Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I read Redeeming Love based on my best friend's constant suggestion to do so. I rarely read anymore because I am too busy and know that if I start, I run the risk of not being able to put the book down if it is that good. But for some reason after my friend recently referred to the book's amazing character "Michael" during a conversation regarding the topic of marriages...I just went online and ordered it. It arrived on Sunday and I finished all 450+ pages by 7AM Tuesday morning. I thought the book was incredibly powerful. The [long] beginning is very challenging to get through (rough, tragic, disturbing) but I'm glad I stuck with it because I found myself---in the beginning the middle and end---weeping for the characters in the book and also weeping (in a good healing way) with how it made me look at my own marriage. The main characters are Michael, Angel, and God (though his subtle but main storyline is not introduced until Michael's is) . Based on reviews, a handful of readers missed the opportunity to see that Michael does not have to represent all men, and Angel all women. Some reviewers resented Angel being cast in such a horribly "submissive" position throughout. But first, these readers should remember this story takes place during the time of the goldrush when women were not treated equal and were in submissive positions...but second, readers should note that is not how God saw her. The storyline is not at all about women's rights but instead about God's love. The big point is that God will communicate to those [lucky people who listen for him] that He wants them----those who are still safely in the confines of his herd--- to stop at nothing to bring those who are not (those who are the lost sheep), back to him. Ironically, as it turned out, I identified more with Michael and his story...even though I am a woman. If you take this story only as a romance (as it is written), and don't realize that God's talking to / trying to reach these characters is a bigger storyline, then you miss the powerful message of this book.....that God's love is limitless and powerful...and unrelenting. He will never abandon you even when it may seem that way with certain trials you may endure. Redeeming Love conveyed just that, yet while gripping my attention the way any well-written captivating story would.