Faith, Love, and Perfume: The Scent of Rain by Kristin Billerbeck

Daphne, the heroine of The Scent of Rain by Kristin Billerbeck, wins our sympathy from the beginning when she is jilted at the altar by Mark and handles this with courage and panache.  She has the consolation of a good friend, a new house, and a new job.  The problem is that this 'nose' is used to the beautiful cities of Paris and San Francisco and her new house and position are in Dayton, Ohio.

However, Daphne is not to be daunted and bravely jets off to Dayton where she is supposed to create scents for mundane cleaning products.  The problem is that she has lost her sense of smell and she doesn't want to admit it!

Daphne's new boss, Jesse, embarrasses her by knowing all about her situation.  However, she finds herself attracted by his good looks and his kind heart.  He is almost the only one at her new workplace who is at all nice, however.  'Gibraltar' is a hotbed of office politics and Daphne doesn't even have the option of going back to Paris because her ex has taken her old position!  Her situation becomes even worse when Jesse finds out that she can't smell and she has kept this a secret from him.  How will poor Daphne handle all of these problems?


I really enjoyed this well-written love story.  Daphne is a winning heroine whose actions are always easy to understand and she has a lot of admirable inner strength, even though she tends to make a mess of things occasionally.  Jesse, a caring single father, is also a captivating character.  They both share a strong faith.  However, this Christian chick-lit book could be enjoyed by non-religious people as well - there isn't any preaching here.

I liked the part that scent played in the book.  The descriptions of the different types of fragrances and the way that these are interwoven into the plot are evocative and add interest to the plot.

I hope to read more of Kristin Billerbeck's books.  Here is an interview about The Scent of Rain.