Believe In Me: Sweet and clean Christian romance in London at Christmas (Love In Store Book 2) Kindle Edition

Life-changing events in her teen years have soured Cara on life, especially at Christmas, but she's determined to do anything she can to help save the store where she works, even if it means a series of publicity stunt dates with TV star Nick.

(Though reviews are inherently subjective, I prefer to provide some organization to my opinions through the use of a personal rubric. The following notes may contain spoilers.)

Plot and Setting: 4 -- Plot is engaging. Has unique elements and no major holes, but a few shaky bits and/or a slight lack of focus. Setting is clear and believable. Timeline may be a bit hard to follow. The dates/dare/publicity stunt events make a cute premise, though there's plenty of deeper emotional issues for our main characters that keeps it from being just a fluffy romance. Some events and internal struggles seemed to be repeating themselves a bit, and there were some minor inconsistencies in the timeline.

Characters: 4 -- Main characters are relatable, realistic, interesting, and dynamic. Some minor characters have depth, while others may be slightly stereotyped or simplified. Definite strong points in the relationships between characters. I appreciated the realism in both Cara and Nick, how they were drawn to each other but resisted showing how they really felt, thanks to their own personal issues. Nick's struggle to be more serious than superficial, and Cara's struggle to let go of her guilt and grief long enough to truly accept joy and love, were both pretty powerful.

Mechanics and Writing: 3.8 -- Scattered typos, punctuation issues, and word errors. (<30/100 pgs) None of the errors seriously hinder understanding. Good use of POV. Generally skillful writing. Errors include: compound word and/or homophone confusion, slightly confusing punctuation or formatting issues, mild typos. Using British expressions is all well and good for a book set in London, but more than once it has British-isms coming from California beach boy Nick, which did not feel right. POV alternates between Cara and Nick.

Redeeming Value: 5 -- Well-developed, central, uplifting themes. Drugs, alcohol, violence, etc, are not glorified at all. No explicit sex scenes. Clear moral guidelines for behavior. Very clean, and they do make a special point to set boundaries for their behavior. Especially given the planned limits of their time together, their care to not take advantage of each other is nice. Does mention some more scandalous rumors, and the harsh reality of suicide and her father's conman actions. Lessons in letting go of guilt, trusting God, and focusing on giving your time and affection at Christmas, not just material gifts.

Personal Enjoyment: 4 -- I liked it a lot. Highly enjoyable and very entertaining, with perhaps an issue or two that tempered my pleasure. I’d enjoy reading it again.

How often do you actually feel blessed after reading a book? This Christian romance is much more than I expected. I was thinking I was about to read something light and feel good, fluff, really. That's not what I got. This seemingly simple story goes deep. It pulls emotion and makes you think. I laughed out loud and cried real tears. My daughter walked into the living room at one point and said, "Mom, what are you smiling about?" I looked up from my kindle realizing I had a stupid grin still plastered on my face. There are real spiritual lessons and struggles depicted and not just the "why do bad things happen to good people" debate that is rehashed in most Christian fiction. The well drawn characters' discoveries and growth gives you the illusion that you are reading about real people. Vivid scenes, quirky secondary characters and strong writing brings this story even further to life. Very few editing errors and no logical gaffes work to complete the experience that the story creates. This is so much more than a Christmas story and I highly recommend it.

A new author that I discovered this year at a Facebook ‘book release party’ is Autumn MacArthur. She is a Christian romance author and writes the “Love in Store” series as well as other novellas. I won the first book in this series called, The Wedding List. After enjoying this fall-themed novella set in a London department store, I couldn’t resist reading the second book, Believe in Me which is a Christmas-themed novella featuring, over-worked Cara, one of the secondary characters from the first novella. This book is available in the Home for Christmas book set my multiple Christian authors and is only $0.99 for a limited time (so get your set today – it’s a bargain!).
All I can say is book two is even better; the characters are more emotional, and the need for Christ greater. Cara is an over-worked accountant with a heart-breaking past. The guilt she bears has drained her of the joy in life and robbed her of her faith. As accountant she realizes her employer, Pettett and Mayfield’s department store, is heading for bankruptcy. It is the Christmas season and the sales are lacking. She fears the employees will lose their jobs by the New Year, including her own, if sales don’t improve. Enter Mrs. Pettett’s newest advertising scheme. Nick Callaghan is an American surfer-soap opera star brought in to boost sales. The media portrays him as ‘shallow’ and unable to commit. However, Nick has faith and is searching for something more than the shallow character he portrays. He discovers quickly that Cara isn’t easily persuaded by his fame, charm, or smiles and he works not only to boost sales and company moral, but to win Cara’s trust too. I loved the 12 dates of Christmas with St. Nick. Even though Nick seems shallow, he shows generosity and selflessness as he goes out of his way to make every date special and filled with joy for Cara. I agonized at the end when I wasn’t sure what was going to happen between Cara and Nick. Cara’s painful past, along with the bad media publicity, overshadowed everything Nick tried to accomplish for the good of the store and for Cara. Autumn MacArthur captures the great need for Christ’s forgiveness, and the blessings of His mercy and love in this touching story.

I needed an uplifting story during a difficult time, and this delivered. It made me think, laugh, and cry. I give a book 5 stars if it inspires me to buy more books by the same author. I don't have a lot of money or time to waste, so I only invest what I really enjoy.

A wonderful lighthearted Christian romance. The cast of characters are fantastic. I loved the London setting. If you enjoy a good clean Chritian romance and love escaping to faraway places, I would recommend this book. I read the prequel, The Wedding List which is a good read also. It is not necessary to read that first. I received a copy of this book for my honest review. Many thanks to the author.