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    Bridge to Haven
    Bridge to Haven
    Bridge to Haven
    Audiobook17 hours

    Bridge to Haven

    Written by Francine Rivers

    Narrated by Kate Forbes

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    To those who matter in 1950s Hollywood, Lena Scott is the hottest rising star to hit the silver screen since Marilyn Monroe. Few know her real name is Abra. Even fewer know the price she' s paid to finally feel like she' s somebody. To Pastor Ezekiel Freeman, Abra will always be the little girl who stole his heart the night he found her, a wailing newborn abandoned under a bridge on the outskirts of Haven. Zeke and his son, Joshua-- Abra' s closest friend-- watch her grow into an exotic beauty. But Zeke knows the circumstances surrounding her birth etched scars deep in her heart, scars that leave her vulnerable to a fast-talking bad boy who proclaims his love and lures her to Tinseltown. Hollywood feels like a million miles from Haven, and naive Abra quickly learns what' s expected of an ambitious girl with stars in her eyes. But fame comes at an awful price. She has burned every bridge to get exactly what she thought she wanted. Now, all she wants is a way back home. In this riveting and highly anticipated tale of temptation, grace, and unconditional love, New York Times best-selling author Francine Rivers delivers big-canvas storytelling at its very best.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateApr 22, 2014
    ISBN9781490603889
    Author

    Francine Rivers

    New York Times bestselling author Francine Rivers is one of the leading authors of women's Christian fiction. With nearly thirty published novels with Christian themes to her credit, she continues to win both industry acclaim and reader loyalty around the globe. Her numerous bestsellers, including Redeeming Love, have been translated into more than thirty different languages.  Shortly after becoming a born-again Christian in 1986, Francine wrote Redeeming Love as her statement of faith. This retelling of the biblical story of Gomer and Hosea set during the time of the California Gold Rush is now considered by many to be a classic work of Christian fiction. Redeeming Love continues to be one of the Christian Booksellers Association’s top-selling titles, and it has held a spot on the Christian bestsellers list for nearly a decade. In 2015, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a member of Romance Writers of America's coveted Hall of Fame as well as a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). Visit Francine online at www.francinerivers.com and connect with her on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FrancineRivers) and Twitter (@FrancineRivers).

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    Reviews for Bridge to Haven

    4.5/5

    204 ratings15 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I enjoyed book very much. The story focusing around how we all sin and are forgiven by Grace. It reinforced how we too must try to be like The Lord and forgive and love.
      As to the story, it was hard to listen to all that Abra went through those years after running away. I listened and wanted to scream. I kept thinking “Does she not have any common sense and the strength to say no?”
      Obviously, not! That was the point of the character; growth in her and growth in her trusting the Lord and the people who loved her. She was close to mirroring her biological mother’s early life.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Another great book from Francine Rivers, teaching to trust the way of the Lord at all times. Repentance and forgiveness, no matter what mistakes we have made, we are still His creation.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This was an amazing book! It was terrible in parts and great in others… but I really enjoyed it!
    • 5/5
      This is such a great story of love and the pain that we have in this world without God in control. Thank you for writing such a clear message of God`s love.
    • 5/5
      Loved the book couldn't stop listening this. Greatly narrated definitely a book I will recommend!
      I was in tears the five chapters I love how at the end Abra was able to forgive and heal despite her past, it is just like we are in life we run away from God and find it hard to forgive ourselves and the freedom we have when have once we start leave everything in His hands. It doesn't mean we won't still have headache but we will have someone like Abra had Joshua to carry her through it.
      Love the story. Want to buy the hard copy.
    • 5/5
      I have lost count of how many times I've read this book over the past years... It never gets old... And honestly my opinions of people, characters and decisions change each time I read it based on my own experiences. I find Francine books timeless.... It must be because they are incorporated with God's word and principles. I know am reading this again soon.
    • 5/5
      This has automatically become my current favorite book!!! Francine Rivers is a GENIUS anointed by God!
    • 5/5
      Once again Francine you have amazed me.
      Phenomenal Book ??
      The life of Aubra Matthew’s had me in Stitches,in tears, and feeling remorseful. I would listen to this again any day. Great read ?
    • 5/5
      Absolutely captivating!! I could not stop listening to this book.
    • 4/5
      Abra's life has been a struggle since the day she was born. Abandoned by her birth mother under a bridge, Abra's life was saved by Pastor Zeke. Pastor Zeke and his wife adopted Abra and things went well for a while. But the Pastor Zeke's wife - who had been in failing health already when they adopted Abra - dies and Abra is left full of grief and guilt. Did the strain of caring for her help cause her adoptive mother's death? Then Pastor Zeke decides that he cannot give the time needed to care for Abra on his own, and sends her to live with another family. You can guess she is going to have issues after that, and indeed she runs off to the Hollywood area with a man who entices her when she is a teenager. Try as they might, the people who love her from back home can't track her down for a while. It isn't until she is discovered by a talent agent and turns up on the big screen that the realize what has happened to her. Will Abra ever return to them?This was a good examination of the factors that might cause someone to become entrapped in an abusive relationship, as Abra does with the men who are only after her for her beauty and talent. There was a nice contrast as the people who truly loved her for who she was were eventually able to break through to her and help her see that she was already loved (by them as well as by God) and did need to go looking for it elsewhere. Definitely work the read, it's an engaging and eye-opening story.
    • 1/5
      I only made it a third of the way through this book. I stopped reading due to the sexual content--an extremely detailed bedroom scene which was effectively a rape as the victim had expressed that she didn't want to participate.

