TIME WORKETH PATIENCE

This debut novel weaves the story of a dramatic romance that spans decades and culminates in faith.

Michelle Mertz fell in love with her high school teacher Mr. Fox immediately on meeting him. Now 32 years old and a novelist, she still fans that old flame, knowing that no man she ever dates can quite live up to the promise of her fantasy. When she finds out his wife is out of the picture, she feels as though she finally has a shot at the love she’s been harboring since she was a teenager. It turns out Mr. Fox, who asks Michelle to call him Jesse now that they’re both adults, has also been in love with her ever since she was a student. The two start a romance, but it is continually interrupted by mutual jealousy and fear, compounded by Jesse’s secretive nature. Alongside their romantic dabblings, Michelle’s second novel is slowly making its way to bestseller status, and she has high hopes of it being turned into a movie. Eventually, Jesse finds himself becoming more faith-oriented after watching a television preacher. His renewed Christianity helps him to fully become the man of Michelle’s dreams, and she delights in his devotion as well as in her newfound fame as a bestselling author. Heart’s novel deftly utilizes many of the dramatic trappings of romance fiction. But some readers will find the creepy affection that Jesse has for his former student off-putting, especially when they learn that he first fell in love with her after seeing her in a bikini as a teenager. The author’s prose is also sometimes confusing, with tenses changing in mid-sentence. And the addition of devout Christianity feels incidental, especially in a romance that comes across as breezy.

An upbeat but uneven romance with a Christian twist.