A Beta Reader Review: Love in the Storm by Mandi Blake

I enjoy dissecting a story, exploring the characters, and discussing what happened. That's why I became a beta reader. So, I also write reviews of books when reading published literature for pleasure, and I post them here!

Love in the Storm by Mandi Blake is an adorable Christian romance that will warm your heart. Set in a snowy Wyoming town, this story features Lyric, a recovering addict and alcoholic, and Asa, a stalwart police officer. The pair is trapped together during a blizzard, and while attracted to each other, Lyric’s past, which includes run-ins with the law, looms between them.

Blake weaves a magical tale of redemption as Lyric and Asa figure out if they can be together despite Lyric’s past. However, it’s sometimes a bit too magical: the climax is a bit anticlimactic because there’s never a sense that their relationship is in danger because of what we see through Asa’s perspective in those pivotal scenes. The entire story is as sweet as the s’mores Blake suggests the reader eat in Chapter 14—she includes a snack and mood list in the beginning of the book.

A tiny glitch that caught my eye was in the scene where Asa wakes up and sees light in the sky, and he is told that it is four in the morning; however, a few months later, it’s still dark at six am. Other than that, the story is beautifully written, and it is also perfectly polished from a proofreading perspective.