Some Say Love by Staci Stallings 4 stars

Some Say Love by Staci Stallings is book three in the Hope series. I did not read the first two books, but this story stands on its own. It centers on a young widow, Jenna, who lost her husband, daughter, and father when a drunk driver hit their car. She is now engaged to Scott, who has a little toddler of his own, and relational baggage following a divorce. Stallings does a fine job of weaving real-life ups and downs as this couple learns to navigate family issues, including dysfunctional relationships, as well as with the family of the deceased. The story spans a wide cast of characters with extended family, pastors, and friends. They each play a role, and I must say, Stallings does a good job of keeping them all straight. The family (all of them) have a real feel. They aren’t perfect, and jumping these relational hurdles is part of the story and growth of characters.

One large element in the story is Jenna’s grief. She has buried it for three years trying her best to move on but not dealing with it. She suffers nightmares and at times just shuts down emotionally and sleeps. She attends a grief class with her sister-in-law but just can’t bring herself to go again. Scott offers to go with her and he learns much about why Jenna is the way she is, but it doesn’t help him know what to do. Until he starts reading a little book on grief.

A couple of things I didn’t like, is that several longer passages feel quite preachy, almost as if they were taken from a book and reworded a little. The first chapter hooked me. I cared about Jenna and Scott, but then the first quarter of the book felt sluggish. The story is a good story, but I think with some editing it could be even better.

I recommend this book to people who enjoy Christian fiction and believe in the baptism of children rather than baptism as a public symbol of the profession of faith. It’s not a huge part of the story, but it is included in the plot. I'd also recommend this book for people dealing with grief.

I almost gave the book 3 stars because of the preachy patches and the sluggishness in the first part of the book, but the story is worth the read. Stallings creates characters you can care about and will miss when the story is done. So I give it 4 stars.

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