Sometimes reading a book is like eating a thick, juicy steak. The language is meaty and rich, the ideas are complex and require some time to be properly digested, and the only other thing you need for a perfect evening is a comfy chair and a glass of good wine.

In between those books, I sometimes find I need a palate cleanser. Light, easy reading that takes very little effort or time to enjoy. This book filled that role admirably.

Daphne Sweeten (the sweetly punny last name was a little unnecessary, in my opinion) is a professional scent developer who gave up her dream job in Paris so that she could move with her new husband to Ohio. He left her at the altar, though, so suddenly she's in a new town, with a new job, and no friends. To make matters worse, the stress and humiliation have caused her to lose her sense of smell.

This is classic chick lit with a refreshing perfume-industry angle and sliver of Christian goodness built in. My last brushes with the perfume industry were the much-darker [b:Perfume: The Story of a Murderer|343|Perfume The Story of a Murderer|Patrick Süskind|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328815062s/343.jpg|2977727] and the delightful non-fiction tome [b:The Emperor of Scent: A True Story of Perfume and Obsession|14546|The Emperor of Scent A True Story of Perfume and Obsession|Chandler Burr|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320545327s/14546.jpg|49010], both of which I highly recommend. The Scent of Rain does not deal with scents or science in any great detail, but its treatment seemed informed without being overdone, so my mild interest in the subject matter was satisfied. For 85% of the book, I felt the same way about the religion. Without the Christianity angle, I'm not sure you'd be able to convince me that a group of strangers would pitch in to refurbish a dangerously decrepit house for the new girl in town. But it's a church group, being encouraged by the pastor's wife, so it fits the story just fine. I appreciated that, because a lot of times overt religion in fiction feels heavy-handed and wholly unnecessary.

Unfortunately, the book went on to prove my point. The last few pages are forced and do the rest of the book an injustice. First, there's a hospital scene where the book's Mean Girl gets all weepy and repent-y because good girl Daphne visits her. I don't disallow that being in a car accident can cause you to rethink your life, but I found her 180-degree turnaround and teary confession to a bitter enemy a little difficult to swallow. Second, the love story had a long, slow, fairly believable buildup. But the climactic scene where Daphne and the reticent widower realize they have feelings for each other (that part's not a spoiler -- you see it coming from a mile away) ends with (here's the spoiler part) the widower proposing marriage and offering to move to Paris with her. I think a more appropriate question would have been, "Hey, would you like to have dinner with me sometime?" Not that everyone has to follow conventional dating structure, but it seemed a little crazy to me -- not least because, you know, she just got left at the altar by another guy a few months before. Maybe give her a little time to make sure she's worked through all of that?

Speaking of the ex-fiancé, whom we never meet, I was left with some minor confusion. When Daphne moves to Dayton, she tells the widower that her ex is "a brilliant chemist."

She turned in her seat to face Jesse, who looked skeptical. "He really is. But he grew up poor, and he had this deep need to follow the money."

A couple of chapters later, Daphne's visiting best friend reminds her,

He may have been a brilliant chemist, but there are laws for a reason. He always thought himself above the rules.

So, I may not know much about the ex-fiancé, but I do know he's a brilliant but unscrupulous chemist. Got it. But then,

Mark was a terrible chemist... He wasn't careful about ratios, not until he understood that ratios and chemistry could make him wealthy.

So was he a brilliant chemist or a terrible one? Or was he a terrible chemist until his greed made him brilliant?

I suppose that's possible. Just like I was a terrible writer until I got greedy and wanted people to read my writing. Now that I have a blog, I am brilliant.

Please feel free to agree with me by commenting below.

Disclosure: I received this book free through booksneeze.com. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. ( )

Author: Kristin Billerbeck
Published By: Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Age Recommended: Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Blog For: GMTA
Rating: 4

Review:

"The Scent of Rain" by Kristin Billerbeck was indeed a enjoyable read .... the storyline was definitely unique...of one losing their ability to smell...being left at the altar...what had happened to the missing groom? ... meeting someone due to a new job location (Jesse)...and most of all I really enjoyed the christian element that was there throughout this wonderful read. The characters were all very believable from Daphne Sweeten to the very last one.

"The Scent of Rain" brought will some laughter that you will only get from reading this novel and to have a best friend like Daphne had...(Sophie) was really off the chart.



If you are in for some mystery, little suspense, romance, Christian values and realistic characters... you have come to the right place and I would recommend "The Scent of Rain" to you as a good read. ( )

I received The Scent of Rain from Thomas Nelson via Booksneeze in exchange for an honest review – thank you to them.

The synopsis: Daphne arrives at the church in her Monique Lhuillier gown to marry her beloved Mark, for whom she has given up her job as a perfumer, a professional "nose" – in Paris. He was unable to find work in France – for various reasons which become clear later – and so she has flown home to marry in the US and go to work at the same company as Mark, a small chemical company in Dayton, Ohio. However nice Dayton is, giving up a plum job in Paris for it (and for him) is a tremendous sacrifice, but she has herself convinced (or he has her convinced) that this is what she wants. She arrives at the church … and leaves again a little while after with her best maid Sophie, because Mark has stood her up at the altar. Crushed, and with, she believes, no way back, she has no choice but to go forward and excel at her new job with Gibraltar Products. The problem with that plan is that, suddenly, her sense of smell has deserted her. Before she even has the chance to take off her wedding gown she discovers that she has gone from having a highly trained nose capable of distinguishing thousands of unique scents to … having a nose capable of distinguishing not even her wedding bouquet.

I had a good time with the writing here. It's breezy and warm and funny, and very sweet. It is a Christian novel, but even when the Bible is quoted it is in context and with a comparatively light hand.

"God's in control, right?"
[edited for clarity]"Right now it feels like SpongeBob is in control."

None of the characters are perfect or consistently sweetness-and-light, which is never a bad thing.

Something like this would never happen to [Sophie], because the singing birds that flew around her head like a happy halo would never allow it.

It's a quick read, yet with a bit of heart to it. The widower with the adorable son is not exploited for pathos nearly as badly as a lesser writer might have done: their situation is in fact understated and touching.

However … This author's God takes a much more direct hand in folks' lives than anything I've ever experienced. The idea that if you turn away from what you're Supposed To Be Doing, what you're Meant To Be Doing, God will let you know with the clarity of a slap upside the head… In my life, God has never given any appearance of giving a flying fig that I'm under-employed at a dull office instead of writing or drawing or sitting up to my ears in books in some research library. So how am I supposed to interpret that in light of this book, to apply this book to my life? I'm not good enough at anything? Great. Thanks, Kristin Billerbeck's God. Suddenly what was a light, sweet book becomes really depressing.

Still, I liked it. It was sweet, and though the end was never in any doubt how it would come about was. I liked the main characters; they weren't perfect, but they were pretty believably human. The hateful are (somewhat) redeemed or punished; the good are rewarded. One of the best lines of the book was this, from the sister of the widower: "Now you're judging people by what they wear and they drive? If Spike doesn't drive a sedan, he's not husband material? Seriously, that's Christian?" That's a wonderful thing to find here.

And this book gave me the phrase "everyone and their turtle", which I have yet to use – but I will.

Other quotes I couldn't resist making note of:

As if Kensie would believe Daphne had any nightlife to speak of. On a Friday night, Daphne was either at the archery range or testing scents in her home office – maybe if she was really feeling wild, she'd knit.

He wouldn't blame Daphne if she wouldn't give him the hot air off her breakfast after the way he'd treated her.

"I have developed an aversion to all things tulle." ( )