When is a marriage over? When do you stand and fight?William Macdonald is at the pinnacle of his career. Pastor of a growing megachurch and host of a successful national radio programme. Clever and respected, he’s a man with everything, including a secret. His wife has left him and he can’t risk anyone finding out.Blanche Macdonald is struggling. Her once rock-solid marriage is showing cracks. … out.
Blanche Macdonald is struggling. Her once rock-solid marriage is showing cracks. She promised to love her husband for better or for worse, but does loving always mean staying? Blanche desires to put God first. Not William. Not her daughter. Not herself.
Grace in Deep Waters is a soul-stirring contemporary Christian novel. Book 3 in the Grace series.
If you like compelling Christian fiction, relatable characters and real emotion, then you’ll love Christine Dillon’s inspiring series.
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This book was my favorite out of the series. The redemptive story that is told gives hope to those that have prayed for people for years without seeing evidence of an answer. I felt Blanche’s pain so intensely. The characters are so real. Even after being saved, we struggle with faith and patience in His timing. Read and be encouraged. God is listening, He’s working, and His plan is always better than ours!
I have a confession – I didn’t like William in first two books, so when the prologue opened with a snippet of his backstory, I dragged my feet getting into the book. Thankfully the book is also about Blanche so I persevered and am so glad I did. Dillon has a remarkable way of getting a visceral response from this reader. This is not a book where you can switch off your brain – if anything, one starts to examine one’s faith, behaviour, and attitude to see whether one is in danger of falling into Team William.
Never having been to Lord Howe Island, I appreciated the descriptions of the place. Young Davy is my favourite for his straight talking/questioning of William, and I cherished Reg’s soft approach. I appreciated that Dillon didn’t effect an overnight transformation for William but that it took time, the input of Christian brothers and sisters and most especially God’s word as William wrestled with sermons.
What I loved about this book was the reminder that it’s hard to pray for those who have wronged you, abandoned you, rejected you, and yet God calls us to pray so that they might be transformed from the inside out. We have to keep believing that God is the God of the impossible especially when things seem impossible.
p.s. I’m really hoping there’s a book 4 to round out Rachel’s story and the reconciliation of this broken family.
This is the 3rd book in Christine Dillon’s “Grace” series. I highly recommend reading the first two books before Grace in Deep Waters. (Actually, please do read the first two books!)
This is a fantastic novel with deep characters that feel like family. This is the story of William and Blanche. Faced with a broken marriage, bad theology and career in jeopardy, William is forced to take a closer look at his life. Blanche has her own challenges including questioning her value and worth, which may very likely strike a chord with some women readers. For both characters help comes from some unlikely Christ-like people and circumstances. Again, Ms. Dillon gives insight into realistic challenges that Christians aren’t immune to. I laughed, I cried, and I found myself rooting for love to win.
Now, I hopefully await book 4….
I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy this book with the main character being someone you have grown to dislike in the previous two. However, the author did a good job of building him sympathetically in the beginning, while showing his flaws.
I wanted him to go away. I wanted him to be punished for what he had done. But I guess I am glad that God has more grace than me. This is a story of grace for someone that I felt did not deserve it. It has a happily ever after ending, which is good, one of clear repentance. But I found my cynical side pop up and make me wonder how long it would last.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story. I found myself wondering how a male main character could dominate a women’s fiction novel, but they pulled it off.
WOW!! What another excellent story! This author knows how to craft an amazing story that hooks the reader, shares Biblical truth, and pulls at the heart strings–I was crying yet again with another of her stories!! To say the stories and characters definitely will stay with you and leave an indelible mark on your spirit is an understatement.
This book really spoke to me in this season in my life and was put in my life at exactly this moment for a purpose. Ms. Dillon doesn’t shy away from Biblical Truth which is often so missing in Christian fiction today. I cannot speak highly enough about this series–do yourself a favor and DON’T overlook this series–it is the best I have read in a long time!
I voluntarily received a complimentary copy from the author. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
I read this book without having read the first two in the series. Although it’s clear that there was a lot of backstory I didn’t know about, I was still able to understand what was going on. It’s a beautifully-written story and reminds me of Francine Rivers’ And the Shofar Blew. An excellent choice if, like me, you enjoy Christian fiction that deals with tough topics.
I first read this book as a beta reader. I enjoyed it then but the hard work Christine put into further edits have made it an even more enjoyable and engaging read. It might be my favourite out of the three.
I love the way the characters get under my skin so that i’m thinking about them when i’m not reading the book.
The spiritual impact of the book is also profound, showing the importance of prayer, sitting under God’s word (not above it), and having faithful people in your life who will help you persevere in obedience and faith.
I enjoyed reading this series, and think they keep improving with each book. The setting is clear, the characters and their struggles and joys feel real. The kind of book you can get caught in. As another author I read recently put it, this is ‘truth, wrapped in an inviting package’. Challenging, potentially life-changing even, and also fun to read.
This is a book that will stay with you long after you read the last page. This book is
full of God’s grace and forgiveness. I can’t wait to see what this author writes next.
Heart-wrenching and soul-quenching
Christine Dillon has once again delivered a novel that had me transfixed until the very last page. She has an uncanny way of bringing her characters to life. A life that is bright and colourful yet deep and mysterious.
And she does this in a way that enables me to effortlessly share in their emotions: anguish and fear, hope and love.
So much so that I can’t help but shed tears of sorrow when they encounter the bad that life has to offer as well as tears of joy when they experience the good.
