Sweet Scent of Forgiveness (The Potter’s House Books Two)

CHRISTIAN:  Norah Bradley was orphaned at thirteen and married to Chandler at sixteen. The marriage was for all the wrong reasons, to the wrong man, and quickly annulled. Fleeing the disastrous situation, she meets new friends who stand by her in Ruidoso, NM and she slowly rebuilds her life there. Doors open and opportunities come to Norah. One of those is the chance meeting of Dylan. Their short marriage leaves her a military widow but also a mother to young Donovan. Years later, now a successful business owner, she meets Marcus Corman and his delightful daughter, Juliet. 

Readers of clean women’s fiction will no doubt enjoy following Norah on her journey, starting as a terrified orphan, through her brief but bad first marriage, through periods of finding herself, finding love, motherhood, widowhood, to becoming her own woman secure in her own skin, to finding love. This is a unique story, with solid bones, which could be made stronger with some more work. First, the technicality of an orphaned minor legally marrying is suspect. Since there were three male characters spread over Norah’s life, it would be challenging to call this a true romance, despite her feelings for them. The shared point of view among multiple characters led to confusion of who is owning the scene. The ending seemed to fall short of the story’s earlier strength. Lastly, Norah did seem to conveniently fall into some good situations, almost unbelievably so. Or perhaps it was Divinely so? However, the story offers a strong Christian message of forgiveness when Norah’s past shows up. Norah’s journey is one many readers will identify with. 

Emerson Matthews