Description
Three unlikely friends…learning to dance to the song of the Spirit.
Despite her conservative Muslim heritage, Layla Al-Rai longs for a chance to earn her degree in engineering and perhaps even…dare she dream…to choose her own husband. But young women from her background rarely enjoy such freedoms. When she finally talks her parents into letting her attend college, she is drawn to fellow twenty-something students, Allie and Rain, over a class project.
Allie, the blonde ballerina, faces her own struggles as she deals with an ex-fiancé and a church she had hoped to leave behind. Rain, the bi-racial hippie chick, longs for something to believe in, but her questioning could cost her the love of her life.
When Layla’s childhood sweetheart reenters her world, it seems her dreams might become real. Until everything falls apart. When she meets truth face to face, will she find the courage to accept it even if it requires the ultimate sacrifice?
Nadine –
Likely no big surprise, but it was the racially and religiously diverse aspects of this book that attracted me to it, without my knowing anything else about the plot. While I’ve read mainstream fiction and nonfiction with this kind of diversity, and have seen a little more of it in some Christian thrillers, this may be my first encounter with it in a contemporary women’s ChristFic novel.
There’s a lot going on in the three main ladies’ lives, and I’m already anticipating reading the sequel.
Now, I have some trouble when proselytizing and romance mix in novels, as it makes me feel iffy about the characters’ motives and the timing of it all. And I’ll admit the story’s “Jesus visions” became a bit much for me. Not because I don’t believe in visions, but with it happening a few times and to more than one character, it started to feel like too convenient a tack for the plot. Also, considering how fierce parents can be about protecting their children, I didn’t find a particular scene to ring the truest to life, as I believe a parent would spring to action much faster in such a dubious situation.
Still, I enjoyed the dynamics between Layla, Rain, and Allie throughout the book, and a scene showing how ride-or-die they become got me especially pumped about their friendship. Again, I’m looking forward to seeing what the sequel has in store for these women.
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WhiteFire Publishing provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for an honest review.