Planted Flowers Book 1
STORY-LINE LILY BY ANNA K. PAYNE:
Lily’s life is a mess. A single mother, with two children and pregnant again, married and divorced three times, and working a low paying job; then to top it off, she sees a man murdered on the beach. Not only did she see the murder, the murderer saw her, and he’s trying to kill her. Then add in Ramon, the life guard who saved her when a waterspout came on land just after the murder. Ramon, unknown to Lily, is an undercover cop. Rude, cold, and distant to Lily, Ramon finds himself attracted to her. He has past issues with relationships which impact his perception of Lily.
Lily’s trying to get her life together, attending church and Planted meeting with her new friend, Rose. How can God love her? She has made mistake after mistake, and made bad choices, she thought God could not possibly love or want her. Through study with Rose and the Planted group, Lily finds a miracle. My contemporary Christian suspense book review of Lily follows.
CHARACTERS, PLOTTING, DEVELOPMENT:
Filled with suspense, danger, and action packed, Lily’s a wonderful inspiring story of Lily, a killer bent on doing her in, and the forgiving grace of God. Payne expertly shows the reader the salvation plan and God’s love for man through her story of Lily. A clean, sweet, emotional read, filled with wonderful scriptures, sage advice, suspense, and a driven killer, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I could feel Lily’s unbelief that God could love and care for her; as well as, her feelings of unworthiness. Her fear of Jonesy’s palpable as he repeatedly tries to kill her. I have to say, he’s one determined man! A powerful story and wonderful message; with a group of women who become knit together in love for each other and God.
Payne skillfully showed how God protects his children; it’s awesome the way Jonesy’s foiled each time he tries to kill Lily. I laughed at the things which happened to stop him. After all, what killer runs out of gas on the way to the hit? Anna Payne created a heart warming story; skillfully showing Lily the missing factor in her life. Showing Lily’s loneliness and insecurity, the Planted group gathered around Lily as a safety network of love and support. She also showed how each woman in the group, although they seem secure and safe, had problems and questions. Including a touch of romance, Lily impacted Ramon’s life; romantically interested in Lily, church, and God; he states: “I want to know more about this God stuff”. I loved watching Lily mature from an insecure, unhappy, lonely woman filled with stress to one with a new romantic interest, happy, full of life, and secure in God’s love and acceptance.
I found Lily a wonderful story. Payne’s writing’s clean, clear, and easy to follow. Her scenes transition smoothly without interruption and her characters well-developed. I found the pace in line with the length of the book and the story-line heart warming with intriguing suspense. Payne kept the suspense at high peak with Jonesy’s determination to kill Lily.
Although a Christian story with scriptures and the salvation plan well laid out, I did not feel Payne pushy or preachy. Payne has the rare ability to incorporate the salvation message into her story without preaching to the reader. She skillfully wove the messages and scriptures into the story line and let the characters tell the message. I would not hesitate to buy this book for myself or a friend. Perfect for a lazy afternoon of reading for believers and non-believers alike; as I closed my E reader, I gave a sigh of satisfaction.
LILY RECOMMENDATION: STARS 4
FINALLY PLEASE NOTE:
Additionally, I received this book from the author. I chose to voluntarily review the book with an honest Christian suspense book review. Lastly, book reviews of any novel are dependent on the book review author’s opinion. Consequently, all book reviews on-line and under my name, are my opinions. No one influenced my voluntary Christian suspense book review.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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