Embrace Me is the first book I’ve read by Christy Award winning author Lisa Samson. I can promise you one thing: it won’t be the last. This book touched me deeply with a beautiful story so skillfully told I found myself more than once stopping to read a passage again and again, savoring the words as they rolled across my soul like honey rolls across my tongue.
The story traces the paths of two people who are both deeply wounded and trying to escape lives they can no longer bear to live. Drew, the pastor of a church that’s steamrolling toward megachurch status, is running from the disaster he inflicted on himself and others by his own ambition, and fed by his desire to live up to his demanding father’s expectations. Valentine, a.k.a. Lizard Woman, deals with the disfiguring burns inflicted on her by a crazed woman the only way she can, by hiding them behind a scarf and showing them only to people who pay for the privilege when they visit the sideshow that employs her. As their stories unfold, we are drawn forward, compelled to find out how the lives of these two vastly different people intersect. When they do, the result is a deeply moving message of grace and forgiveness that brought tears to my eyes.
I’ve read a lot of books in my lifetime, so I don’t say this lightly: Embrace Me is among my top ten favorite novels of all time. I urge you to run right out to your local bookstore and buy a copy. This isn’t one you’ll want to borrow – you will want to own it for yourself. If you’d rather purchase online, click here.
