Review (and a Giveaway!): Like a Love Song by Camille Eide

I am always honored to have the opportunity to review a book by Camille Eide, and I’m equally honored for the privilege of closing out the  Singing Librarian Books blog tour for Like a Love Song.

Genre:  Romance, Contemporary, Christian
Publisher: Ashberry Lane
Publication Date: April 30, 2015
Number of pages: 308
Awards/Honors: ​Genesis Award Winner, RT Book Reviews 4.5 Star Top Pick

When she finally surrenders her heart, will it be too late?

Susan Quinn, a social worker turned surrogate mom to foster teens, fights to save the group home she’s worked hard to build. But now, she faces a dwindling staff, foreclosure, and old heartaches that won’t stay buried. Her only hope lies with the last person she’d ever turn to—a brawny handyman with a guitar, a questionable past, and a God he keeps calling Father.

Y’all know how much I love my KissingBooks. But even more than that, I love books that point me to THE Story, to the Author of my days, to the ultimate Romance.  This is why I adore reading books by Camille Eide. Because along with a great love story, readers are shown a reflection of THE great love story. And at the hand of an exquisitely talented author, too.

As with both of the other books that I’ve read by Camille,  the characters in Like a Love Song leap off the page and across the street.  They are real and honest and the kind of people I want to sit down with and chat.  (Or in the case of her heroes – Ian, Joe, and Johnny – DROOL over for a while.) Sue is guarded and perpetually stressed but her heart is in the right place.  It just needs some TLC.  The kids at the ranch … just like any group of kids that age, some were easier to like than others 🙂 But see, I’ve known kids like them – in the foster system, abandoned by everyone who should have been protecting them, rejected one too many times.  My heart ached and swelled and broke – and healed again – in turns.

And Joe… First, let me get the dreamy sigh out of the way. And I’ll toss a few bubble hearts into the mix too. It took me longer than I care to admit to realize that Joe and his convoluted ex-adoptive family were a sort-of picture, if you will, of another convoluted family – this one hailing all the way back to the Biblical book of Genesis. But once I discovered it (and after I squealed in allegory-loving delight), I was reminded of how much depth there is beneath Camille Eide’s books.  In fact, they really need to be read more than once because there is priceless gold to mine that surpasses what can first be seen on the surface.

You see, Joe is broken too.  Actually, nearly all of the characters in Like a Love Song have been damaged beyond humanity’s ability to repair. The beauty of this story – the tender victory of every story on earth –  is that God specializes in binding up heart-wounds. He is the Father to the fatherless.  He places the lonely in families – even unconventional ones. He sets people free who have been imprisoned by the trauma of their past and gives them joy.  (Psalm 68:5-6)

Bottom Line: Like a Love Song went straight for my heart. The characters, their histories, their futures, the setting, the plot.  All of it spoke to me on a level that went beyond the romance and aimed steadfastly toward Jesus.  Joe and Sue’s love story was, of course, a highlight of the book for me – it was cute, sweet, and even breath-stealing on occasion. But in all honesty, it paled in comparison to this truth that Camille Eide framed so gorgeously:  God’s love never fails.

(I received a copy of this book in exchange for only my honest review.)

My Rating: 5 stars / Loved it!

KissingBook Level: 3 / May forget to breathe on occasion

​Camille Eide writes romantic, inspirational dramas about love, faith, and family. She lives in Oregon with her husband and is a mom, grammy, bass guitarist, and a fan of muscle cars, tender romance, oldies Rock, and Peanut M&Ms.

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