Breaking Barriers, with Gail Pallotta

Breaking Barriers

Love Is series novella 8

Gail Pallotta

Love is…not easily angered.

Except when hatred and violence rule.

Gunshots ring out as Ann Jones enters the church. She hides in the bathroom until they stop, then stumbles into the sanctuary. The congregation lies dead in pools of blood. To rebuild the church, she starts True Light Guardians. At the first meeting, she’s attacked by a terrorist, but rescued by James Crawford. He melts her heart, cold from her father’s abuse, and they fall for each other. She’s afraid to commit to love that might grow angry later, like the type she knew as a child. James yearns to stop other attempts on Ann’s life, but can’t. Tormented by her constant risks, he breaks up with her. When an assault sends her to the hospital, an unlikely ally shares Ann’s plight with James, but he reveals a lead that puts all three of them in even more danger.

Inspirational romance novella

Near future events

$2.99 eBook Buy on Amazon

Bundled Print coming in the future

When I was in college I used to run into an atheist in the small cafe where we gathered for Coca-Colas, hamburgers and French fries after class. I tried to avoid him, because he always hopped over to my table and started an argument about my faith.

Perhaps he comes to mind on the release day of Breaking Barriers for several reasons. One, he was angry at me because I am a Christian. Even though today I can’t recall which verses he used, he’d take passages from the Bible and try to make me say they weren’t true. When I wouldn’t, he’d retort with a scientific argument and claim it had to be right.

The second reason he comes to mind—it was the mention of God’s love that finally silenced him. One day I grew so frustrated I asked, “If there’s no God, where does love come from? Why don’t you mix me up a little bowl of it? If scientists could do it, they would, because they could sell a ton of it for lots of money.”

His mouth gaped.

He never trotted to my table again.

Since then I’ve read that we have chemicals in the brain that produce love. I’ve often wondered if he came up with that theory. Even if that were true, the chemicals in the brain came from somewhere, and that would still lead back to God. I hope it wasn’t him. I hope he thought about God’s great love for us and decided to read the Bible. 

Lisa's review:

In the very near future Christians in the US are targeted for destruction. Ann knows, or thinks she knows many who could be likely culprits when she’s being stalked and attempts made on her sanity and life. When she takes on the job of leading disenfranchised and now underground church members in a new united effort to save the faith, attempts on the people of faith ramp up. The new man in Ann’s life, James, shows her not only how to practice what she preaches, but also how to trust God and let go of painful mistrust she’s carried since childhood. Ann’s stubbornness about her personal safety gives James more angst than he believes he can handle.

The story contains some humor mixed in with the real possibilities of future and present attacks. We’re not as safe as we think we are. Pallotta’s story is told through several viewpoints and focus on the gentle and growing love between two people caught up in frightening events outside of what we’ve come to accept as reasonable and expected safety. The goons might provide a little comic relief, but the potential situations underscore a general lack of respect that seems rampant in these times. When Ann can’t trust family, boss, workmates, maybe not even colleagues or friends, what’s left? A short novella will transport readers into a realm where trust not only relies on being able to sort out feelings, but also on faith.