Miracle at the Higher Grounds Cafe by Max Lucado: ARC Review

cover from Goodreads
Title: Miracle at the Higher Grounds Cafe
Authors: Max Lucado with Eric Newman and Candace Lee
Expected Publication: February 10, 2015 by Thomas Nelson Publishers

If you could ask God anything, what would you ask?

After her separation with her NFL Superstar husband, Chelsea Chambers is determined to start her life over again. Together with her kids, she moved to her late mother's place to reopen Higher Grounds Café, an old-fashioned coffee shop formerly owned by her mother.

Starting over, however, doesn't always come easy- not when the newly reopened shop is in danger of closing due to the unpaid bills left to her. Chelsea may be making fine cupcakes and cappuccinos but what she needs more than anything is a miracle. Enter here her ex-husband claiming to have changed and ready to take his family back together, just when Chelsea made up her mind about him.

Then comes a strange man, who might be the help Chelsea needs. After installing an internet connection, customers come flocking in the Café not only for the cupcakes and coffees but most especially, for a direct connection to heaven and have their life questions answered.

With all the commotion around her, Chelsea is still adamant and unyielding to the miracles she's seeing. Until one day, she finds the courage to ask her own question, and finally have her own miracle.

Whatever it is, God can help. But first, you have to ask Him.

Short yet very inspiring read. When I saw this book on NetGalley, I immediately requested for access because the author is Max Lucado! I've been hearing a lot of good things about his books but never really had the chance to read them. So when this opportunity came, I grabbed it. Haha!

Anyway, the book is only less than 200 pages. But even so, it's full of lessons and reminders especially for people who might be forgetting that God is always present. This book reminded me that God listens. He knows what's going on with our lives, and that He knows our heart's desires. We only need to ask, to pray.

Miracle at the Higher Grounds Café is also a book about forgiveness and second chances. It tells how a man can change for love, how God can change our hearts to be able to accept and believe. It tells a story about miracles.

The story was carefully woven to show that we're not alone in our lives, that we have friends and family, and of course, that we have God. Each character plays a part in changing Chelsea's belief, in having her reconnect with what she used to know.

I liked the style of writing- the smooth flow of events and relationship between characters. And it's easy to read and easy to get the message.

I would love to read this again soon and feel the overwhelming flow of God's grace.

I definitely recommend this book especially to those whose hopes are running low. Miracle at the Higher Grounds Café is a very inspiring book everyone should read.



Source: Goodreads
Max Lucado has touched millions with his signature storytelling writing style. Awards and accolades follow Max with each book he writes. Max is the first author to win the Gold Medallion Christian Book of the Year three times—1999 for Just Like Jesus, 1997 for In the Grip of Grace and 1995 for When God Whispers Your Name. In 2005, Reader’s Digest dubbed him “America’s Best Preacher.” In addition, he has been an ECPA Gold Medallion finalist with more titles than any other author in the industry.

In 1994, he became the only author to have 11 of his twelve books in print simultaneously appear on paperback, hardcover and children's CBA bestseller lists. Lucado set a new industry record by concurrently placing nine different Word Publishing titles on the CBA Hardcover Bestseller List in both March and April 1997. Max Lucado is a fixture on the national bestseller lists – a Max Lucado title has appeared on the CBA hardcover bestseller list every month for the past dozen years. He has appeared on the Publishers Weekly, USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists. He has won eight ECPA Gold Medallion awards.

In addition to his nonfiction books, Lucado has authored several award-winning children's titles including, Just In Case You Ever Wonder, The Crippled Lamb, Alabaster's Song and the award-winning You Are Special. Max is also the author of Hermie: A Common Caterpillar, and the Max Lucado’s Hermie and Friends collection of books and DVD’s are quickly becoming a fixture on bestseller lists. He also served as the general editor for the best-selling Lucado Study Bible and God's Inspirational Promise Book.

In the Fall of 2006, he released Facing Your Giants, followed by Every Day Deserves a Chance in April of the 2007.

For over twenty years, Max has served as the Senior Pastor of the Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. But he says his greatest accomplishment is finding a one-in-a-million wife in Denalyn and having three unbelievable daughters: Jenna, Andrea, and Sara (Source: Goodreads).