The Masterpiece - Book Review

Roman Velasco is a rich, self centered artist who's artistry is highly acclaimed and sought after, by night he is know as "bird/BRD" and works in secret as he tags buildings with his signature marked graffiti.  He has experienced loss and betrayal throughout his entire life and has shut off his heart from everyone.  In walks Grace...

Grace has her own set of problems.  She lost her parents tragically at a young age, she made some poor choices and gets married to someone she thought she knew while they were both in college.  Soon after, Grace has to quit college to support her ill tempered husband.  When she catches him cheating on her in their home he announces he loves the other woman and leaves Grace.  Shortly after Grace deals with an unplanned pregnancy.  She decides to give the baby up for adoption, but as soon as he is placed in her arms she knows she can never give her precious baby up.  Struggling to make a fresh start Grace begins working for Roman Velasco as his personal assistant.

These two have a lifetime full of scars.  If there were ever more complete opposites these two are it.  Grace is grounded, Roman is reckless.  Grace loves God, Roman is an atheist.  Grace likes order, Roman's life is chaos.  Grace struggles to make ends meet, Roman has more money than he knows what to do with. The list goes on and on, but these two are drawn together by jaded pasts and what awaits them is a masterpiece of God's redeeming love.

Overall, this was an enjoyable book.  The story jumps smoothly between past and present so the reader gets a good feel for everything the characters have dealt with in their past.  Both of their stories are heartbreaking, and their was a sadness to the book, but the ending gives hope.

There were a few things I didn't care for in this novel.  They are nit picky things.  One example would be that one of Grace's church going, christian friends encouraged her to get an abortion.  There is also mention of drinking cussing and sex.  I realize that Roman is a rough character and this is how the author chose to portray the depth of his sin. The last book I read by Francine Rivers was Redeeming Love and although many people rave about the book, I did not care for it and felt it was too detailed in sexual matters.  So with that I was a little leary about this book.  Overall, I enjoyed it, but due to my own christian convictions, a lot of what she writes did not sit well with my heart.

***Thank you to Tyndale Publishing for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.