Jonathon Danforth has checked out of life. Stinging from an unimaginable loss, he has withdrawn from life, wanting only to live out his existence with as little interference as possible. However, when his sister talks him into auditing an English Literature class at the local community college, he reluctantly accepts the invitation to abandon his lonely apartment. Intent upon making an appearance … appearance for his sister’s sake and then disappearing for his own, Jonathon sulks into class. But when he meets Elizabeth Forester, the professor, Jonathon learns there is more to life and to love than he ever could have imagined.
“Staci Stallings’ books are Christian romance at its best!”
IF YOU BELIEVED IN LOVE is a fascinating mix of literature and faith. A Contemporary Christian romance, the novel explores life, love, death, and redemption. It will surely find its way into your romance novels and inspirational books collections.
~ EXCERPT ~
“Turn to Appearances, page 31.” Without more than a second’s time, she continued without reading her book. “And so you found that poor room dull,/Dark, hardly to your taste, my dear?/Its features seemed unbeautiful;/But this I know—‘twas there, not here,/You plighted troth to me, the word/Which—ask that poor room how it heard.
“And this rich room obtains your praise/Unqualified—so bright, so fair,/So all whereat perfection stays?/Aye, but remember—here, not there,/The other word was spoken!—Ask/This rich room how you dropped the mask!
“Browning uses the metaphor of a house again in this one, a structure of some kind with different rooms. And what’s the story with this house?”
“The guy likes one room but not the other.”
Quiet depth filled her eyes. “Why?” She turned, and her gaze caught a raised hand. “Mr. Hansen?”
“Because in one room he was trying to be something he wasn’t, and in the other, he dropped the mask.”
“And the first room, where he was wearing the mask was…?”
“Unbeautiful,” Susana said. “Dull and dark.”
Ms. Forester seemed lost in the thought. “And the second room? What was it like?”
“Unqualified,” someone down front said, “so bright, so fair.”
“He’s saying the same thing in both poems, is he not?” She turned on the toe of her boot and gazed at the whole of her students. “Be who you are. Drop the mask. Be brave enough to show the world, and far from losing yourself and being criticized like a finite clod, you may be immortalized like Shakespeare, or at the very least, the room you’re standing in might just seem a little brighter than the one where you were before.” Her attention jumped up to the clock. “Oh, look at the time. Be sure to read the last selections for Thursday’s class. See you then.”
It was like snapping awake from a dream and not being at all able to shake it. Jonathon stood as the others did as well. His mind spun trying to think of something, some reason that could keep him here with her for one more minute. He checked his things, gathering them slowly, watching her down front the whole time. One of the other students stepped up to her, and she bent to listen. What could he ask her? What question would be good enough to go to the front?
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I just finished this and, as with most Staci Stallings books I’ve read, I felt like I was right in the middle of the story. Each book of hers that I read takes me to a completely different location and features people with completely different problems and backgrounds. This author either does a lot of research or has a lot of insight into life.
Very good and kept my interest all the way through and was hard to put down good story
A great book! I would recommend if you like a clean romantic book that you will not want to stop reading.
College teacher and student get to know each other and keep respectable distance. Good story. A little hard for me to grasp the digging into the books they discuss. Great ending.
Sweet, encouraging love story.
This is a novel approach to introduce the reader to classic literature if they haven’t already read them. A professor in a small college teaches students classic literature in an unusual way. All of her students grow in the subject matter and in an appreciation for Elizabeth, the professor. One of her students is just auditing the class. Jonathan has spent the last several months hibernating in his apartment after losing his wife. Elizabeth has no social life but they do have an attraction for each other. The story develops slowly but is worth reading to the end.
Delightful
It is a lovely Christian love story. No blasphemy.
Best christian writer I’ve ever read. Excellent stories with real humor and real problems to solve with God as the center.
Very different story than the normal romances.
Good read.
Interesting take on Jane Austen’s novels! I enjoyed the discussion of her books that took place in the college course.
Very different but very interesting.
I’m not a fan of poetry. Neither am I a fan of Jane Austen. So I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy “If You Believed in Love”. However, I heard how good it was, so I gave it a try. After starting it, I could barely put it down. I was mesmerized by both main characters. They came alive and the growth of their relationship kept me spellbound. Congratulations, Staci Stallings, on such an entertaining book.
Loved it an English teacher that truly cares for her students and helped them to love English and life.
I loved this book; had to read it twice since I’m not an “understander” of English poetry, it took me twice to get to where I really enjoyed it. It was really worth it tho’
I liked the main characters who were both going through tramatic things in their past. It was interesting to watch them as they grew to care about one another and then to live through and get over their past experiences so they could get on with their life together. I liked his proposal!
If you like literature, you will like reading this book.
I can only give this book 3 stars.
How can a man with a broken heart find healing with a woman who feels inferior (due to circumstances she had no responsibility for) as well as aid in her living life again. Truly wonderful and inspiring story.