NOTES FROM A SPINNING PLANET: MEXICO
Melody Carlson
WaterBrook Press
Fiction
ISBN: 9781400071463
256 pages

Madison Chase is getting bored during her holiday break when she receives a welcome call from Aunt Sid, who offers her an escape vacation to Mexico. She jumps at the chance to spend some time with her favorite aunt and travel companion. Before she realizes it, Maddie is onboard a plane and then subsequently learning firsthand how slow the pace in Mexico is when they encounter one delay after another upon arrival.

Even once the duo arrives at their hotel, cultural differences abound. Both Maddie and Sid keep their eyes and ears open, alert to dangers from locals who have had enough of rude Americans. While the sun and water are enticing enough, an unexpected phone call from Ireland sets both women's hearts racing when they find out that Sid's Irish boyfriend, Ian, is coming for a visit and bringing Maddie's good friend, Ryan, along for the New Year's holiday.

Before the guys arrive at Cabo San Lucas, the girls find themselves sympathizing with their hotel clerk's difficulties and try to help her find better employment and housing. Little do they know how Francesca Tarrago has been influenced and controlled by the couple who ran the girls' home where she lived. Again, cultural differences make another appearance. Maddie does the best she can to help rescue Francesca from a dire future, and God orchestrates a rescue mission of His own that has the women responding in grateful awe.

Once Ian and Ryan arrive, the entire mood lifts from the serious to the seriously fun and romantic --- until an old girlfriend of Ryan's settles in front and center, and a sad and disappointed Maddie is temporarily pushed aside. The plot takes another turn, as the women end up sharing space with Ryan's ex-girlfriend and are placed into a situation where they play rescuer of another sort to the troubled young woman.

Readers will enjoy Melody Carlson's third installment in the Notes from a Spinning Planet series as she continues to offer a deepening complexity, both in terms of plot and character development. As always, her fictional characters are utterly relatable, winsome and full of human foibles, which makes for a gratifying, lighthearted read.

    --- Reviewed by Michele Howe

Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.