MY story.” Redeeming Love was the result. I felt all the inner walls coming down and sensed God telling me, “This is the love story I want you to write. We were studying the minor prophets, specifically the book of Hosea. Rick and I were hosting a home study when God started nudging me about writing again. My relationship with Jesus became the most important thing in my life. It was a monumental struggle for me because writing was the one area of my life where I thought I had “control.” It took three years for me to receive the lesson God was teaching me: writing had become an idol. Up until then, I had a successful career in the general market writing steamy historical romances, but after becoming a Christian, I couldn’t write anything. I’d been reared in the church, and had head-knowledge, but I didn’t make the decision to turn my will and my life over to Jesus until 1986 when I was in my late 30s.Ī wilderness experience quickly followed. Redeeming Love was the first book I wrote as a Christian. But with her permission, I’m sharing this encouraging and beautiful story: She is a humble person and not one to seek attention or make public statements. (Nanci and I stayed in their home some years ago.) When I was working on my book Giving Is the Good Life, I asked Frani to share about Redeeming Love, which she wrote more than twenty-five years ago.

In my opinion, she is one of the finest writers of Christian fiction in the world.įrancine (who her friends know as Frani) and her husband Rick are committed followers of Jesus, and a delight.

Redeeming Love is probably her best known, but my own favorite is The Atonement Child. Her books are exceptionally powerful, well-written, and always Christ-honoring.

Many Christian fiction readers are familiar with Francine Rivers.

Francine rivers book list