Teresa Smyser. Amazon Digital Publishing, 2014. 395 pp. (Paperback).
I love fiction, especially fiction with a romance wrapped up in it. Even more when there is an overarching Christian message. I was engrossed in a well-written mystery recently (I love mysteries too — see the pattern? I love books.) when out of the blue, a “romantic” encounter got way out of hand and ruined the book for me. I put it down, disgusted.
But “Heaven Help Us!” has nothing offensive; the message of Christ permeates the book. Think Grace Livingston Hill. First time author Teresa Smyser has delivered a book with sound morals and a storyline that is believable and interesting.
Two issues need to be resolved in the author’s next book — and I hope there is a next one. The dialogue is stilted and artificial, reading like a book from the 1800s, and getting in the way of an otherwise very modern story. And the message is a bit heavy-handed. I often admonish my students to make the connections for the reader, but there are times when a reader can “get it” for herself and should be left to do so.
Smyser is a member of First Baptist Church, Athens, in Limestone Baptist Association.
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