True Devotion

This one got off to a rapid start with the MC lost in an open sea after her rescue gets sidelined by a riptide. Her best friend, Joe, searches for her frantically. I had a hard time getting through this because this scene literally lasts the first 20% of the book: there are such heavy flashbacks that the action becomes lethargic; it's too spread apart. I can only imagine how hard it would be to get through if one didn't have much time to read.

Then we have the ultra-cliché “mad at God” trope. I'm sorry, but where does God say the universe is supposed to revolve around this life and how well we enjoy things on earth? I'm getting really tired of this overworked plot device, and this one wasn't one of the better done versions of that. A little church attendance, a few prayers, and a bit of panic when facing death is supposed to fully fix deep theological issues with one's faith? Hm.

Added to that the author tries to sidetrack us with a forced love triangle. I found Charles super creepy and saw through him from the start. I though Kelly was really a jerk to string him along and that a woman worth her salt would have been honest to him up-front and sent back his gifts firmly. Definitely wouldn't have let him show up on her doorstep unannounced and come in alone. But of course it was a plot device to force a relationship at the end between the leads and that just left it feeling even cheaper.

Though it was moderately entertaining, and the ending was really sweet, the plot was very surface and 100% predictable.