As I contemplated writing about the romance in my book, Legacy and Love, I remembered the premise that blossomed into the story, The Prayer Shawl. What if my heroine was a devoted Christian who comes face to face with a prodigal? And, suppose my hero is attracted to the heroine but resists due to his strayed position?
The Prayer Shawl’s hero is named Sean. He has experienced what I have witnessed many college students doing. He was raised in a Christian home but somewhere between attending classes where professors want nothing more than to disillusion and watching as his so-called Christian friends destroy their witness, he strays. Sean seemingly rejects all of his upbringing.
Enter our heroine, Hope. Her life has been anything but rosy, but still her faith is intact and a vital part of her everyday existence. She freely shares her witness, even in tangible ways through making prayer shawls.
The reporter and magazine writer in Sean can’t resist a story about Hope and her shawls. He finds it hard to resist Hope in every way.
Hope finds Sean attractive but struggles with the idea that she doesn’t want to be unequally yoked with an unbeliever.
You’ll have to check out the story to see how it all works out.
But, I still think about those around me who have prodigals in their lives. Being a pastor’s wife, I hear so many stories from grieving parents, grandparents, husbands, and wives who have prayed for long periods of time for their loved one to return to their Christian upbringing.
My dear friend and fellow author, Andrea Merrell, just released a book called Praying for the Prodigal. In this book she shares about her prodigal son and daughter as well as gives encouragement for those facing the grief of waiting on a prodigal to return.
When a prodigal does return, it is a love story in itself. The person is returning to his or her first and most important love, Jesus Christ.
Through our Lord is the only way we can have true romance. We are told in the Word that God is love and He is the one who instituted marriage, the bringing together of a man and a woman.
Through Hope and Sean’s story I hope readers can catch a glimpse of true romance and love.
Her latest book, Legacy and Love, can be purchased here.
About Paula
Paula Mowery is a published author, acquisitions editor, and speaker. Her first two published works were The Blessing Seer and Be The Blessing from Pelican Book Group. Both are women’s fiction, and their themes have been the topics of speaking engagements. Be The Blessing won the Selah Award in 2014 in the novella category. In November of 2013, her first romance released in the anthology, Brave New Century, from Prism Book Group. This book went to number five on Amazon’s bestseller category, historical Christian romance. Legacy and Love was her first solo romance.
Reviewers of her writing characterize it as “thundering with emotion.” Her articles have appeared in Woman’s World, The Christian Online Magazine, and the multi-author devotional blog, Full Flavored Living. She wrote a section for Join the Insanity by Rhonda Rhea. She has devotionals included in several collaborative books.
As an acquisitions editor for Prism Book Group, Paula particularly looks for romance stories with Christian values at its core. She’s especially attracted to those manuscripts that leave the reader mulling over the story long after turning the last page.
Having been an avid reader of Christian fiction, she now puts that love to use by writing book reviews. She is a member of ACFW and is on the author interview team. She was a member of the 2014 Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference faculty.
Paula is a pastor’s wife and mom to a college student. She homeschooled her daughter through all twelve years, and they both lived to tell about it. Before educating her daughter at home, she was an English teacher in public school.
You can follow Paula at www.facebook.com/pages/Paula-Mowery/175869562589187. Learn more about Paula at her blog at www.paulamowery.blogspot.com or enjoy her monthly columns on www.christianonlinemagazine.com. You can also check out her blog for Christian writers at www.ccwcu.blogspot.com.
Thanks for hosting me, Preslaysa!