Healing Grace by Lisa J.Lickel ~review

Grace has a secret. Just like her aunt, and her Tennessee grandmother before her, she can heal with a touch. Often the gift comes with a physical price, but one she’s willing to pay—until her husband developed a fatal cancer.
How much, then, was Grace willing to sacrifice? When she couldn’t help him, she runs from God and friends—straight into the life of another terminally ill man.
Ted Marshall, whose young son Eddy reminds Grace of everything she lost, has a mysterious illness. Can she redeem her soul by helping this man? Finding new friends and trying to fit in to a small, established, fruit-growing community in Michigan provides enough strife. When Ted’s suspicious brother, Randy, attempts to trace Grace’s past, what will he find? More than a tragic figure whose parents and child were killed in an accident and whose husband died a few years later?
Randy’s son is hurt in a summertime accident. Can Grace keep her secret and still help the young man? Ted’s ex-wife stirs up the community with her accusations, and Grace discovers who are her real friends. Her new boss lets her know he feels more than professional admiration for her. Can she return his feelings, or will her emotional attachment to Ted win out?

My take on this book;
Grace Runion has run away from her past. She grew up in a tiny town mountain town in TN, where she was married to her husband Jonathan. Jonathan was a doctor and Grace became a PA. She had been gifted with the ability to heal people, literally taking their problems or injuries as her own and healing them. When her son dies in a tragic accident that also claims her parents, and then soon after her husband dies of cancer, she runs away from her friends and her community, unable to forgive herself for not being able to heal her husband.

She winds up in Michigan, where she meets Ted and his young son Eddy. Ted has a mysterious illness that seems terminal and needs Grace's help in taking care of his son. The community is leery of her a strange woman in their town, and Ted's brother Randy  is also suspicious, even traveling to TN to try and learn something about Grace's past.
 When a job comes open at the local clinic Grace decides to accept, wanting to help people but not sure if she still has the "gift," when Randy's son comes to the clinic, his hand nearly blown off in a firecracker accident, will she be able to heal him, and if she does will her secret be exposed? Will the community finally accept her, or will she finally choose to go back home to TN, and what will happen with Ted and Eddy? Will Grace figure out how to help Ted before its to late?

The author pulls you into Grace's story so completely that your heart breaks for her. Losing her family, and blaming herself for not being able to heal her husband was a terrible weight she carried. What was even sadder was that no one blamed her, she left her home, unsure whether they did or not. When she connects with Ted and his family in Michigan it was as if God had led her there. Eddy was such a charming young man, and Grace became such a mother figure to him, it was something they both desperately needed.

The story is told in such a down to earth way, that you become anxious to continue reading, while the ending was a bit predictable, it was perfect for this book. The feelings the writer draws out of her characters literally jump off the page. The descriptions of the area and people she talked about also made the book come to life.
While this is the first story I have read by Lisa Lickel, it certainly wont be my last. She is an amazing storyteller,with the ability to keep you thinking about the characters in her story long after the last page. If your a fan of inspirational christian fiction you must pick up this book, you wont regret it!

rating5/5
Reviewed for Readers Favorite.com.