Review: an inspirational romance with conflict, drama and suspense
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 24, 2010
Originally posted at [...]In his book, `Writing the Breakout Novel', Donald Maas states, "God works in little ways as well as big ones, so look for small moments of magic as well as big ones." He then asks, "Have you ever felt that something that happened to you was fated?"Well in Diane Craver's book, Marrying Mallory, that is the precept she has used.Mallory is born with a nose she considers too large and ungainly for her face, and is fed-up with her students snickering behind her back so decides to take action.Consider: if an unseen act of God had not occurred, Mallory would never have crossed paths with plastic surgeon, Seth Whitman.A devout and practicing Christian, Mallory is also faced with coming to terms with accepting that her divorce from her cheating husband Toby slices right through her religious beliefs. Can she learn to forgive herself for what she perceives as a betrayal of her beliefs? For all Seth's charms, strength and obvious attraction to her, can Mallory learn to forgive herself and accept reality for what it is?Not content in stirring the pot of confusion in her heroine's mind, Ms. Craver then sets to work on her hero, giving him ethical and emotional dilemmas enough to floor the strongest of heroes. But Seth's Christian faith and staunch friends do not let him down. All he has to achieve, now, is to undo the author's masterly character development in her heroine and convince Mallory they have a future together.Ms. Craver's secondary characters all play pivotal roles in the story without usurping the hero and heroine. Time, place and setting all enhance and move the plot along and create vivid imagery for her readers. For those who assume an inspirational romance cannot handle conflict, drama and suspense, I recommend they read Diane Craver's Marrying Mallory, for it is all there.