A Melody for James by Hallee Bridgeman

This is a delightful novel. It begins with immediate action. Angela heads up a technical team that has just made an amazing breakthrough in computer storage. But before the final information can be saved to an external location, security is breached. Men have broken in and are placing explosives at the door. Angela orders the computer systems destroyed. Just as that happens, the door explodes.

Move ahead six months. James is still dealing with the death of his wife. They had been partners in the technical endeavor. The police are at a loss. All he has is the excited message Angela left on his phone announcing the breakthrough.

While James is waiting in an airport for a delayed flight, he notices a woman. She sense him staring at her and the two strike up an odd conversation. Her name is Melody and she has just come back from a honeymoon – one she spent all by herself. She had discovered her fiancee with a woman in his house on the day of their wedding. Devastated, she had skipped the wedding, changed to an earlier flight and canceled his.

This is the beginning of an unusual romance. After their late arrival, James rescues Melody from a nasty scene with the man she thought she would marry. James and Melody spend a day together talking. When they separate, they don't even know each other's last names but they do exchange phones numbers and agree to meet again.

But when Melody arrives home, her ex-fiancee nearly kills her. In a coma for days and her telephone smashed, she loses all touch with James. Yet she never forgets her mysterious knight is shining armor and he never forgets the only woman he had ever been attracted to except Angela. Four years later... Well you have to read the book.

This is a delightful romance. It has lots of action. There are periods of intense suspense. The characters of Melody and James are well developed. There is a great mystery involved too. A major theme in the novel is faith in God when life is not what one had planned. Both Melody and James struggle with the hurt they have experienced.

Reading this book is a rewarding experience. It is wonderful to see how God orchestrates the lives of Melody and James to bring them where they need to be. I'll be looking for the next in the series.

There are recipes in the back of the book and I made the French bread. Yummy.

Hallee Bridgeman has written several novels and also blogs about homemaking at www.halleethehomemaker.com. She and her husband have three children and live in Kentucky.

Olicia Kimbrell Press, 322 pages. You can buy your copy here.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through the Book Group Network for the purpose of this review.