About the book:
Is Siobhan too far gone to respond to the song
of a God who's calling her back to him? When a new customer brings a
badly damaged violin into Siobhan Walsh's shop, it is exactly the sort
of challenge she craves. The man who brought it in is not. He's too
close to the painful past that left her heart and her faith in
shambles. Matt Buchanan has had a rough start as the new worship pastor. A
car accident on his way into town left him with a nearly totaled truck,
and an heirloom violin in pieces. When he takes it to a repair shop,
he's fascinated with the restoration process--and with the edgy,
closed-off woman doing the work. As their friendship deepens and turns
into more, they both discover secrets that force them to face past
wounds. And the history of the violin reveals more about their current
problems than they could have ever expected. On the nineteenth-century
frontier, a gruesome tomahawk attack wiped out most of Deborah
Caldwell's family. Her greatest solace after the tragedy is the music
from her father's prized violin. Given her horrendous scars, she'd
resigned herself to a spinster's life. But Levi Martinson's gentle love
starts to chip away at her hardened heart, until devastating details
about the attack are revealed, putting their love--and Deborah's shaky
faith--to the ultimate test. Full of forgiveness and the message that no
one is too damaged for God's healing touch, the final book in the
split-time Sedgwick County Chronicles will thrill fans of Rachel Hauck,
Lisa Wingate, and Kristy Cambron.
My review:
This was an incredibly powerful story about forgiveness and God giving you the strength to forgive what you thought was unforgivable. I love split-time books and I've loved both books in this series but I had a little harder time with this one due to the subject matter in the contemporary part of the story. The historical story had tragedy and unthinkable sorrow; I can't even imagine losing almost your entire family but also having to endure horrible scars. It was beautiful seeing Deborah's love story, however, and what a wonderful man Levi was. And to read that this family was based on real people is amazing! The contemporary story was about a woman who needed healing and to forgive and to stop blaming herself for being manipulated and groomed into a toxic relationship. Siobhan had turned her back on God and her faith after being hurt and rejected and it was wonderful to watch Siobhan and her sister discover Deborah's story as they researched the violin's history and what it ultimately meant for Siobhan's healing. Matt was also an amazing man of faith and integrity in the contemporary story and it was wonderful to see how he encouraged Siobhan in her faith journey and toward healing. I loved seeing characters from the prior books show up in both timelines but you don't have to have read the other two books to enjoy this one. I suggest you don't miss out on them, though, because they were wonderful! I highly recommend this book, also!
I received a free kindle copy of this book from Netgalley for Just Read tours. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions are my own.
