Calm Before the Storm by B.J. Robinson

Calm Before the Storm

Before her story begins, author B.J. Robinson gives a tender and encouraging note. She talks about the loss of her father at age four, then in later years, her mother and sister. Though Robinson has suffered her own personal loses, she offers hope to the reader. She admits she believed at one time that God punishes us by taking away those we love. I can understand her one time assumptions growing up without a father when all the other girls had a dad. But nothing could be farther from the truth. She reminds the reader that the storms of life happen to anyone.

When I began reading The Calm Before the Storm, calm didn't prevail long. Before the end of the first chapter, the storm struck with a vengeance. The reader wonders if and when another calm will ever come.

The Calm Before the Storm is a romantic suspense set in Robinson's native state of Louisiana. Loss is a strong theme. The story opens as Vera Brady has just lost her sister to anorexia. I suspect Robinson identifies with Vera as her own sister died of the disease. Vera becomes suspicious that Nurse Sally at the local hospital is responsible. As her fiancé's friend Mike loses his wife when the same nurse is on duty, Vera is convinced Nurse Sally is up to no good and is guilty of murder.

The reader must hold on to his/her seat as problem after problem occurs and Vera and her blue-eyed, long time beau and now fiancé Douglass Stevens try to live a normal life including planning their wedding. But it's not easy when Vera tries to solve a crime and is knocked down by an SUV and sent to the hospital.

Calm Before the Storm is filled with one death after another, yet the story is wrapped in hope and the gospel message. Though the tale is fiction, anyone who's experienced loss will benefit from reading the book and be encouraged. In the end, the reader is offered assurance that Jesus is still Lord. She reminds us that because of Him, we will see our loved ones again someday. She admonishes us to live life while we can because it is short and time flies. Appreciate your loved ones while you still have them.

I can think of no one else more equipped to offer this message than B. J. Robinson. She's lived the life yet without allowing fear or bitterness to rule her. If you've suffered from losing a loved one, Calm Before the Storm is for you.