Barbara L. (Barbllm) reviewed on 11/20/2009 + 241 more book reviews

This is the third book that takes the reader to the fictional small Texas town of Rosewood and it's an excellent portrayal of a single parent trying to make a new life for herself and her children. Laura is determined to learn the ins and outs of flipping houses; however, reading this book in 2009, after the great housing bubble burst, it's hard to feel sympathy for realtors or real estate agents or even mortgage brokers.

Anyhow, Laura is left with little funding of her own after her verbally abusive husband Jerry dies, so she packs up her kids (ages 13 and 10) and moves to Rosewood, where she meets Paul, her late husband's friend and business partner. The citizens of this Christian utopia adopt her as one of their own but Laura still harbors vague fears of losing everything.

Her overbearing, social climbing in-laws move to Rosewood, ostensibly to be near their grandchildren, but their motive is more sinister: they file for sole custody. This subplot is why the story of Ruth and Naomi doesn't apply well to Winn's novel: Naomi is an older woman who leads Ruth to God. In the book, Laura's mother in law Meredith isn't a woman of God; she's a materialistic, self-centered, social climbing shrew. Sorry, but there's really no comparison.

Winn, however, does handle the subject of spousal abuse well. Having lived in a marriage like that, I identified strongly with Laura's feelings at several points in the story. Winn's characters are, for the most part, realistic and human. Noah and Grace Brady (from Winn's other novel "Promise of Grace") show up briefly as minor characters. All in all, Rosewood is a nice place to visit and re-visit.

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