Inspirational Novel

It could have been the magenta colored cover or even the bolded words; love inspired across the top of the cover. It could have also been the title, A Perfect Love written by Lenora Worth. This little yet intriguing novel changed my outlook on life.

I was fifteen years old when I checked out A Perfect Love from the local library. When I picked up the book and read the back cover, I was instantly engrossed. I began reading and the main character, Summer Maxwell was attempting to get away from the hustle and demand of New York City. She was a counselor of battered women at the YWCA and she was exhausted both physically and mentally. Physically because she was up when the sun came up and she worked for hours on end. Mentally because of the negative perks of working with individuals who are so troubled. Summer decided she needed a break and decided to take a leave of absence and return home to Athens, Texas. Athens was a small but lively town and that was where her grandparents lived and that was her childhood home. However, just miles away from Athens, her radiator in her car exhausted. Of course that was the last thing she wanted to happen. All Summer wanted to do was get home and be in the comforting embrace of her dear grandparents. Fortunately a pickup pulled off to the shoulder of the road. A tall, handsome man named Mack Riley stepped out and assisted Summer. Mack Riley was a gentle, kind man with a secret in which Summer would soon discover. Summer though made it very clear she wasn’t back in town to fall in love, or so she thought. However, that began to change as the two young people began to grow close throughout the novel.

I am always the friend or the friend who gives the relationship advice. I am never the girlfriend or even the best friend. This at the time was making me exceptionally frustrated, but I began to read this inspiring novel. Fifteen years old is a young and innocent age where everything is changing and this novel gave me a positive outlook on life. The morals and values within this book gave me hope that there are people that I could trust, love and forgive.
Summer Maxwell reminds me of myself. She gives one hundred percent in everything she does and she too is a perfectionist. She also has had disappointment and hurt in her life. She held her heart on her sleeve but it continued to get tattered and misused. Therefore, she closed her heart off and put a protective shield around it. She didn’t want to risk getting her heart broken so she hardened it.

Mack Riley had a secret that would change Summer’s life forever. He bought the one hundred year old farmhouse, her house. He did this to start over in a new town with new people. She found this out when Mack drove her to grandparents’ retirement village, Golden Vista. She was furious in the beginning, but Mack’s charm and generosity changed that. She, despite wanting to hate his guts began to love him and that was what she needed. The lesson was even if Summer didn’t want love, she needed it. She learned that she could love somebody and trust somebody through loving and trusting Mack. That inspired me in a way that even in the toughest of circumstances; I could love and trust someone else. This novel also showed me that I should forgive the person I love even when they have hurt me. Mack bought and took the only home Summer had, but in the end she forgave him. My dad who died of an overdose was the biggest hurt in my life, but I forgave him and now I have peace.

Summer grew to love Mack, a kind, charming, and sincere man. The moral of the story was that even in the toughest of circumstances, one can love, trust, and forgive. Mack bought Summer’s only home and that brought the two of them together. They developed a love that both Mack and Summer needed. A Perfect Love written by Lenora Worth was a book that showed me that I can trust someone, love someone, and forgive someone in a way that I could understand.