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I had a lovely long insightful review of this all typed up when somehow I knocked against the keyboard and deleted it. I don't have the heart to recreat it. Suffice it to say that as a non reader of Christian fiction, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel of one woman's crisis of faith. The characterization of the heroine, Miriam, was good and in depth. The other characters, not so in depth. The book takes place over a long period of time with just a short scene or so to illustrate what is happening in her life instead of a play by play narrative. I did keep complusively turning pages urging her to stop being such a downer and see the love of the good man in front of her. I would have liked a bit more characterization of him. He seemed a bit too cardboard. Still, I might try others by the author. ( )

A Merry Heart ended up to be a pleasant surprise indeed. While the book was fairly enjoyable, there were times that it became repetitive. Thankfully the last third of the book was remarkable enough that it moved me to tears and the end left me with much to think about, easily putting this book on my favorites shelf. ( )

Miriam had her future all worked out with the man she has loved when he moves away and marries someone else. She soon becomes the "old maid" in the community. Other men want to court Miriam; however, will she let go of her bitter spirit and surrender her will to God?

Quick read; cute story

I'm not going to go into the plot because that has been done. I just want to give my opinion. The cover intrigued me, so I picked it up and finished in a few hours. Not the 'great american novel' but it IS a good story and a quick read. Great for those pool sides when you can't give the book your total concentration. The characters are warm and fuzzy, and the story has just enough twists and unpredictability to be interesting! Some have compared this author to Barbara Lewis. Since I've only read one of each, I don't have much basis to compare, but I actually enjoyed this book more than Ms. Lewis's.

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