When I did the reading challenge 9 in 2009, one of the categories I chose as part of my personal project was reading a subgenre I normally don’t read. At that time I didn’t read Inspirational romance. My experience of them, with the exception of Dee Henderson and Jeanette Oke, was bad. I expected to grit my teeth, finish what I needed to for the challenge and feel vindicated for not making them a regular part of my reading. Instead, I was delightfully surprised by authors like Deeanne Gist, Karen Witemeyer, Elizabeth Camden and numerous others. Inspies now make up a large part of my humongous TBR pile. Unfortunately, I still run into the occasional book that reminds me of why I initially didn’t love them.

<!– var browName = navigator.appName; var SiteID = 1; var ZoneID = 4; var browDateTime = (new Date()).getTime(); if (browName=='Netscape') { document.write('‘); document.write(”); } if (browName!=’Netscape’) { document.write(‘‘); document.write(”); } // –>

When Dr. Micah Hatcher first receives the letter accusing him of parenting a child with Lydia Eldredge, he is in shock. He had never even dated Lydia, hadn’t even thought of her as dating material. The girl had struck him as proud and a bit selfish. Once the shock wears off Micah is angry. He runs a charity clinic for Jewish immigrants. It is 1944, a time when the accusation being made in that letter could cost him essential contributions. In spite of the fact that he is expecting an important “life or death” package and has many responsibilities at the clinic, Micah clears his schedule and heads to Boston to settle the matter. Once he arrives in Boston, he heads to the Eldredge home where he is greeted by an adorable tyke playing with a bug.

The little boy is Nicky, his supposed son, and of course he and Micah bond immediately. Nicky is precociously wise, speaking in the simple language of a child but exploring concepts far beyond most three to four year olds. Micah stays in the front yard with Nicky until his mother comes out to get the boy for a snack. Lydia is stunned to see Micah on her front porch. Why would the handsome doctor who had barely acknowledged her existence when they served together in Oahu come visit her now?

Lydia’s father can answer that question since he is the one who wrote the letter. However, the circumstances around both Nicky and the letter are very mysterious. Because no one wants to upset young Nicky, the conversations must be held away from the home. Lydia begins by taking a walk with Micah and explaining why she thinks her father contacted him; apparently, dear old dad had read her journals and realized Lydia had had a crush on Micah. When the elderly man started husband hunting for Lydia, he contacted Micah due to his daughter’s former affection. But that is all Lydia can tell him about what is happening during this walk. To learn the rest Micah must take a drive out of town with her, to a beach where the chances of them being overheard would be negligible.

Once there we learn that Nicky is not Lydia’s son. He is the son of her best friend, who died in childbirth. Nicky is with Lydia because the boy’s father is a morphine addict who wishes to sell him to the highest bidder. Since there was no birth certificate, the hope is that Lydia can marry and a birth certificate can be created listing her and her husband as parents. Desperate, Lydia proposes to Micah. Showing the most sanity of anyone in the story, Micah wisely refuses. He does offer a solution though: prayer. Micah will pray, Lydia will pray and God will show them the way.

The story goes on to tell us how Micah and Lydia fall in love, what Micah’s mysterious packages are that merit a concern of life or death, and just how the situation with young Nicky is resolved. Much of this is told in a manner similar to how the above was told – with stops and starts, melodrama and angst. The story hinges strongly on smart people doing dumb things. It is this fact that really bothered me throughout the tale.

The first – and most likely dumbest – thing that happened is the letter. Lydia’s father is fully aware of just who Nicky is. So why would a man who owns a packaging company, who is wealthy and supposedly fiscally astute and a leader in his community, try out that lie? It would have perhaps been doable (if reprehensible) if Lydia backed him and accused Micah of compromising her. Then they would at least have grounds to pressure him for marriage. In a time well before DNA tests, establishing paternity was largely a “he said, she said” debate. A great deal of pressure could be applied by a rich man to a poor doctor to make marriage a possibility.

Which leads me to point two. Why is this even an issue? A known drug addict challenging a pillar of the community over a child would not have that child handed back to him with a smile. The midwife knew the mother’s wishes. The man in question has a record. It would be simple to get the law to back them but this doesn’t even occur to Lydia or her family until Micah suggests it later in the book. That is just ludicrous. Lydia’s father routinely used a lawyer. Why would he never have sought the man’s advice in this delicate situation?

As a result of this deus ex machine of smart people/foolish choices, I could never really get into the story. The plot simply felt too contrived. Carrying that implausibility certainly destroyed secondary characters like Lydia’s father and Nicky’s dad. It also put a great deal of strain on the characters of Micah and Lydia. The end result is that all we get to know about them is that they are devout people who are determined to do their best to help others around them. Micah is completely devoted to the Jewish immigrant community which relies on him for medical and financial help. While the author does an excellent job of explaining that portion of the history it does not help us get to know who Micah is deep down.

This book is also deeply religious. While most current Inspirationals have a running theme of God working in the lives of believers, this particular story was more of a morality tale than most. The emphasis was clearly on getting across the importance of faith and prayer in the believer’s life. As a result nearly every page seemed to include information on this subject. I have heard this sort of storytelling referred to as fictionalized preaching and that was certainly the case for this novel.

Ms. Vogel Sawyer is a popular writer. There were certainly glimpses of sweetness in this story which could explain why that is. But unless you are a fan of the old-school Inspirationals whose emphasis was on being a morality tale over a love story, I cannot recommend this read. There are just many better Inspirational romances out there which keep their emphasis on telling us a tale, not preaching us a sermon.