Love and the Silver Lining (#02 in State Of Grace Series)

This is one of those fiction books that it is easy to forget is fiction as it teaches you so much about God and our relationship with him and others along the way. It is an emotional book to read as it deals with really honest emotions and questions. Although it is emotional it is so beautiful to read and share with others. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Every now and then, a book comes along for which five stars doesn't even come close to being good enough. This was one of them. Wow, just wow. So much beauty, so much heartache, so many hard truths, so much love, so much grace, so much depth and real life. I, in case you can't tell, absolutely loved this story, its characters, the things they struggled through, and the way they not only fell for each other but challenged each other to be better than they were. It took way longer than it would usually have taken me to read it because I kept re-reading scenes and just sitting there to let the words sink in. I love how Tammy L Gray writes such real Christians - ones who are far from perfect but, in their imperfections, are so perfectly relatable. Absolutely beautiful and one I know I'll read again. Likely many times.

Love and the Silver Lining surprised me several times. At the beginning, I thought it was going to be a typical friends-to-more novel. And it was . . . kind of. But there was also the other man, and that added both interest and complications. \\n\\nThe story is written entirely in first person, which is an inspired decision. Yes, some readers don't like first person (although I'm not one of them). The beauty of using first person in this instance meant it was impossible to guess which man Darcy was going to choose: best friend forever Cameron, or his bad boy bandmate Bryson. Yes, it's the other man/other woman trope, which isn't my favourite. While I liked Darcy as a character, there were times she annoyed me. \\n\\nLove and the Silver Lining isn't a suspense novel, but there were more than a few low-key nail-biting moments as Darcy worked with the dogs and worked through her own healing. In the end, the novel was everything I look forward to and expect in a Tammy L Gray novel, and even managed to convince me the """"other man"""" trope isn't always awful. \\n\\nThe faith elements in the novel are present but understated. The novel starts with Darcy experiencing a crisis of faith, a variation on the age-old """"where is God when it hurts?"""" question, and while the novel doesn't answer the unanswerable, it does show us God can use any situation to pull us closer to Him. Thanks to Bethany House and Netgalley for providing a free ebook for review.

I want to start by saying this is not the happy, cute, funny romantic comedy that I first thought it was. This was my first book by Tammy L. Gray. Despite it not being the light romantic comedy I thought it was, it was still a fantastic book. \\n\\nThis book has so much depth to the characters and the plot. In facts the depth of the characters was a large part of the plot. Love triangles are not something that I usually enjoy but Tammy wrote these relationships realistically and not in a cringey love triangle way. \\n\\nIf you are looking for a contemporary romance that is a bit more gritty and serious, then this is a book I would recommend. I felt that the lessons the characters had to learn were realistic and honest. I know I will definitely be reading more from Tammy L. Gray.