She’s determined to escape her past. He’s looking to build a future . . . with her. Will she open her heart and let him help, or keep on running alone?Anna Henderson is guilty of one thing: trusting the wrong man. Now she’s running for her life from an ex-boyfriend who will stop at nothing to find her. The little town of Quintin, Texas seems like the perfect place to lay low, and its quaint … lay low, and its quaint little diner may just give her the new start she’s looking for. The more she gets to know the diner’s handsome owner, the more of a connection she feels with him. But she can’t put her heart—or his safety—at risk.
Joel Ash knows all about second chances. After all, he pulled himself out of his rough past and became a successful restaurant owner. So, when a nervous woman walks into his diner looking for a job, he can’t say no—even though he’s convinced she’s hiding something. He soon finds himself falling for the beautiful stranger, and he thinks he may have a real chance at winning her heart. But when Anna’s past catches up with her, both their lives are thrown into turmoil. His only thought is to protect Anna, and their possible future together, at any cost.
An inspirational Christian novel about faith, new beginnings, and overcoming fear with love.
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Life Unexpected is a complete three-book series.
Safe In His Arms (Book 1): She’s determined to escape her past. He’s looking to build a future . . . with her. Will she open her heart and let him help, or keep on running alone?
Someone to Trust (Book 2): She wants to give him her heart. He wants to give her the best chance at a happy life. They’re headed separate ways . . . until faith steps in.
Starting Anew (Book 3): He’s afraid to trust. She has a secret that could change everything between them. Will they let go of their fear, or allow it to rob them of their chance at happiness?
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A story of romance and suspense. Anastasia escapes from an abusive ex. and drives a long way ending up in a small town in Texas. It also deals with the foster system, as Anastasia meets and makes friends with several that went through this system. It is wonderful how they become family. The Characters are wonderful and the scenes were great. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
What a good book this is! It’s so easy to relate to all the main characters. They never give up, even when the odds are against them. You feel the emotion and struggles from the first chapter and thus keep turning the pages.
Anna … strong yet weak, brave yet scared, fragile yet unbreakable
Joel … kind with a heart full of love
Chess … a heart of gold underneath the protective armor he wears
Brooke … couldn’t ask for a better friend
Liam … he was his own worst enemy, he who laughs first, laughs last.
There’s all kinds of abuse. Sometimes it’s physical, other times it’s mental and emotional. When does it end? Anna knows this all too well. She had to get away, escape but how, where?
It all looked bleak. But Anna found out that it’s always darkest before the dawn. Her grandmother taught her to have faith, to trust and believe. And that faith paid off. She might have lost everything, but she gained the world …. a family.
I really enjoyed this book. The plot was familiar
but still held my interest.
Really sweet storyline. enjoyable
Reading this book was a very pleasant way to spend time.
Simple and sweet.
This is a great romance and suspense thriller that I was pulled right into. It’s also a story about kids in the foster care system that were friends and formed a family to watch over and help each other. Also a story of making mistakes and friendships with total understanding of each other and their own mistakes and family saving family. Great characters, great scenes, an awesome story I couldn’t put down as you get get sucked right into the pages and it only lets go at the last page.
If you like a little suspense with your romance, this one was cute! Epic the Great Pyrenees stole the show though! Love a cute doggo!
Loved it ! Another great Melanie snitker book!
Fear made her leave but protection made her feel safe. Loved the story about finding trust and hope in God when everything seems to be working against you. A quick read and can’t read to read the rest in the series.
Safe in His Arms by Melanie D. Snitker is the first book in the Life Unexpected series. Anna Henderson is running, running for her life. Her ex-boyfriend will stop at nothing to find her. She’s determined to leave her past behind her and put as much distance as she can between them. She comes to the little town of Quinton, Texas and she believes it is the perfect place to lay low as she figures out her next move. She walks into the local diner looking for a job. Joel Ash, the diner’s owner, is intrigued by Anna and hires her on the spot. He believes in second chances, having pulled himself out of a rough past and looks to help others do the same. Anna is determined to hide her past, Joel knows there’s more to her story and gently helps her see that she can trust him. As they get to know each other, the deeper their connection becomes, but the threat of her ex-boyfriend is always in the back of her mind. Will she open her heart to Joel and trust him? Or will she keep running?
Safe in His Arms is an inspirational Christian novel about faith, new beginnings, and overcoming fear. It is a sweet story with suspense. The message of faith and trust in God and each other is not overly preachy and adds to the romance and healing that Anna goes through. I enjoyed all the characters. Anna is a woman who has lost the only family she knew, trusted the wrong man and was stung. As she runs, she’s determined not to trust another soul again. Her only companion is her dog, Epic. But when she meets Joel and his makeshift family of Brooke and Chess, she can’t help but want to be a part of it. The ex-boyfriend is a creepy character that the reader knows will pop up eventually and the suspense builds as the reader knows what the characters do not. I enjoyed the budding relationship between Joel and Anna. It is a sweet romance with real heart and soul. I look forward to reading the rest of the series and visiting the small town of Quinton, Texas and these characters again. I highly recommend Safe in His Arms.
Safe in His Arms is available in paperback and eBook.
I already wrote a review for this book.
This was a sweet and predictable story but the author did a nice job in making it interesting and moving it along.
Safe In His Arms was an enjoyable read. It took me a little bit to get into the story and the characters, but once I did, I enjoyed the book. Anna has been through some rough events in her life and she struggles to trust others and to accept help from them. At first, she rejects Joel’s attempts to help her which was a little frustrating, but after learning more about her backstory, I understood better her difficulty in accepting help from others. Still, I was very glad to see her finally recognize the friends God was placing her life to be there for her. In spite of what has happened to her or maybe because of it, Anna is resourceful and determined which I think are two characteristics that draw Joel to her. Joel is a fixer. He wants desperately to fix problems for those he loves so everyone can be at peace and be happy. It’s hard for him when Anna steps back from his offers to help to begin with, but he doesn’t push. I admired Joel for his patience and consistency in reaching out to Anna, but not pushing her too far and calmly dealing with her overreactions to his desire to help. I also appreciated his desire to put her first. I am looking forward to the other books in this series—I’m hoping they will include Brooke’s and Chess’ stories.
**I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I would recommend and will probably read again.
I really enjoyed reading this book as it had a great story
Shows how a family can be bonded without blood/genetic ties. Characters were compassionate, hard working, human beings.
I loved this book, couldn’t put it down. Can’t wait to read the sequel. I love the way she put it together and also kept you in suspense. Also bringing the plan of salvation and how to live right into the story. It was very good!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved that it didn’t drag and it was so adorably cute. I loved the 2 main characters and how they eventually came together. Super fun, clean, romantic with a bit of suspense, awesome book!
Great story! Couldn’t put it down