A Broken Kind of Beautiful

A review by Abi

The girl with the haunted eyes reentered his life on the other side of the lowering casket, humidity and the shrill song of cicadas tangling together in the South Carolina heat.

~First line of A Broken Kind of Beautiful~

  

 Ivy Clark is beautiful on the outside and kind of ugly on the inside. She's on a race to save her career when it takes a turn into washed-up fashion avenue. She has the habit of validating her worth by flaunting her beauty to get anything she wants. Including men. Sadly, Ivy Clark feels she is worthless unless she has the fashion world to shore her up. As long as she keeps her opinions to herself, and does as she's told, Ivy feels she's got it made—until her agent sends her a place she despises—her hometown.

Until a man from her hometown guides her through the back roads of honest emotion, self-worth, love of family, faith and friendship, Ivy was a wreck waiting to happen. Ivy really did not have direction in her life, and was coming to a dead end. I honestly did not like Ivy, until she began to open her eyes far away from the runway's blinding lights.

The story certainly showed growth in character and honesty—not quickly—but in a slow, believable progression. I grew to love Ivy, and cringed at her bad decisions, then cheered when she made the right ones. Just when I thought I had her pegged, she surprised me with another spurt of her new found realizations, acceptance, and inner-growth.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was the "tell-everything-in-one-breath" epilogue. It actually robbed the satisfying ending. I wish I had simply left the epilogue unread. In my opinion, it isn't needed.

Publisher: WaterBrook Press

Page Count: 320

Purchase Link: Amazon

Book Rating: 

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Disclosure of Material Connection in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: BloggingForBooks has provided me a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

The Tidewater Sisters

Review by Abi

The past must be let go before the future can be grasped.~ Quote from The Tidewater Sisters

 I adore the imagery in The Tidewater Sisters. Lisa Wingate creates a world of memories, new experiences and growth—and I savor it like a biscuit full of drippings from Ma-maw's iron skillet.

This land bears the tree castles of childhood dreams, the blood of skinned knees, the imprints of bodies gazing at stars, the sweat of summer days, the tears of broken hearts, the fairy dust of first love. (Excerpt: The Tidewater Sisters)

Isn't that beautiful?

That being said, here's what else I like about this book. Tandi Jo, the main character, finds her backbone! Though painful, she confronts her conniving older sister, Gina—and refuses to back down.

Gina's despicable behavior in the first book, The Prayer Box, left me open mouthed. I was happy to see her disappear from Tandi Jo's life—yet wondered where she would turn up next.

Well, in The Tidewater Sisters, Gina wreaks havoc days before Tandi Jo's wedding. Gina's ever-present- self-centered-crooked-selfish-antics chomp into Tandi Jo's happiness. (Yes, I have a strong dislike for Gina.)

Tandi Jo has a limit, and Gina reaches it. This is where Tandi Jo's growth sprinkles…trickles…then torrents into a raging storm. Reining back anger and revenge, she waits for the perfect moment to confront Gina. I was on pins and needles when she did.

In the process of trying to right the wrongs, Tandi Jo unearths more than she bargained for. Gina divulges long kept secrets …including why she kept them. Though Gina is still unlikeable, I ache for a better relationship between the sisters. And maybe…just maybe, it is a possibility. 

This novella ties up loose ends, braiding tiny ribbons of understanding through old memories.

 Lisa Wingate spins a great story, and though this novella doesn't allow the development of the secondary characters, I can't wait to learn more about them in her next full length book, The Story Keeper.

Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers

Page Count: 127

Purchase Link: Amazon

Book Rating: 

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The Prayer Box

Review by Abi

by Lisa Wingate

A quiet water, this river of grace. Its work done in ways that do not seek attention. Yet it is there. Always there. ~Quote from The Prayer Box

It's not often that I read a paragraph several times just to experience the beauty of it. However, I found myself doing just that while reading the The Prayer Box.
Tandi Jo, the main character, is on the lam from an ex-husband, and still reeling from the withdrawal of pain killers.

Tandi discovers her elderly landlady, Iola Poole dead in the "blue room." After a member of the church hires her to clear out the cluttered home, Tandi discovers a cache of boxes filled with letters written by Iola. Many secrets unfold throughout the story, and she grows attached to the house--and the woman who lived there.

There are many interesting characters throughout the book, but my favorite is sweet, mismatched attired, and REAL man, Paul Chastain. My least favorite…well, actually, a character I despise, is Ross. Much to my dismay, he's the man Tandi Jo is drawn to shortly after she sets foot in town.

Though caring townsfolk support Tandi and her children at every turn, she finds it hard to accept that people want to help without an alternative motive.

Tandi has a lot of work in store, from becoming a better mother, to healing her wounded psyche. In a  surprising way, the dead woman's letters help her to find a way to do that…and so much more.

I highly recommend this book!

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Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Page count: 401

Purchase link: Amazon