book four

Never judge a book by the cover - well I disagree. It is some odd habit of mine to only pick up a book if it has an interesting cover. The plainer, duller covers always catch my eye. To me it says, my story is strong enough that I don't need an elaborate picture to lure people in. Maybe it is just my eye telling me so being a writer and an artist. I always look at the romance novel illustrations and just gag. All the detail and bright colors turn me off. If the picture is gussied up or romanticized, then I assume that the language and detail is too. However, from time to time I am proven wrong.

Most of my mother's novels are romance, Christian, or Christmas stories. For the most part they have the cover that is trying to lure you in with color and detail. So as usual I stay away from her book stacks. But once again she suggested a book to read, and after reading the back it had my attention, but I still have the doubt that it was going to be another sobby love story. I was wrong. It was a beautiful, engaging love story, that was way more about the life than romance.

Free Fall by Kristen Heitzmann is a mystery that turns out to be part of God's plan in many lives connected to main character Gentry Fox. After a potentially fatal fall off of some waterfalls in the mountains of Hawaii, she miraculously survives, but suffers from amnesia. After fighting her way through rough terrain she ends up on the doorstep of a local who brings her back to health, and that is when all the fun begins. After learning that she is a new successful actress, and other pieces of her memory fall into place, it is a hunt for her failed killer.

This book has recaptured my excitement for my summer of reading. It is definitely right next to Crouch's Girls in Trucks, with the intensity of the subject capturing my full attention, making my hands tantrum when I try to put the book down. I am learning that I love stories that keep a little mystery to keep endless twists and turns waiting at the end of all chapters. Now I am ready to journey up north, and hopefully have the same fulfillment from my next two or three reads.