The Desire by Dan Walsh & Gary Smalley

About the Book

★★★★✩
Goodreads | Amazon

Can faith build a bridge between their dreams?

For two years, Allan and Michele have been trying to have a baby. The emotional ride has been taking a toll on their hearts – and their relationship. Michele is obsessed with researching fertility treatments while Allan seems content to spend his time – and their money – on supporting displaced children in Africa. Something's got to give. But they both hope it's not their marriage.

Still, God has a plan for Allan and Michele that they could never have imagined. And all it takes to set it in motion is a change of heart…

Dan Walsh and Gary Smalley return with another story from the Anderson family in The Desire, the third novel in their Restoration series. This story focuses on Michele and Allan as they each determine how to achieve their desires. Michele wants more than anything to become pregnant and have a child of her own, while Allan devotes much of his time to planning an orphanage in Africa, after returning from a particularly moving mission trip. Yet, neither desire is accomplished as expected and the couple slowly learns the benefits of humility, sacrifice and following God’s plan. Though, at times, the dialogue seemed unrealistic, too “scripted,” and unnecessarily full of information, I enjoyed this emotional, purposeful story.

Since I haven’t read either of the first two Restoration novels, I was a bit nervous at first that I wouldn’t understand aspects of this particular story. However, as I read, I quickly found that The Desire can be read easily as a standalone. References made to events of previous novels, as well as the overall Anderson family dynamic, are quite understandable and do not alienate to first-time readers, like me, which I greatly appreciated. So, now that I’ve been introduced to the Anderson family, I’m eager to see where the series goes next and I’ll definitely be picking up The Legacy to see how Doug’s story concludes.

Thanks to Revell Reads, I received a copy of The Desire and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.

About the Authors

Dan Walsh is the bestselling author of many books, including The Dance and The Promise with Gary Smalley, The Discovery, and What Follows After. He has won three Carol Awards, and three of his novels were finalists for RT Book Reviews Inspirational Book of the Year. A member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Dan served as a pastor for 25 years. He lives with his wife in the Daytona Beach area, where he's busy researching and writing his next novel.

Gary Smalley is one of the country's best-known authors and speakers on family relationships and has appeared on national television programs such as Oprah, Larry King Live, and TODAY, as well as numerous national radio programs. He is the bestselling and award-winning author or coauthor of many books, including the Baxter Family Redemption series with Karen Kingsbury and The Dance and The Promise with Dan Walsh. Gary and his wife, Norma, have been married for 50 years and live in Missouri.