      I have read some great books by Rivers and others that I really didn't like recently. This was probably the worst in terms of the graphic detail and I don't understand really why she included it. She managed to do a great job in The Atonement Child, which also has a rape scene, of dealing with the matter sensitively whilst still telling the story and without the graphic detail. But unfortunately Bridge to Haven is a definite fail.

      I also was a little uncomfortable with an "innocent" romance developing between two of the main characters because although they were not biologically related, they had grown up in the same household and must've known each other as brother and sister from a young age. The scenes where the male party begins to experience lustful feelings towards the girl were a little weird given the original nature of their relationship. Also, the descriptions of them were again quite graphic.

      I can't comment on the Hollywood storyline as I didn't read that far but others reviews state that it involves strip clubs and the like. If that is the case, then judging by the graphic details that I have already endured, I'm glad I stopped reading when I did.

      I don't recommend this book due to the graphic sexual content.
    • 2/5
      This was a disappointing read after some of the other books I've read by this author. I found Abra to be frustrating and cowardly, unable to stand up for herself against some of the men in her life, and she spent way too much time feeling sorry for herself without doing anything about it. While I struggled to connect with Abra emotionally, Joshua on the other hand was just too perfect to be believable. Also, I was hoping to be transported to 1950's Hollywood with all its glitz and glamour, but this part of the story was glossed over except for some name-dropping here and there. Finally, the book spanned twenty-three years, lacked depth and stalled, almost to a stop, in the middle. As for Susan, I knew who she was the moment she entered the story, so the 'big reveal' at the end was ho hum.
    • 5/5
      Francine Rivers’s books are some of my book club’s favorite all-time reads. When asked what book we liked the most in our 11 years of meeting, we overwhelmingly say Redeeming Love. Now we will probably have to declare Bridge to Haven to be our second favorite. All who read Rivers’ newest novel loved it.Abra Freeman was found as an abandoned newborn under the bridge to the town of Haven. Loved from the beginning, she still struggled with feelings of unworthiness and abandonment. A child that tried desperately to please became a rebellious teenager and ultimately a runaway set on a course to become somebody. But what Abra, now Lena Scott, finds is not love or fame or fortune, but an emptiness that has her running away from who she has become.Bridge to Haven is an excellent choice for a book club. We found a lot to discuss — great characters, the setting of the Golden Age of Hollywood and themes of unconditional love, the value of life and God’s forgiveness. We found many parallels in Abra’s story with the Prodigal Son of the Bible, as well as the mistakes people make in general. The novel was also deemed unputdownable even though at times it was a difficult read. I first thought the book was a bit predictable, but soon came to the conclusion that the choices that Abra made were predictable because of how often people in real life make the same choices. God must find us very predictable in our sin!Another winner from Francine Rivers, my book club highly recommends Bridge to Haven.Highly Recommended.
    • 3/5
      Francine Rivers writes lengthy novels, but the language is simple. So many of her stories involve a young girl who rebels and makes a wrong decision, and must find her way back to redemption. The outcome ends with happily ever after. The story is interesting, but trite, at times. The characters lack depth and emotion. The chapters devoted to turning Abra into a star display the hard work necessary to succeed in Hollywood, but is the work worth the reward? An interesting concept.
    • 4/5
      I love River's modern day books. She has such great characters! This is based on The Prodigal Son, and touches on the life and challenges of a teenaged girl who has never felt loved or wanted, and the path she chooses.The book brought me to tears, and that rarely happens to me anymore.