Pelican Point

3.5 stars
I really enjoyed most of the book, though I had mixed feeling about some of it. I'm not into heavy romance, so the constant kissing scenes got to be a few too many for me. I don't think it's wise to kiss without commitment and definitely not to have a secret rendezvous at the lady's house in the middle of the night and mention how easy it would be to “go too far.” To me, that amount of romancey stuff ends up clogging up the action of a story!

I really liked the Greg/Rachel story alongside the main one. Honestly, I'd have liked more! There was so much material there, and it would have made a great addition to the series as its own full-length novel. There was a lot going on between them, and I felt like at times it really got summarized in the interest of time and space.

I absolutely loved the cover....how can you not?! Beautiful job from the design department.

As a fourth book in the series, I felt like it was still pretty good at standing alone. Some of the other characters are given brief appearances or mentions, but not many. Charley and the gulls I think are explained better in the first book, but that doesn't ultimately affect the story much; it should be fine to pick up this book without having read the others beforehand.

For faith, there's not a ton, other than the two town ministers and their friendly rivalry. The mentions of God and Scripture and prayer grow more numerous toward the end, but it was definitely aimed at a Christian audience rather than a secular one, because the more subtle Christianese terms wouldn't be understood by the general population, and the idea of “getting back to being friends with God” is an idea that wouldn't make a ton of sense to an unbeliever.

Also, the swearing really bothered me. Lord and Gee were used flippantly by believing characters and I don't think either term belongs in a Christian novel, especially one aimed at a Christian audience.

Thanks to the publisher for a free review copy. A positive review was not required.