Third review for the novel "Do you love me"

As I read Karitsa's review I literally felt as if my heart had been cracked open and everything I intended for the novel to represent was pouring out.  Karitsa dissected every nick and cranny of the novel. She eloquently wrote what my heart was saying; no stone left unturned.  As you read, I there is no doubt in my mind that sure will be enlighten and will be able to relate vividly to Karitsa's interpretation of the "Do you love me." enjoy :)

Karitsa Mills

I was immediately captivated by the story of Abigail in Do You Love Me by Millie’s rich and descriptive writing. Millie, with her great visualization and details in her writing, allows you to enter the world of her protagonist. She easily stirs your feelings of sympathy, compassion, hope, and even anger. As it begins, you are quickly impressed by Abigail's idyllic lifestyle and accomplishments. However, we quickly get a glimpse of a flawed Abigail, one that many women can relate to; despite her much success, she struggles with issues of insecurity. We do not know the depth of her insecurities until we embark on this beautifully crafted story and allow Millie to take us on Abigail's emotional journey of self-discovery and acceptance. This story was touching and sometimes painful in its content, which is why you couldn’t wait for the next day’s continuation. The story of Abigail made me laugh, cry, and even think about my own insecurities. However, hers is not the only story I took away after finishing the novel. It takes a skillful writer to convey a story with a powerful underlying message. This is storytelling at its best! Yes, this is the story of ABIGAIL, but woven inside Abigail’s tale, I saw the story of ALL OF US. This is my perspective of the novel.  I will refer to the two stories I saw unfolding as the “surface story” and the “real story” for the purpose of this review. 
The surface story;

•       Abigail is the adoptive daughter of Sal, the nurse who was at the hospital the night that she was found. He raised her, loved her, and has always seen her greatness. His wife however, treated Abigail terribly and Abigail spent most of her life trying to win her adoptive mother’s approval.

•         Abigail is in an emotionally destructive relationship with Jacob. She has allowed Jacob to get in the way of the loving relationship she had with her father. Your heart aches when Millie takes you to the root of Abigail’s deep insecurities. "I don't know who I am, where I came from, who my parents are, why they gave me away, what was so horrible about me that they couldn't stand the sight of me and gave me away.  I want to know what was so unlovable about me that not even my parents could love me."

•      Chef Alfred is a silent observer/witness as Abigail is emotionally abused and must learn to stand up for herself. He would love to step in and take over, defending her, but knows he cannot, "this was her journey and he should not intervene." Abigail finally does stand up to Jacob, and you can’t help but cheer for her.

•          In true narcissistic manner, Jacob begins to worry about how the breakup will look upon him. He tries to break Abigail by using all her insecurities against her. “You could kiss your dream of being married and having children goodbye.” He hit below the belt, Abigail felt herself crumbling, losing her strength. When she was almost down, he went for the last punch, “besides Abigail, what man would want to be married to an orphan or worst a woman that doesn’t even know who her parents are.”  He vows to make her pay. You sense the evil in his threats.

•          Abigail soon discovers the truth about why Chef Alfred took the job as her servant. Abigail allows Alfred to connect to her and realizes he loves and respects her like only one other man has ever done so before, her father Sal. She longed for him. As Sal longed and ached for his beloved daughter as well.

•          Millie allows the reader into the background story of Abigail’s stepmother, Mara. This woman's greatest tragedy is that she allowed resentment and bitterness to turn her heart cold, "the day came when I stopped crying and never cried again, not for her, not for anyone". The reader understands why she hated Abigail. In Sal, Abigail had something Mara had always wanted.

•          Jacob conspires to destroy Abigail with a piece of information given to him by Mara inside of a box. Abigail finally finds out the truth about her past when she opens the box that was “mysteriously” left on her front steps.

Abigail suddenly becomes aware of the magnitude of her father's love for her. She realizes that he has always been there. She finally saw herself the way her father saw her, worthy of being loved. It is too much for Abigail; it is too much for the reader! Abigail runs and sees her loving dad whom is also running with open arms to his little girl. If you are like me, you had tears in your eyes at the conclusion of the story.

Now I will tell you what I see as the “true story”. The underlying powerful message is the story of God's love for us through Jesus Christ.

•         Sal is representative of our loving father in heaven. He has always been there since our birth. Even when we were "dirty and bleeding from our wounds" he chose to love us. He saw us for who he created us to be. Just as Sal kept tabs on Abigail and waited for her to come around. That's what the father does. We were dirty in our sins, but he loved us anyway and chose to adopt us into his family. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 Abigail's change represents the change that we can only experience when we allow God into our lives and let him heal us from our past.

•         Alfred stepping out of his millionaire lifestyle to be a chef is symbolic of Jesus stepping down from glory, taking the place of a servant. “He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Philippians 2:7 Jesus is the silent observant visitor in our lives. He is the one who has always loved us but will not step into our situation unless we invite him into our heart. He is revealed in our lives at the perfect time, our appointed date with destiny. Much like when Abigail learned Alfred's truth and questioned how she hadn't seen it before, "because you weren't ready Miss Abigail, now was the time"

•          The adoptive mom Mara, with a similar past that allowed bitterness and un-forgiveness to destroy her soul and harden her heart is what happens when you do not allow Jesus in to heal you from your past.

•          Jacob is symbolic of the enemy, who is there to remind of us our past and wants to destroy us. Jacob attempted this when he was attacking Abigail with all the hurtful words he could find before finally leaving the beach house. He then sends Abigail the box he received from her adoptive mother, he makes a final attempt to destroy her spirit and make her come running back to him. However, just the opposite happened. She realized the love of her father instead. The box actually helped save Abigail. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” Genesis 50:20

•          Sal was there at the end with open arms for Abigail, this is what the father does for us when we allow him into our lives. The ending  me of a song by Fred Hammond and Commissioned, Running Back to You, “I’m running back to you; I see you standing there for me, your arms are open wide, and I don't have to cry no more". That’s how the Father is with us. We can always come back home to Him and He welcomes us with open arms.

Millie, your writing is a gift that can only be described as God-given. If this is a short novel, and the beginning of your storytelling; I am eagerly awaiting your first book. Thank you for allowing me to review your work. I am humbled to have even been considered. You are an inspiration for me to begin working on my own dream. Please continue to bless us with your beautiful story telling.