Category: Women Publisher: Gold Pen Press
ISBN-10: 1934995045
Pages: 273
Copyright: April 2013
ISBN-13: 9781934995044
Crucible Heart is a contemporary Christian fiction about a young woman in trouble and her path to find God.
Jenna Johnson did two years in prison for killing a child while texting and driving. Living with the guilt made her suicidal, until she met Jess. Jess' constant encouragement that God can fix anything finally broke through Jenna's thick walls of protection. But the road to redemption was a learning curve, and Jenna had a lot to learn. When she finally understood the truth of the Bible, her hard won victory was shattered in a devastating moment of truth. Only her new found faith could save her from her own self-destruction.
Excerpt
My heart did a little dance as I shoved my suitcase under the bed and turned to take in the room. I’d finally moved into my dorm at SFU. After all the shopping, all the planning, all the parental lecturing, Victoria Jennifer Johnson was actually in college in San Francisco. I tapped my fingers on my hips and turned to the unmade bed across from me. My roommate hadn’t checked in yet, so I didn’t know how that was going work out, but I was so freaking excited it didn’t matter. I just couldn’t believe I was really on my own and in San Francisco. After growing up in Connerville, I’d moved to a real city—a place pulsing with life and energy, not farm reports and grange meetings.
I smoothed out my bedspread, then nudged the green and white striped garbage can that matched the desk set my Mom helped me buy. Everything was in place. My new life was official and I was ready to live.
I grabbed the pink leather purse I bought on my last shopping trip with my friends, fished out my car keys, and all but hopped down the hall. I had to get out to see the city, the traffic, the people, the buildings. I’d visited San Francisco with my parents a few times, but now it was time to see it my way.
I decided to just drive around and be a tourist in my new town. It didn’t matter which direction I went—everything was going to be awesome. With my MP3 player plugged in, I tapped the steering wheel to the music as I pulled out of the parking garage. Soon I found myself in a quiet neighborhood with tall houses mashed together and moms and strollers all over the place. I bounced with the music and wished my best friend, Cassie, was with me. We talked forever about being in college together, but it just didn’t work out for her.
Not surprisingly, my phone chirped. It was Cassie.
Hey V. What r u doing?
I held the phone to the steering wheel and texted back as I drove, glancing up at the road. It was a quiet side street by a small park.
In my car
Where u going?
Anywhere. I’m in SF!
Is it cool?
Way cool
Tell me everything
I will
I tapped send and wondered if I would need to keep her posted on every bite I took, when something hit the front of the car. I looked up from my phone and slammed on the brakes. A woman ran out from the park and dropped an armload of presents on the pavement. I turned the music off and tried to make sense of what I saw in the rearview mirror.
People ran out to the street, shouting. The woman who dropped the presents was screaming. She was screaming. A birthday balloon floated away on the breeze.
A horror began to rise up in my stomach. The nightmare that played out on the street behind me didn’t seem real. Nothing made sense. Another second and the horror rose up to my throat.
An old man opened my car door and shouted at me to get out. He leaned in and grabbed my car keys. “You hit that boy!” he yelled in my face. A vein bulged in his neck as he glared at me. “You hit my grandson.”
I couldn’t understand what he said. It was as if he spoke another language, an ugly, horrible language that stripped everything good and beautiful from life. I got out of the car and mechanically groped my way to the back. I tried so hard not to look, but I had to. A small boy lay in the street, unnatural and twisted. He looked about five years old with a head full of blond curls. Blood pooled on the pavement underneath him, staining the perfect curls the color of my favorite nail polish.
I whirled around and threw-up. Nothing made sense. None of that could be real. I tried hard to wake up because nothing that was happening could be real. And then the screaming grew louder. It wasn't until later that I realized that the sound came from my own throat.
Professional Reviews
Immensely readable and believable!
Got the book yesterday and finished it today; couldn't put it down! Love the characters...I always base a good book on how well I can "picture" the characters and the author did a fantastic job of this. The story line has a lot of twists and turns with more than many messages being conveyed. Wish the sequel was out already, did not want the story to end. Highly recommended!
Looking forward to more in the series
This book grabs you from the beginning, making you feel the emotions of the character from the start. I love reading series books and will definitely read them all.
Not a typical Christian Romance - 4.5 Stars
Jenna's college days ended before they even began when she ran over a small boy while texting and driving--a mistake that put her in prison for two years. She's now living in downtown San Francisco and trying to build a life as an ex-convict and murderer, but she is still in a prison of sorts, this one a prison of guilt, nightmares and headaches.
Jenna is sitting in the park one day when a handsome young man sits beside her and tells her Jesus can heal her hurts. Her first thought is that he is crazy, but he keeps showing up and one day, after yet another setback, she decides to listen, becomes a born-again Christian, and sees her life start to change. She finds God is real, and not only is He willing to forgive and heal her, but He has plans to use her to reach those around her.
Crucible Hearts isn't a typical Christian romance. It's edgy, with real characters who are feel like fallen people with genuine faults--even Jess. They face temptations, have arguments, feel guilty, just like real people. They aren't the cookie-cutter Christians speaking in Bible verses all the time. Even when they do quote Bible verses it feels real, as though they are genuine discoveries made by the characters. It's exciting to watch them grow in faith, and I guess that sense of reality and exuberance is why I rate it so highly. Yes, there are a few too many adverbs and run-on sentences, but the story is so real that they are hardly noticeable.
One issue is that the whole falling in love thing happened very quickly and they seems to spend more time apart than together. I also question Jess's wisdom in pursuing a relationship with such a new Christian. And while I like the immediacy of the first-person narrator, the weakness is that we only ever see the story from one character's viewpoint. There were times when I would have liked Jess's point of view.
At the end, the author talks about melting gold in a crucible: "The gold technician knows when the gold has reached its peak of purification when he can see his face reflected in it. Pure, molten gold is nearly clear. When our hearts are purified by God's grace, he can see himself in us". That's a lovely image, and I think Jenna's story brings it through well. Recommended for anyone who likes Christian fiction with a bit of edgy realism.
