Contingency by Paula Wiseman

You know, I don't really like labels for fiction.  For me, fiction means a story, hopefully a story I can get lost in or relate to in some way.  However, I know that labels are a fact of life in our reading world - genres of all kinds abound.  I just finished a book on my Kindle that is one that fits within a label - Christian or Inspirational fiction.  It was a very absorbing and interesting story.  I know that some of you prefer not to read within this genre, but I can recommend the book with my whole heart and hope to pique your interest a little bit.

Contingency by Paula Wiseman is the first book in a proposed trilogy.  I will be reading and reviewing the second book in this series next month and am very much looking forward to it.  This book is the story of a couple, Bobbi and Chuck Molinsky, and what happens in their marriage when Chuck has an affair with a co-worker.  It tells of the struggles that Bobbi has in dealing with the vast amount of hurt and betrayal she feels when she finds out through a stray email that her marriage is in serious trouble.  This is a long married couple who are active in their local church and who thought that infidelity happened to other people.  In order to save their marriage, each of them must work through past hurts, some from their growing up years, and seriously discover where they are in their own personal walk of faith.  Only then can they possibly turn back to each other and go forward as a committed couple. 

The dilemma that this couple faces is as old as time.  Bobbi, the betrayed spouse, does not have to continue the marriage if she does not wish to.  However, there are children involved and she still loves her husband.  The themes included here are an acceptance of responsibility, confession and redemption.  There is also grace and forgiveness.  I found myself thinking of another book that is a great favorite of mine, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.  It is a fictional retelling of the story of Hosea from the Bible.  Very powerful themes - a comparison of how God loves mankind with the love and forgiveness that Hosea exhibits for his wife, Gomer.

I really enjoyed Contingency.  It was a real page turner for me.  I look forward to reading the other books in this trilogy and I thank the author for sending me a pdf of Contingency to read on my Kindle.  I'll be back in a few weeks with a review of Indemnity, second book in the Covenant of Trust series.