Book Review: That Certain Spark by Cathy Marie Hake

That Certain Spark
by Cathy Marie Hake

Bethany House
Copyright 2009
348 pages
ISBN: 9780764203206

Siblings Enoch and Taylor Bestman have just arrived in Gooding, Texas. Enoch is the new veterinarian, and Taylor is the new, long-awaited doctor. When the townsfolk find out that their new doctor is a woman, they’re ready to run her right back out of town ~ especially the men! Unfortunately, Taylor has to deal with one such man as her very first patient, Karl Van der Vort, not long after arriving in town. The women, and children, are fairly quick to accept Taylor’s medical expertise, while the majority of the men try to get Enoch to treat them as well as their animals.

There are quite a few quirky characters in That Certain Spark ~ they are what kept me somewhat interested in finishing it. Widow O’Toole, who is fond of riding her velocipede all over town; Hope Stauffer who is known for turning around sayings, “yet they make sense in their own funny way”; Skylar, Karl’s dog; and last but not least, Piet, Karl’s brother ~ when he gets really upset he mixes up his word order. He still speaks in English, but reverts to Dutch word order. There are a few others, but I’ll let you discover them for yourself.

I was really excited to read That Certain Spark because I normally enjoy Cathy Marie Hake’s witty romances. Sadly, this one is not going to be one of my favorites. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still an okay book, but not what I’ve come to expect from this author. In my opinion, there was really no romance whatsoever between Taylor and Karl; most of the book they spend their time “debating” whether or not Taylor should be a doctor, since she’s a woman. This got really old. Thankfully, there was a bit of a romance between a couple of other characters, but I won't go into that and spoil it for you. :) If you enjoy mystery/suspense ~ there is somewhat of a mystery intertwined in the story ~ someone is trying to sabotage Taylor’s efforts, and run her out of town.

If you’re interested in reading other books by Cathy Marie Hake, I would recommend trying a couple of her other books first: Fancy Pants, Forevermore, or Letter Perfect, just to name a few. This way you can decide for yourself how That Certain Spark compares to her previous novels.

To find out more about Cathy, and her books, visit her at: www.cathymariehake.com. You can purchase her books at: Amazon.com or Christianbook.com