Giveaway of "Grace Given" !!!

Review of The House That Love Built 

by Beth Wiseman

Brooke has only loved one man. Owen's heart is filled with bitterness. Can a mysterious house bring them together for a second chance at love?

In the small town of Smithville, Texas, Brooke Holloway is raising six-year-old Meghan and ten-year-old Spencer on her own two years after her husband's death. Being a single-mom and running the family's local hardware store keep her busy.

While Meghan longs for a daddy, Spencer has threatened to run away if Brooke even goes out on a date. But the last thing on Brooke's mind is falling in love. When a stranger moves to town and buys a house with a mysterious past, Brooke can't contain her curiosity. As she spends time with the new owner, she wonders if maybe God is giving her another chance at happiness.

Owen Saunders fled the big city to start over in a small, rural town famous for baking the world's largest gingerbread man. Then he bought an old house to restore-for all the wrong reasons. If anything needs restoration, it is Owen's heart in the aftermath of his failed marriage. With little hope and lost faith, Owen is tempted by happiness when he meets Brooke, but his heart remains sealed shut.
As they learn more about Owen's house, one thing becomes obvious to both of them: God has put them together for a reason.

MY REVIEW:
I am already a huge Beth Wiseman fan, and this book was frosting on top of the cake.   If I have bags under my eyes today, it is all Beth's fault as I started reading the book and could not stop until I had read to the end .......at 4 a.m.  What a beautiful story of second chances, even for those who are elderly and diagnosed with terminal illnesses, there is hope.    Even for those who have been in constant trouble with the law, there is hope.  Even for a widow and divorcee, there is hope.    

I love how Owen and Brooke create a family out of both those who are truly blood relatives and those whom God brings to them.   What a treasure to be on the lookout for a hidden bunker and "treasure" of some sort in the old house that Owen buys.   Can the spite that drove him to buy the house dissolve and leave room in his heart for love ?   This book gave me hope that there is forgiveness and love and a home for each one of us, myself included.  Another message I heard as I read this book was not to judge others. We never know the heart behind the decisions that others make and we need to treat them with love and respect, instead of pointing a finger.   Life is discouraging for me right now with my husband unemployed and me on disability, and this story truly made me feel hopeful again.  

About the Author:

Beth is the best-selling and award winning author of the Daughters of the Promise series - Plain Perfect, Plain Pursuit, Plain Promise, Plain Paradise, and Plain Proposal. She is contracted with Thomas Nelson Fiction. Her other series--the Land of Canaan Novels--begins with Seek Me With All Your Heart, then The Wonder of Your Love and now, His Love Endures Forever. Seek Me With All Your Heart is the first Amish fiction book selected as a Women of Faith novel in 2011. Beth has also written a contemporary Christian fiction novel entitled Need You Now published in 2012. 

I received a free copy of this book from booksneeze in exchange for my honest review.