The last book I read by Rachel Hauck was “A Royal Christmas Wedding”.  It easily became my favourite book by this author, and just as easily one of my favourite novellas to read during the Christmas season.  Thus, when I read the charming description of “The Writing Desk”, well, there was no way of refusing!  I so much hoped for another story that would be as much a joy as the last.

I found many things in “The Writing Desk”.  I found characters from both past and present times who were so real and so enchanting that they quickly captured my imagination.  I found a story so unique, and so masterfully crafted that I was totally amazed by the talent of the author to have created such an intricate work.

But among the beauty that was plentiful in “The Writing Desk”, I also found  a disappointing abundance of inappropriate conversations and behaviours that I am very unhappy to have found in a book labelled as Christian fiction.  It started at the beginning, and I hoped it would wane as the characters developed and grew.  While this was the case in some scenarios, many other situations were introduced throughout the novel which held the opportunity to demonstrate inappropriateness, and it almost always delivered just that.  I felt that most of these instances were completely unnecessary, and for me the book would have had a much more positive impact had the author tweaked it to make it more suitable to it’s Christian label.

So in the end, I truly wanted to just enjoy “The Writing Desk”.  It would have been effortless to be completely swept away by the almost magical story-telling of this talented author.  But when the story is blemished as frequently as this one was… well, “swept away” is no longer an option, and “enjoying” it becomes very difficult.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.