But to give Christine all the credit would leave out how God is working so wonderfully through her writing. This novel truly is a blessing to her readers.
And, although it ties up many loose ends that the previous novel left us with, it still has me hungry for more.
I quite enjoyed this story, overall. For the first half, I must admit that many of the scenes involving Blanche bored me a bit. They seemed to be all about spiritual people doing spiritual things in spiritual ways for spiritual reasons with other spiritual people. That’s wonderful in real life, of course, but in a book, it seemed overly sappy and flat. I enjoyed William’s scenes much more, because they felt more real, and his character was so much more interesting to me. After about the halfway point, though, that was no longer an issue as the storylines for both main characters drew me in more, and the book got harder to put down. I also enjoyed the descriptions of life and scenery on Lord Howe Island, so much so that I went and looked it up to learn more. This is an interesting story that is an effective follow-up to book 2. Now I’m eager for the next one in the series!
This book is the third of a series and I think, the best yet. While I recommend reading the first two books in the series, this book is strong enough to stand alone. Her characters are well developed and believable so we struggle with them as they face challenges and decisions that are difficult and costly.
I found this book hard to put down. Thoroughly recommended.
After reading Christine’s first novel, Grace in Strange Disguise, I have eagerly been awaiting the sequels. This third ‘Grace’ novel doesn’t disappoint and I believe tackles topics other christian fiction novels tend to shy away from (I pray there will be more books like this in the future).
I thoroughly enjoyed the way so much truth was carefully and naturally weaved into a journey that I was quickly drawn to. I enjoyed the depth, detail and raw emotion contained in this engaging story. Situations and scenery were described in ways that made them incredibly relatable or so easy to imagine that I felt like I was there watching the events transpire.
I feel this book could be read as a stand alone, however to avoid spoilers I recommend books are best read in order. I highly recommend Grace in Deep Waters (and the others in the series too!)
Another thought-provoking read by Christine Dillon, GRACE IN DEEP WATERS may be her best work yet. Like her first two novels in the Grace series, the characters are authentic, the story line very believable, echoing the lives of too many famous pastors—this past year alone!—who’ve let their career become their god. I read this page-turner in one sitting.
Would also make an excellent book for a discussion group.
This is book 3 in a series. The story continues and is every bit as well written and touching as the first two books. I basically watched the characters change in their relationships not only with each other, but also with God. The author wrote this series so well that I could see myself in these characters. This book will make you laugh, cry, become angry, and even want to throttle some of the characters from time to time. But they are so portrayed as genuine, real people and the situations they are in are places some of us have found ourselves in before. They truly learn about Grace and each of them are on a journey just like we all are. I highly recommend this series and it needs to be read in order so that you can walk through this journey with all of the characters. The first book is Grace in Strange Disguise. The second book is Grace In The Shadows. And this is the third book, Grace in Deep Waters. If you love Christian Fiction that touches not only your heart but your life, this is the series to read!
I loved this book. It was very realistic and thought provoking. It was great to read this third book in the series to find out how the characters are dealing with the joys and tragedies of their lives. I recommend this book who are looking for a book that makes them think and one that has a strong Gospel message.
Thought provoking, cleansing and powerful; let Jesus refine you as you journey through the third book of the series, ‘Grace in Deep Waters’ by Christine Dillon. The author’s insights, inspired by Jesus, pierce deep into the human soul. The characters are real and inspiring. You will find it hard to put down.
Christine continues to sweep my feet off with her beautifully crafted story of faith, the Bible, salvation, intercessory prayers, brokenness and forgiveness among a lot of Biblical principles in her book. I say it again, it was like doing an actually Bible study reading this book. I saw how to apply biblical truths to everyday life.
I disliked Williams right from book 1 because of the way he portrayed the Bible, the way he treated his family but the manner in which God did his miracle is worth reading and praying over one’s life.
Blanche is a sweetheart, now I know where Esther got her sweet heart from. The work God wrought in her life is something I want everyone to read about.
Naomi, God bless her heart. Everyone needs a mother like her.
If you are looking for a story that would drive you to read, study the Bible for yourself and make you to want to know God for yourself then I highly recommend this and the first two books in this series.
What a beautiful story of grace and forgiveness! This is book 3 in the Grace series and fans of this series will be familiar with William and Blanche, Esther’s parents. Esther was the main character in the first book and one of 2 main characters in book 2. This book speaks to her parents’ histories and why they are the way they are. While you could probably enjoy this story without the other 2 books, I would strongly recommend reading this series in order so that you have the depth that comes with recurring characters.
This book begins with William’s story and the pain he experienced growing up. While the author does not condone his behavior, she gives us an overall understanding for what shaped him into the man he has been in this series. He has cast aside all of his family members and cast the blame on them for it. As a person who has often struggled with pride, I recognized some of William’s struggles as well. Blanche has moved out as she learns to lean more on Jesus and discovers her own faults that were caused by her past. She struggles with several things throughout the book, but she invites Jesus into her grieving process and learns much about living fully with Christ and the power of prayer.
This book had such great spiritual depth, great conversion and teaching moments and solid relationships come through. I would highly recommend for fans of Christian fiction who enjoy books that draw you deeper in your walk with Christ. Of this series (and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each one), I think this one has been my favorite!
Special thanks to the author for an advanced e-copy of this book. I was under no obligation to write a review and all thoughts contained herein are my own.