Customer Reviews

Come Spring: A Parable of Love and Faith

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

A very short, inspiring book about love and also about why we celebrate Easter. Very cute, fast love story to be told in this book. I would love to hear what happened when they went back to Scotland!

It starts out when Cooper is down on his luck and takes a chance stepping into an art gallery hoping they will want to sell his photographs. They love them, however with the war raging and people not being used to photography as art, NOT ONE sells!

But a romance is budding and what happens in Spring?? Cooper finally gets his dreams answered but they are taken away all too quickly.

Read the book and find out how Cooper and Grace fare.

I have to disagree with the editors review above from Publishers Weekly. On the contrary I would have to say this is the first book with Tim LaHayes name on it that is actually well written. And the first book formatted in standard typeset to show the true size of the book. I hope this is a sign of things to come. And that Mr. LaHaye has finally become a true novelist. You will be able to read this in one afternoon.

This small book is about an immigrant who is new to the USA and is trying to follow his dreams and make something of him. The time frame is 1918, and the USA has declared war on Germany. Our protanganist is trying to succeed in the new field of photography, which he views as an art. Of course he fails to get anyone to agree with him that would be a potential customer of said art. And seeing the art they were purchasing at the time, I can understand the hesitation.

Our photographers name is Dylan Cooper, and he so happens to find a love interest that comes from his exact same county in his home country. She has the typical over protective brother. Yet the two still manage to get together. Of course whether it is because he has no money or truly feels patriotic, he enlist in the army. Alas, we learn he is too old and is rejected. And a new magazine called, National Geographic is interested in buying his photos. So he and his love plan to wed and live their lives.

And just when all seems right in the world, the Dept of the Army calls Dylan to duty. And of course being the good man he is he answers the call. We get a very quick sentence on his training and then his wartime experience. Which is in the first and only aerial reconnaissance squadron. The only reason I did not give the book the fifth star it should have out of five. Is that some sad developments happen at home while he is at war. And the book ends in a way that in order to have closure, you must read the next installment.

I have to confess, I purchased this book at a dollar store for...you guessed...one dollar, and I guess I got my money's worth. There was one page in the book that I felt was more than worth the buck and that was the telling of the Easter story. The rest was nothing close to what I would call good Christian fiction. The one character who professed to be a Christian was not much of an example. I held out to the end hoping to see some improvement, but none was found. Way too predictable ending, and too many mugs of ale for my taste. My only consolation is that it was a quick read and not a lot of time was invested.

This book is a good example of why many readers cannot take "Christian fiction" seriously. I am a Christian, and I love to read. However, most of the "Christian" fiction I have read is pretty awful and very disappointing. This is no exception. Unimpressive, bland writing, and a love story involving a 42-year-old starving artist and a young woman who is evidently about 20 years younger? Yawn! Also, I did not realize the army had ever allowed 42-year-old men to enlist. Whatever. I should have know better and steered clear of this book. Definitely NOT recommended!

This book didn't meet my expectations at all. I generally read only Christian themed novels and this one seems to be completely off the mark. It seems to discredit Christianity and the only character who is supposedly a Christian is portrayed as easily angered and self-righteous. While I never actually became absorbed in the plot, I was eager to see where it would go and was extremely disappointed in the quick and unresolved ending. Wasted money. . . wasted day. .Come Spring: A Parable of Love and Faith .

I can hardly believe this book has been published. I love Christian historical fiction, but this book bites the dust. It contains very little mention of Christ or Christianity, and the plot line is very dull. I have no idea what Tim LaHaye was thinking when he co-wrote this book. The characters do not emit any chemistry, and if the "cliff-hanger" ending was written to draw the reader to the second one in the series, the plan failed terribly.

I can't tell you how disappointing I found this book to be. First, the historical inaccuracies are truly problematic. As an example, one of the World War I pilots is identified as having been a Georgia crop duster prior to the war. However, crop dusting was not invented until several years after the war ended. The behavior and dialogue of the main characters also does not fit the time period. The immediately casual, relaxed banter between the main characters would be believable for 2007, but not 1918. Reading the book, I had to constantly remind myself that it was not set in modern times. But the biggest disappointment was on the spiritual side. The book appears to be hostile to Christianity. Both main characters avoid church and seem to be scornful of religion, and the only overtly Christian character is portrayed as an uptight martinet. The 136 page book ends abruptly and unsatisfactorily, with the apparent goal of stimulating sales of two more promised books. This "trilogy" seems to be a single novel, split into 3 to make more money. Oh, for the days of Charles Dickens--at least he was honest about being paid by the word!

A book only 137 pages is bound to require a quick pace. I partially chose to read this one due to its short length. It was for a summer reading program. Fortunately, I'm usually already reading books that fit some categories. Tim LaHaye is still best known as a minister and author of Christian teaching books. His foray into fiction started later. I've sometimes wondered how much of the Left Behind series he actually wrote. It would be interesting to know what he did here. We get an interesting love story set during World War I. Dylan Cooper is struggling to make it as a professional photographer. There are many admirers, but few buyers of his work. He gets encouragement from a gallery owner and his assistant Grace. A budding romance between Dylan and Grace is complicated by her older, overprotective brother Colin. Did I mention that there's a war going on? The National Geographic Society loves Dylan's work. He soon makes regular sales of his photos. This windfall allows him to buy a truck and cottage. Here we could have used more development. Uncle Sam needs his talents to help with the war. There is a quickie wedding, and he's soon off. Things can get rough in an airplane over enemy territory. Dylan even has to put down his camera and shoot some bullets. One dangerous mission leads to some confusion. Let's just say that it's been done before. If I wanted a predictable outcome, I could watch a bad sitcom. The ending is a big letdown. You can tell that a sequel's on the way. I don't have problems with authors writing series. But make sure every book can hold up on its own. Other things bother me. Why use the word whore in a Christian novel? The characters' spiritual conditions seem vague at times. We get the old cliche of Scottish and Irish being big drinkers. There may be some truth in that. However, I doubt that it's always the case. Show some balance here! Perhaps it would have been better to write one or two longer books. This book isn't one of Mr. LaHaye's better efforts.