Jordan Valley Miss

This is the first book by Susan Spess that I've read, and I will say this about Susan's writing: it's sweet with a bit of undue harshness thrown in for good measure.  The book doesn't take long to read and it is fast moving in plot.  There are places where the plot moves way too fast for reality.  

Eli was the pastor of a mega-church in Dallas where he didn't have to know anyone, didn't have to involve himself in anything other than preaching, didn't have to concern himself with much else besides being in the pulpit--there were others who could do that for him.  When his wife and twin brother died in a car crash near Laredo, his little girl was in the car with them and stopped speaking from that moment on.  

Glory is the administrator of a daycare center next to the parsonage in Jordan Valley, Oklahoma.  On the night of a major snowstorm, she takes the children who are still at the center over to the parsonage where there is a fireplace to keep warm.  There she meets Eli and his daughter, Brandi.  

Some of the things in this book that are a bit unrealistic are: 

    Eli hasn't been widowed for a year before he moves to Jordan Valley

    Brandi's selective mutism is caused by something her mother said before she died and no attempts by anyone can make her talk. 

    Eli hasn't been widowed for a full year before he begins falling for Glory

    There are assumptions made about Eli's wife and brother being in the same car crash that are not fully investigated.

    The church in Dallas held no grace for Eli in asking him to resign.  Instead of understanding his situation, they just wanted to sweep it under the rug and move on.  

I am not a writer, so I don't really have much of a leg to stand on for picking someone else's work apart, but I am a reader and I know what I like.  This wasn't it. Two Stars. 

Pelican Publishing Group and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  The opinions expressed here are my own.