HEARTS IN HARMONY by Gail Sattler, Men in Praise #1, Steeple Hill #300, May 2005, Rating: A

I enjoy Inspirational romances once in a while and HEARTS IN HARMONY seemed to come at a perfect time for me. It touches on the topics of forgiveness, human error, and the rather intense subject of stalking. Each subject was dealt with appropriately. Celeste Hackett and Adrian Braithwaite are not entirely the least likely couple, but they come pretty close. Adrian is an accountant and Celeste having no job skills whatsoever after years of being in a band works as a mail-room clerk. The two meet by coincidence when the car Celeste is driving (her mother's) runs out of gas on a rather desolate road. Adrian offers her a ride, when she refuses for safety reasons he then simply limps his car along for the remained of the five miles to the nearest gas station. Realizing she had to get back to her car, she finally accepted his assistance. Their friendship blooms from there and becomes more, until Celeste's past is brought to the forefront in one night of violence.

Celeste Hackett has put her past life behind her and started over. The new beginning includes Jesus and following the path she believes He has in store for her. Until recently, she was a part of a bar-band and partook in the drugs, alcohol and living-in-sin that accompanied such a lifestyle. Her live-in for the past eight years was abusive to her once, which instigated her leaving him. She knew that if it happened once it would happen again. The closer she gets to Adrian and his friends in the worship group that she has begun playing keyboard with, the more she realizes that she's not good enough for Adrian. A man who has lived his life the Christian way all along deserves a woman who's done the same. Or so she believes. Her past life catches up to her current one when Zac finds her and ransacks her house in a rage when she escapes by climbing down an apple tree. A restraining order filed, the issue of whether he'll ever return is left somewhat up in the air but Celeste believes he won't.

Adrian Braithwaite is a man who has devoted his life to being Christian. His life is full of God and good friends, but what he really wants is love. For some reason when he meets Celeste on the desolate road she touched something in him that made him want to get to know her better. A rather straight laced man who has a kind and generous heart, he tries diligently to get to know Celeste but realizes there are things she's left out. When her past with Zac is revealed he's not sure how to react and needs some time. Understandably, he's not sure which Celeste is the real one.

HEARTS IN HARMONY was a sweet romance. The pacing was believable. It was clear that Celeste craved the kindness and safety that Adrian was offering, she just wasn't sure enough of herself and where she stood in the eyes of other Christians that made her hesitant. Zac was an interesting antagonist, believable and frightening enough that the reader believed the threat was real. And that Celeste had been wise to leave him. I rate this one an A.

©Susan Falk and phantomroses.com