Penguins are one of my favorites of God’s birds, partially because of their coloration (black and white) and partially because of their playful antics.

When I received my copy of Betsy St. Amant’s Return to Love, I was delighted to see what the content of her novel centered around. Love stories abound in our publishing world and all too often they are cookie cutter stories. Not so with Return to Love. Betsy took a rarely used setting/topic about penguins and built her love story around it.

I met Betsy at an organizational meeting of ACFW-LA in Shreveport and was impressed by her genteel nature. Even though relatively young in age, Betsy is an experienced writer, having been published in fiction and non-fiction.

The return of a former boyfriend, Carter Alexander, turns Gracie Broussard’s life upside down. She thought she had managed to bury her love for Carter deep enough that it would never rise to the surface again. How wrong could she have been?

Seeing Gracie at the Aquarium of the Americas when he arrives in New Orleans shocks Carter. His friend, Andy, asked him to come to his church and give a concert for the youth group. He never dreamed one of the first things he would see would be the woman whose heart he had broken. Convincing Gracie he had changed turns out to be a major job. Carter is not sure he’s up to the challenge.

Thrown together in an effort to raise funds for a much needed new penguin exhibit and to help the church’s youth group grow and develop, Gracie and Carter have to somehow manage to put their problems aside. But, of course, the course to happily ever after is never easy.

Ms. St. Amant achieves a love story that rises above the same-song-nine-hundredth-verse level. Her main characters are likeable and well-rounded, and she manages to bring her secondary characters to life as well without them taking over the story. Betsy’s writing style is sweet and easy to read, reflecting her personality. She leads the reader into the world of those tuxedo-clad birds, presents the reader with facts about the earth-bound birds and makes it so flawlessly interwoven the reader doesn’t realize she is being educated, something a lot of writers can’t accomplish.

I hope you will read Return to Love and see for yourself what a talented writer Betsy is. I’m anxious to see what she has in store for her readers when the sequel, A Valentine’s Wish, is released in February 2010. After that, she moves to a western-I love cowboy stories-with Rodeo Sweetheart in April 2010.

Blurb:  "I'm Not The Man I Used to Be!"
If only Gracie Broussard could believe that! Years ago, Carter Alexander broke her heart and betrayed her. Now, just when she needs him most, he's back—asking her to believe he's changed. But this time, it's not just Gracie who'll be hurt if he disappears. A penguin keeper, Gracie urgently needs to find a new home for her beloved birds. Carter is the only one who can help. He promises that she can trust him, that he's not the rebel he once was. And that he needs Gracie as much as her birds do.

Bio:
Betsy St. Amant is an inspirational writer from North Louisiana. She loves to share God’s grace through her writing. She has been multi-published by White Rose Publishing, Christian Communicator magazine, Praise Reports: Inspiring Real Life Stories of How God Answers Prayer and has just been published by Steeple Hill’s Love Inspired line. She has two more novels due out from Love Inspired over the next nine months. She has her B.A. in Christian Communications from Louisiana Baptist University, and in her spare time, enjoys reading, kickboxing, and spending time with her husband, family (including her new baby) and friends. Betsy is a member of ACFW.