Overcoming The Mountain

Love, Lace And Minor Alterations by Vanessa Joy Palmer is a delightful contemporary Christian romance and I loved it.

The novel is set in the Ever After wedding boutique and has wonderful descriptions of the wedding dresses. There is a great feeling of camaraderie and laughter. There is also a counter balance of fear and misunderstanding.

The novel is mainly written in the first person from the point of view of Izze. She is a wonderful mix of confident in what she does and full of fear. She thinks “Repetition is good. Change is distressing.” Her way of thinking is challenged by all. There are also scenes written in the third person from the viewpoint of Miles. He too is a mix – kind and caring versus unthinking and stubborn. The characters are realistic and easy to empathise with. They are likable too. The characters are all perfectly placed for a fabulous storyline.

There is the theme of faith. “Faith is about believing.” Faith is also about trust. Can you and will you trust God’s plans for your life? There is no such thing as coincidence. “I’m a firm believer that annoying coincidences are messages from God.” God wants a relationship with each and every one of us. Part of the faith journey is involving God in every aspect of our lives. Miles and Izze both have a relationship with God. They can be ‘real’ with Him. They don’t always agree with Him. “God always rocks my perfectly prepared boat.” And they do get angry with Him. “He was boycotting God.” Ultimately they both trust Him and believe “God will always send you what you need, when you need it.”

The theme of trust is not just in God but in people. Izze has been let down years earlier. She has massive trust issues that are marring her life and need dealing with.

Vanessa Joy Palmer shows that life is a battle. Not just against things that are seen but it is a spiritual battle. The evil one longs to draw us away from God. He will whisper untruths to us “You’re alone. No one loves you. You’ve been betrayed once again.” The enemy wants to distract our attention from God and make us feel unworthy. We need to listen to the voice of God that tells us we are loved. We need to remember that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. We need to recognise an enemy attack and counter it by standing on the word and promises of God.

Fear is another tactic of the enemy used to undermine us. “Fear is like the devil’s arsenic.” Fear will paralyse us. Faith is the opposite to fear. We need to have faith and trust in a God Who loves us.

The theme of forgiveness is present. We all need forgiveness. God has forgiven us and we need to forgive others. Unforgiveness will trap us in the past, unable to move into God’s blessings for us.

I absolutely loved Love, Lace And Minor Alterations. It was a wonderful feel-good novel with godly themes and advice and realistic and likable characters. There were some humorous moments too – especially the initiation test. The whole novel was perfectly combined to be a fabulous read.

A delightful novel to lose yourself in.
I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.  No monetary compensation was received and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON

Love Lace And Minor Alterations blog tour on Singing Librarian