Romancing Rachel

“I love Cindy for coming up with this series. This story wasn’t only about the city boy and the country girl, it had so much more. It involved faith, abuse, sacrifices, accepting change, and knowing what you want in your head isn’t always the same as what your heart wants.

This story is about Jay and Rachel. I must admit I wasn’t too fond of Jay and Wayne in Charmed by Claire as one of them wanted April (young teen) and Claire to be more than friends, but out of the two Jay wasn’t as bad. Rachel also was in the previous book as one who baked awesomely and who flirted with Pastor Tony, without knowing he was in a fake engagement who ended up marrying Claire.

In this book Jay returns home to Iowa to recuperate from an accident before going to back to LA to return to his life as an anchor and well known GQ model. He made himself well known and is the star of the town where he grew up in. Now with this accident, he feels the news station will not want him back as he is scarred and in the business of the camera, you must look good.”

*****

“This is a sweet romance and a book that you will enjoy reading for a weekend escape. There were some major issues addressed in this book. When Rachel was struggling with her breakup with Tom due to his temper and violent actions, she sought counsel from her Pastor. Rachel was feeling like it was her fault as she thought that she brought out the worst in men. This had been put in her head by her father who had told her that. Her Pastor assured her that Tom’s actions weren’t in accordance with God’s plan.

You will love the ending as Rachel and Jay work out their issues and differences. Jay wakes up to the fact that success is meaningless without someone you love by your side. Rachel realizes that “a sacrifice made for the sake of love wasn’t a sacrifice at all.” We just listen to so much noise around our life that we just miss it.

Jay was living the life in LA - handsome, successful broadcast journalist, single and dating all the hotties. On the other hand, Rachel was living the small town life in Millsville, working as a teacher and dating a douche in sheep's clothing.

Perhaps as a gentle nudge that the high life is not all that, Jay ends up having to recuperate in Millsville, where he was originally from. He is a bit bitter and a little insecure that he will not get his anchorman job back because he feels disfigured and a bit battered. Rachel works a summer job to help Jay and that's where the story starts.

I loved that Rachel was not your usual run of the mill small-town girl. She has gone through some heavy stuff, that has caused her to doubt herself and how her future is going to turn out. Inspite of this though, she remains steadfast in her faith and is firm in her belief that things will work out. I also liked that Jay found his right way, mended relationships, made new friends and found his forever love.

At the core of this book is family and friends - we see this in Jay's strengthening relationship with his dad, in Rachel's strong and steadfast relationship with her mom, and the way that Rachel's friends (hello Tony & Claire!) welcomed Jay into their fold. I also love that this book acted as a reminder to me to keep my friends close and my family even closer. These are the things we can hold on to in these trying times.

As always, the book was well written, as I have come to expect from a Cindy Kirk book. The story kept me interested til the very, very sweet end.”