The Wonder of You

Christiansen Family Series, Book 5

By: Susan May Warren

Narrated by: Joell A. Jacob

Mortified after her semester abroad is cut short, Amelia Christiansen returns to Deep Haven, certain she isn't brave enough for the adventures she's dreamed of. The last thing she expects is for the man who broke her heart to cross the Atlantic and beg forgiveness.

Heir to a European hotel dynasty, Roark St. John has trekked from one exotic locale to another, haunted by tragedy and the expectations that accompany his last name. Amelia is the first woman to give him a reason to stop running. He'll do anything for a second chance - even contend with Amelia's old flame, who is intent on sending Roark packing.

While one surprise after another leaves Amelia reeling, Roark's continued presence only highlights the questions pursuing her. Like him, is she running from the life God has called her to? Could finding her new place mean leaving home behind?

©2015 Susan May Warren (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The ideal balance of action, contemplation and narrative makes the tale flow beautifully." ( RT Book Reviews)

Loved the romance with God in the center

I have really loved the Christensen series. This one of Amelia was no exception. I love the way the author weaves God's answers into all the struggles that they face. It helps us all to see how to do it in our own lives

great book, great series, overall very captivating

great book, was really a great series... very few still moments.... and kept you wanting the next one. wish the jump from book 4 to book 5 was more bridged, as I think the story about continue on with Casper's view... but hopefully that means book 6 will come out with that.

Very entertaining. A very good adventure romance

This will keep you going with adventure and a view of the world outside one's normal view. Detail of how people form their feeling and how untrustworthy they are. Helps the reader to consider how God sees them.

Another enjoyable clean read

The books keep getting better as the series progressed. I didn’t expect to get as emotional as I had with this book, but wow. It really touched my heart in more ways that I can express. I think the storyline continuation of Grace and Max is what did me in. I loved the main story too, but adoption is something that has spoken to my heart for many years. The question, pains, happiness that could come. Another great clean read with a fantastic surprise discovery at the end!!! Loved loved loved!!

OMG!

I am in awe of how good my God is and how this story centered around submitting to his will for our lives. Where is your focus, on people, things, or God? Oh the possibilities and hope gleaned from this story. Crying tears of complete joy. Awesome storyline and performance.

Fun and sweet story

I really liked this story, although it was not one that grabbed my attention and held it till the end, it was good and enjoyable! I loved the way they each came to know God's will for them in their lives.

Excellent story. Narrator should not do accents

Excellent story with good character development. The narrator however should not try to do accents. She does an outstanding job in every other way, but is so bad trying to do accents that the British accent sounds more like a speech impediment.

Another keeper

I fell in love with Susan May Warren's book over 15years ago with Reclaiming Rafe, and each book keeps getting better.
The Christiansen saga has so many layers that you can't help but want to know what happens next. The youngest daughter doesn't wants to find her way and with the help of God and a protected (yet loving) family, she has to make a choice.

Enjoy how Warren incorporates the Christianson Clan

I have liked this series quite a bit; listening to it is a good way to pass the time of monotonous driving, cleaning, etc. Overall, this book was good, though I have two main problems with the book/audiobook.

First, the narration. The narrator of this series is pretty darn good. She does a good job of reading for both genders, which I think would be really hard. That being said, her British accent for the male main character nearly made me delete the book. It’s bad. From what I can tell, she did not feel confident with the accent, so she also slowed the speech down quite a bit. It gave off the vibe of a stuff, upper lipped valet or butler in a low budget Downton Abbey knockoff. I really don’t mean to be mean; normally she’s great. The accent just did not work, though.

The storyline itself had one main flaw, in my opinion. The female lead, Amelia, and the female lead in the last book, Raina (spelling? I don’t have the book in front of me), have been really weak characters. As for Amelia, I find her to be young, whiny, and incredibly spoiled. The fact that she led both Seth and Rourke on the entire time was a deal breaker for me. It might be because I am twice the character’s age and I don’t remember being quite this unreasonable at that age, but dang. Ivy, Eden and Grace seemed so much stronger, flaws and all. Clearly, a protagonist of a story nearly always has a character arc that undergoes a transformation as a result of the conflict, but Amelia didn’t really seem to grow as a character until the very end. Hoping the last book in the series has a stronger character development like the first in the series did.