A Mile in my Flip-Flops

by Melody Carlson

This was a very cute story about a girl named Gretchen. She'd been practically left at the alter and has been burying her sorrows in containers of B&J's ice cream and HGTV. Her favorite show was about people that 'flipped' houses. Basically, they bought houses that needed work, fixed them up and sold them for a profit. She gets this idea that she has watched almost 2 years of this show and she can flip a house too! So she decides to do it, and starts looking for a house. The one she finds is horrible and reminded me of my first house. People were renters and trashed the house, the stench inside the house was unbareable due to people letting their pets use the carpet as a toilet. Her dad takes the loan out for her using his co-op as collateral. She's got 6 weeks to complete her project, have an open house and find a buyer.

Once she gets started she realized that she may be over her head, and she takes her dads advice and asks this very gorgeous carpenter who use to work with her dad, for his help. I didn't mention that he's divorced, and has a 7 yr old daughter... This is just not something she's going to get herself involved in. Too much baggage for her to deal with... He ends up being her right hand man, someone she relies on to complete the remodeling work, the perfect date to a friends wedding, and the one man that makes her feel like mush. She tries to ignore her feelings, and tries to keep her distance from him. Of course, she does dopey things in the house while renovating it. It's pretty humorous, and romantic. The best part was the reminders throughout the book that when things get really tough and you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, give it to God. It was so refreshing to read a Christian book. Finally something that gives examples of how we are suppose to live.

I recommend this book very much.