Through Raging Waters

by Renee Blare

[chymerra]

Before I start my review, I would like to thank Prism Book Group and NetGalley for allowing me to read Through Raging Waters by Renee Blare.

**All opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone. I received Through Raging Waters from Prism Book Group through NetGalley for free for my honest review.**

Now onto my review:

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book, considering that it started off very slow. Put it this way, I had trouble getting through the first couple of chapters before it picked up steam. But, looking back, I can see why the author had the book start off so slowly.

Through Raging Waters is a Christian romance and to be honest, I was expecting it to be extremely preachy. It wasn’t. The story and the plot were skillfully interwoven with Melissa and Paul’s relationship with each other and other people. It wasn’t force-fed down your throat, like some other Christian novels that I have read.

This is not a standalone book and I really wish that I had read To Soar on Eagle’s Wings (which is Rachel and Steve’s story) to understand some of the back story in this book. But saying that, it doesn’t take away from the book at all. It just raised some questions on my end about what happened in the first book….lol.

I did like Melissa, a lot. Man, was she strong in faith and in spirit. To be honest, I couldn’t have gone on living in a town where my attacker resided and not known who he was. It would have driven me crazy. I did feel awful during the scenes where she uncovered her deceased mother’s secrets and then met her father. Talk about hitting you in the feels.

Paul was a bit of an enigma to me. I couldn’t figure out what he did and then realized….it must have been revealed in the 1st book. Duh….lol. His faith was just as strong as Melissa’s and when the bad thing happened (and yes, I am deliberately being vague….go read the book), he prayed to God. I do believe that his prayers and Melissa’s determination to get to him is what ultimately saved him.

I liked that the romance between Paul and Melissa was almost not there. There were sparks in the beginning that got squashed by the flood, Paul’s father having a stroke and Paul leaving on the rescue mission. But the whole time he was gone, up until they were reunited, they both thought of each other constantly and with love. It wasn’t until Ajax forced Melissa to come to terms with her feelings and let her know what Paul felt that the book really took on the romance angle.

The ending of the book was great. There was a big plot twist that I saw coming but didn’t expect and another one that took me by surprise. I do like that while everything was wrapped up for Melissa and Paul, the author left the book open for the other children.

How many stars will I give Through Raging Waters? 4/4.5

Why? A very well written Christian romance.

Will I reread? Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends? Yes

Age Range: Teen

Why? No sex, some mild violence