Book Review - KICKING ETERNITY by Ann Lee Miller

ANN HAS OFFERED TO GIVE AWAY A FREE E-BOOK TO ANYONE WHO LEAVES A COMMENT ON THIS BLOG AND THE BLOG TOMORROW (WHICH WILL HAVE AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR).

There are four--no, five--main characters in Kicking Eternity, a contemporary inspirational romance by Ann Lee Miller, a new and up-and-coming author. Please allow me to introduce these sparkling (and not so sparkling) personalities to you. You'll want to know them, because they're about to become your friends--if you take up Ann's offer to leave a comment. Or if you buy a hard copy, details below.

The setting is New Smyrna Beach Surf and Sailing Camp, a Christian summer camp for young people.

First, there's Raine Zigler, sometimes called Rainey. She's the kind of person who inspires you to be better than you are now. She's determined to follow God's will no matter what. Even if it means cutting out her heart, which is offending her and undermining her relationship with God. She is attracted to a guy we can see will lead her away from God. She can see it, too, but the connection to him is so overwhelmingly taut. She can tell he might get between her and her most desired goal--to become a missionary in Africa.

The guy in question is Cal Koomer, a surfer, sun blond, tan, and buff. When his eyes meet Raine's at the meet-the-staff orientation, the connection is instantaneous and euphoric. Speaking of connections, Cal has lost his connection with God. Deliberately. Not that he doesn't think God exists, but Cal doesn't want God--or anyone--ruling his life. He's pretty sure he would want a chance to "educate" Raine in the finer funs of life. Africa? No way.

However, an obstacle crops up between Cal and Raine. His name is Drew Martin, handsome and a dynamite worship leader/guitar player/singer/pray-er. Drew is the kind of person Raine should fall for. He'd probably love becoming a missionary in Africa. Trouble is, there's this other girl Drew was pretty sure God told him he should marry.

And then there's Aly Logan, Cal's step sister and Raine's roommate. Aly is prickly. She's not about to let a Bible-thumper like Raine close. She'd like to let Cal get close, but he keeps acting like a brother. So she goes around looking for any guy who can fill her need for someone to hold her.

The one we'd like to leave out of the main characters is Eddie Zigler. Raine's brother. Drug addict. Raine loves him but fears him. Why? And he keeps after her for money. She wants him to turn himself over to Teen Challenge, but he'd rather just go get high again. At any cost.

If you mix all these personalities together and bake them under the hot Florida sun, what you get is not a cake. A pudding, perhaps. A stew, probably.

As I said at the beginning, you can get a free e-copy of Ann's book just by commenting on this blog. If you'd like a hard copy, you can preorder this on Createspace, which is an Amazon company.