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Breaking Free    by Lauraine Snelling Amazon.com order for
Breaking Free
by Lauraine Snelling
Order:  USA  Can
Faithwords, 2007 (2007)
Softcover, Audio, CD

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* * *   Reviewed by Lisa Respers France

Pain, loss, faith and redemption. Breaking Free has all this and more. The novel traces the tale of Maggie Roberts, a woman who is sent to prison for years because of an accident that scars her soul and costs her son his life. To deal with the pain of her incarceration, Maggie keeps her head down and builds a wall around her heart as a shell of protection.

All that changes, however, when she is invited to participate in a special program where inmates work with retired racehorses. Assigned to an abused horse named Breaking Free, Maggie finds herself drawn to the animal whose care could also lead to her freedom and a job beyond the prison. Gil Winters, a divorced father raising his disabled son Eddie, decides to buy his son a horse and Maggie finds employment as the caretaker.

The obvious romance set to blossom between Maggie and Gil, the looming specter of Gil's ex-wife and Maggie's adjustment to post prison life make for enjoyable reading and the story flows. The characters are well drawn and the dialogue, while sometimes a bit predictable, makes for an easy read. Horse lovers will also be happy with this mix of equestrian and emotion that is as comfortable as a Lifetime movie on a rainy afternoon.

With this book, the title has multiple meanings and the reader is taken on a journey of discovery. Snelling is well known for her inspirational stories and Breaking Free is a worthy addition to her previous works. Lovers of romance and contemporary Christian fiction will be well satisfied.

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