time job teaching English at a private all-girls school so that their daughter can attend there.  It is pretty hard to teach full time and try to write the next great novel at night in a roach infested house.  She wants more - more money, more comfort, more children and she doesn't think Peter can provide that.   Throughout the book, we experience the pain of depression, loss of faith, infidelity and more with these characters.  It is a great story of the strength of family and faith.

I actually really liked this book.  I thought that it was well written and draws you in right from the first chapter.  This is one of those stories that you are eager to finish, just because you want to know what is going to happen to the characters.  I felt like I knew the characters, and at one point told someone - "this guys is such a jerk!" as if it was someone real.  You cry with them and laugh with them and rejoice with them.  Keep in mind that this is not a deep, intense, earth shattering novel - but they don't all have to be.  This book would be a great beach read!  It is nice to be able to read a romance novel that you don't get embarrassed by the content.  It is also not completely unrealistic like so many others!  This is a very sweet story about the bonds of family.