Love and a Little White Lie (#01 in State Of Grace Series)

This was my first time reading Tammy L Gray, and most definitely won't be my last. The characters were real and flawed and vulnerable, and open to change. We came to know them intimately, and I appreciated the use of first person present tense, so that the reader was inside Jan's head, feeling what she felt. And she felt plenty! There was drama and humour, pain and romance, and the fanning into flame of a mere ember of faith. Dillon was my favourite hero in a long time - so vulnerable, so open, so in touch with his feelings. Can't wait to read the next in the series, with character's I've already met in this book.

This enjoyable novel is refreshingly different from the 'sameness' found in many Christian romances. For starters, it is not obvious from the start just who January will end up with, if she even ends up in a romance at all! But what I really liked was just how real the characters were - no one was perfect, even the 'strong Christians'. Instead each character experiences failure and forgiveness, brokenness and healing. Looking forward to the next books in the series.

This book I added to my TBR because it sounded a bit like another of my favorite books. It turned out to be very different, of course, but I'm so glad I read it anyway because it was absolutely amazing. There were so many things I loved about it - the humour, the depth, the characters, the romance, how relatable it was - but by far, what I loved most was how real it was. Real, broken people dealing with very real issues in a way that felt so far from fiction. It dealt with a lot of issues most Christians like to skim over because they are uncomfortable. But I loved how they were written about and the incredible grace overarching it all. Really looking forward to reading more in this series.

I find it hard to put into words the brilliance of this book. It was funny yet deep. I love the vulnerability of January. I loved how the author made her story believable and not a easy. This book touched all my emotions and took me a few days to get over. I'm looking forward to her next book.