The Power of Prayer
by Lorana Hoopes
Genre: Romance (sweet)
Life doesn’t always go as planned; sometimes it goes better. Callie Green thought her life was
planned out until her fiance leaves her at the altar, upending her perfect plans. She is spiraling out of control when she meets JD, a man who offers a love she has never known, but she is too blinded to see it. When she realizes JD is what she has been missing, she has no way to find him. All she can do is pray and hope that God sends him back to her.
Review:
The Power of Prayer is a book unlike anything I have read before. I volunteered to read and review based on the blurb which I though was quite nice but I was in for a bit of a surprise.
I need to write the following for you guys as a disclaimer because this book is very heavily christian religious talk oriented and covers the issue of abortion from a clearly very strict pro-life point of view.
I have my personal feelings and opinions on both subjects but I felt it was important for me to mention these elements as they are very predominant in the story and some readers might not enjoy it.
I did not expect for the book to be so preachy at times to be fair and some of the anti-abortion discussions were really difficult to read.
However, if I remove those 2 elements or at least minimize them to the background and focus on Callie and JD, then I can safely say that I really liked them and the evolution of their relationship very much.
This book is about a journey, there is self discovery and there is growth. Bad things happen to good people, and faith will get you through it.
Back to Callie and JD, theirs is not your simple, we meet, we fall in love etc… there are hurdles along the way and some big ones but all ends well in the end. I actually really loved the way they met the first time!
I read the book in one go and it was a really easy read with a steady pace to it. There are some interesting side characters that really added something extra to the book.
Honestly, I did not expect this much religion in a simple romance novel, I was not even aware that this was a genre. Is it? Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against a wholesome romance, I was just surprised and felt at times like I landed in Sunday school.
This book holds a certain appeal, but please keep in mind what I mentioned above if you have certain views or beliefs this book will certainly not be for you.
I really enjoyed discovering something new that is for sure.
Excerpt:
“What’ll you have?”
The voice was deep and masculine, and as I turned to find the man who owned it, a small gasp
escaped my lips. Broad shoulders tanned by the sun stood out against his cream tank top, and
dark brown hair fell in waves to about his chin. He was the most handsome man I had ever
seen, but it was his piercing green eyes I couldn’t seem to look away from. He stared at me
expectantly, an empty glass in his hand as he waited for my order.
“Uh, tequila sunrise,” I stammered as the blush climbed my cheeks. Had he heard my gasp? I
tried to look away, but his gaze was a magnet drawing my eyes back to him.
“Tequila, huh?” His lips pulled into a smile revealing perfectly white teeth, and my heart fluttered
in my chest.
“It’s my weakness.” My lips parted, and my tongue darted across her bottom lip. I wondered how
his lips would feel against mine. Apparently, he was a weakness for me as well.
“In that case, how about a double shot?” The wink he flashed solidified the notion he was flirting
with me, but I couldn’t tell whether it was because he liked me or because it was part of the job
description.
“Sure.” My heartbeat magnified in my ears, and despite his magnetic pull, I forced my attention
away from the bartender and back to the crowd, hoping to hide the red on my face. Though the
bartender was easily the most handsome man there, several other nice looking gentlemen filled
the area. Most appeared to be chatting with women, but one man sat alone, tapping at his
laptop and nursing a beer.
Author’s Bio:
Lorana Hoopes is currently an English teacher in the Pacific Northwest where she lives with her husband and three children. When not writing, she can be seen kickboxing in her local gym, singing at her church, or performing on stage. The Heartbeats series is her first full length novel series. She has also just released the first book in her early reader chapter book, The Wishing Stone.
You can follow her blog at https://twoheartbeats.org
Get a free novella or audio reading of The Wishing Stone by filling out the contact form at http://authorloranahoopes.site123.me/
THE BOOK IS ON SALE FOR $0.99 DURING THE TOUR
The Power of Prayer is available at Amazon: http://bit.ly/PowerofPrayer1
Barnes and Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-power- of-prayer- lorana-hoopes/1125014735
Lorana will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Thanks for hosting!
Thank you for hosting and for the review. While I didn’t mean for it to sound preachy, the decision of whether to keep her baby or not played a big role. Readers, I hope you enjoy and I’d love to know what kind of characters you would like to read about.
Thank you so much for visiting, I am so deeply touched!
I am totally in agreement that keeping the baby or not was a focal key point into the story and a lot of the personal changes for the character stemmed from there.
I think you wrote fantastic characters, I am just not used to seeing heavy religious discourse in my beloved romances. I very much respect the story and the values of the characters you have created and I am very curious on what will come next.
Thank you. Well, there are two more books in this series. The next one goes back and tells Sandra’s story, so it’s a little sad, but it does have a happy ending. The third book follows Amanda Adams to college. But I am also working on a new series which will be less religious and more just a sweet romance. I’m hoping to release it in August, so I hope you’ll check it out too.
Thanks for the giveaway; I like the excerpt. 🙂
What was your favorite book of 2016? Thanks for the giveaway. I hope that I win.
I really loved this book Spooning Daisy that I reviewed by Maggie McConnell