Title: Love FInds You in Pendleton, Oregon
Author: Melody Carlson
Publisher: Summerside Press 2010
Genre: Christian fiction
Pages: 313
Rating: 4/ 5 stars
Reading Challenges: Support Your Local Library; April Read-a-Thon; Contemporary Romance
I haven't had the best of luck with Christian fiction, but I thought I would give it another try. I liked Love Finds You in Paradise, Pennsylvania by Loree Lough, so I thought I would pick up another volume in the series. And I found one I liked.
I loved the story of Sunny Westcott and her journey to find her place in the world. The setting of the reservation and the town of Pendleton created a nice dichotomy for Sunny to explore. On a complete insignificant note, I loved that she was an archaeologist (a little girl dream job along with marine biology and paleontology). Anyway, she was a great character. Every hard decision and second guess was believable. Her inner monologue didn't annoy me like it sometimes does. I liked getting inside of her head.
The other characters were interesting, but I especially loved Aunt Lulu. A woman not afraid to speak the hard truths. My kind of woman. Echo was delightful. Aubrey a fun, if a little annoying, opposite to Sunny. Hank, the matchmaker and general good friend. And the mysterious Polly, seen only through everyone else's eyes. They really made the book more than just a simple story. They added depth and life.
My only issue with the book: the romance. You know Sunny and Cody are going to end up together, but they don't even approach anything resembling a relationship until around page 250. And then all of a sudden, they're together and he's asking her to marry him. Not believable. They only had one real conversation about them being together and that was only a day before the proposal. I guess I just wanted to see more growth and developing relationship. Especially since the series focuses on finding love. All that being said, I really did like the book. I want to read more of the series.
