Reading Between the Lines

Rick Hamlin has done a superb job of creating the special people in Reading Between the Lines. Jim and Elizabeth are real people with real life journeys that will warm even the coldest places in your heart. Dorothy and Scott are true friends. If you read this, Rick, thank you for a beautiful story.

In New York her best friend wannabe actress Dorothy Hughes persuades flutist Elizabeth Ash to accompany her to a rummage sale. Elizabeth buys a few used books including a fascinating Regency romance by Harriet Mueller. However, the love story that hooks her is not part of the published novel, but instead written in BETWEEN THE LINES by a former reader to her "Darling" along the margins. Elizabeth feels the couple seems very familiar and wants to give the book back to the husband. Casting director Jim Lockhart has moved on somewhat past the death of his beloved wife by diving into his work at Babcock, Crier, and Nelson and turning to prayer. The vocation keeps the loneliness away while asking "Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me. Make haste to help me. Rescue me and save me. Let thy will be done in my life" This provides him some solace. He casts Dorothy Hughes in a commercial and she introduces him to Elizabeth. Both will agree that the Lord works in mysterious ways Rotating perspective between Jim and Elizabeth, READING BETWEEN THE LINES is a warm second chance at love tale starring two likable but fearful individuals. Readers will sympathize with Jim who mourns the loss of his beloved spouse who was too young to die from cancer and lonely Elizabeth too afraid to take a chance on a permanent relationship. Readers will enjoy their endearing courtship filled with doubt, fear, and love. Harriet Klausner

Rick Hamlin crafted a charming love story. When musician Elizabeth Ash discovers mysterious writings in the margins of some dusty old romance novels, she's intrigued. Casting director Jim Lockhart also finds a few surprises among the old books' pages. And enchanting thrift shop operator Mrs. Halladay has a mystical feeling about the role she plays in Elizabeth and Jim's lives. Hamlin's skillfully detailed characters compelled me to rush along with Elizabeth as she seeks the next purple passage in the well-worn books, and worry with Jim as he attempts to step out and take risks. All the while, the story reminded me that faith can see me through. Just like Elizabeth's comforting old romance novels, this book reads quickly and seamlessly, yet the plot is always intricate and engaging. Reading between the Lines kept me captivated and rooting for Elizabeth and Jim to find their "happily ever after."

Flutist Elizabeth Ash went to the church rummage sale with aspiring actress Dorothy Hughes just to keep her friend company, but when she arrives home with a couple of used books from a favorite author, she finds a love story to change her life in Rick Hamlin's Reading Between the Lines. The love story is not that told by the author, but one written by a reader to her "Darling" along the margins. As Elizabeth reads the love story, she feels that she knows the couple involved and must find the woman's husband to return the books to him. Jim Lockhart, casting director, has survived his wife's death of cancer by throwing himself into his routine and by reciting a simple prayer: "Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me. Make haste to help me. Rescue me and save me. Let thy will be done in my life." Though his friends encourage Jim to date, he hasn't had the heart to until he takes a risk. The date is a date from the Twilight Zone. He decides to give up on dating until Dorothy Hughes, whom he has just cast in a commercial, introduces him to Elizabeth. Rick Hamlin has written a pleasant, sweet love story, much of it from the male viewpoint, showing a husband's grief at his wife's untimely death. He also illustrates the confusion of those entering back into the dating environment, the importance of hope, and the misunderstandings that can come from reading between the lines. Hamlin draws his characters well, and they stand out as individuals. The book offers a pleasant reading experience for the romance lover, but without any substantial Christian content other than a rote prayer mechanically offered. -- Debbie W. Wilson, Christian Book Previews.com

A grief stricken widower, a lovelorn musician, and a quirky but lovable church lady are just three of the characters that make Christian novelist Rick Hamlin's "Reading between the Lines" a worthy read. By alternating points of view in each chapter, Hamlin allows readers to stay one jump ahead of flutist Elizabeth Ash in her quest to find the intended recipient of intimate love letters penned in several volumes of second hand romance novels she purchases at a church rummage sale. This well crafted novel is a fine addition to the rapidly swelling genre of Christian romance. Its depth of characters and intricate plot nourish the heart and soul.