A Light In the Window by Julie Lessman - Review of the prequel to the Daughters of Boston series

BACK  OF  THE  BOOK  BLURB

(from Amazon.com)

One Woman. Two Men.
One stirs her pulse and the other her faith.
But who will win her heart?

Marceline Murphy is a gentle beauty with a well-founded aversion to rogues. But when two of Boston's most notorious pursue her, she encounters a tug-of-war of the heart she isn't expecting. Sam O'Rourke is the childhood hero she's pined for, the brother of her best friend and a member of the large, boisterous family to which she longs to be a part. So when his best friend Patrick O'Connor joins in pursuit of her affections, the choice seems all too clear. Sam is from a family of faith and Patrick is not, two rogues whose wild ways clash head-on with Marcy's--both in her faith and in her heart.

While overseeing the Christmas play fundraiser for the St. Mary's parish soup kitchen--A Light in the Window--Marcy not only wrestles with her attraction to both men, but with her concern for their spiritual welfare. The play is based on the Irish custom of placing a candle in the window on Christmas Eve to welcome the Holy Family, and for Marcy, its message becomes deeply personal. Her grandmother Mima cautions her to guard her heart for the type of man who will respond to the "light in the window," meaning the message of Christ in her heart. But when disaster strikes during the play, Marcy is destined to discover the truth of the play's message first-hand when it becomes clear that although two men have professed their undying love, only one has truly responded to "the light in the window."

MY  REVIEW

Although I have had this book and some others by Julie for quite sometime with good intentions of reading them, I must say that it took me entirely too long to get around to it. That's what happens when your TBR pile is too high and continues to grow.

I found this story very enjoyable even though I was screaming (in my mind) at Marcy a lot. The sad part is that what Marcy was doing happens all to often in real life. We know we shouldn't judge people because of their past, their family, etc. but we do just that and don't even realize we are doing it. Oh if we could only see the full picture as we do when reading a story life would be so much better. There is a lesson to be learned here, practice what the Bible tells us to do, don't just expect others to practice it and remember that not one of us is perfect so be willing to forgive others and accept that we all can change no matter what our past is.