Dancing Word Reviewer

 

Title: Everlasting Love

Author: Valerie Hansen

Publisher: Steeple Hill

ISBN: 0-373-87280-1

Genre: Inspirational/Contemporary Romance

 

Animal Therapist, Megan White, hopes to make a difference in the lives of the troubled kids at Camp Refuge. Her trained animals offer kids a chance to experience unconditional love. The only fly in her ointment is her fifteen-year-old sister, Roxy, who has her own set of problems. At the last minute, Megan agrees to bring Roxy along to give her a break from her troubles at home.

 

Camp Director James Harris knew Megan White's plan was a bad one from the start. He has enough problems with the troubled teen boys at his camp without throwing in a pretty, love-starved adolescent girl and her equally lovely, strong-willed sister. He was skeptical all along about the animal therapy program, and now his problems have multiplied with Roxy's infatuation with a handsome camp counselor.

 

After a Megan and Roxy clash in another disagreement, Roxy and a teen boy disappear. Megan and James must join forces to find them. Can two people who come from dysfunctional homes unite together to help a handful of troubled kids? Will James and Megan locate the missing teens before they are lost forever in the backwoods of the Ozarks?

 

 Everlasting Love is the heart-warming story of two people whose less-than-stellar upbringing has molded them into the people they are now. James's wild youth and then his abandonment by his parents made him want to help troubled kids like he used to be. As a child from a divorced home, Megan found unconditional love in animals. As an animal therapist, she wants to help problematic young people find a similar acceptance, though she knows that only God can truly give these kids the love they desire.

 

Readers will enjoy seeing how James's stubborn attitude thaws in the face of Megan's gentle prodding him toward God. The faith message is deftly interwoven between action scenes and slower paced scenes. There's plenty of conflict as James and Megan butt heads over issues time and again, and have to deal with rough kids who are carrying a lot of baggage.  Everlasting Love is a sweet, heart-tugging romance story that moves steadily along and has an exciting ending.