Meet My Sister Tess by Kristin Billerbeck
H S #329
Publisher: Heartsong Presents/Barbour

ISBN: 9781577485544

Binding: Mass Market

From Heartsong Presents website:
Clark is everything Tess Ellison thinks she wants in a husband. He is stable, a good provider, the kind of man who can allow Tess to fulfill her mother’s dying wish: that her mentally-handicapped brother, Robby, will never be put into an institution. Robby loves to introduce his sister to every new person he meets, including Greg Wheaton, the new social worker in town. It is obvious that Robby is encouraging Tess and Greg to become friends. Soon Tess is forced to admit a marriage of amiable partenership may not be for her. Can she trust God to keep her mother’s dying wish and give her the man she loves?

I thought this book was a cute enjoyable read. I felt that the depiction of Robby was extremely realistic, and I could imagine a lot of the events happening as such with an autistic man. I would recommend this book to read. However, I just wanted to point out that since this title is so old the writing style is a lot different than Billerbeck’s later works.

It was so different that it almost seemed like it was written by a different author! I’m thinking it appears that way because Billerbeck’s Heartsongs are written in the third person, and as far as I know, her titles released over the last few years are all written in first person. Plus, since she doesn’t really do straight-up category-style romances anymore, that might be why the writing style is so drastically different. I enjoyed this book, and I wish Billerbeck would write more category-styled romances. I enjoy her more recent titles too, but I enjoy her older stuff just as much.

When I was browsing in a Christian bookstore awhile back, I noticed the following Billerbeck title on the shelf:

From the decription, it seems like an enjoyable read. I didn’t buy it, because I have books at home that I haven’t read yet, and I am living on a budget! Maybe I’ll get around to buying it and reading it in the future. I’d be interested in seeing some comments from anybody who has read either of these books.

Cecelia Dowdy

ISBN: 0373872976
ISBN-13: 9780373872978
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 256pp
Publisher: Steeple Hill Books
Series: Steeple Hill Love Inspired Series, #287

This book was released the same month that my Love Inspired novel, First Mates, was released.

Claire Delany is a successful executive assistant. Her job means everything to her, and she doesn’t want to do anything to ruffle her strict boss’s feathers. However, she harbors a dark secret: she was the victim of abuse, and she’s lost a lot from her pain and suffering.

Pastor Brendan Flanagan is smitten with Claire. As they work together to plan the wedding of Claire’s best friend, Nolie, and Brendan’s cousin, their attraction deepens. However, Brendan has secrets of his own. When he discovers that Claire was an abuse victim, he’s forced to come to terms with his own abusive childhood.

Claire is also forced to think about her past as she and Brendan help an abused pregnant teenager and her overbearing, violent boyfriend.

The author did an awesome job with creating a strong conflict. I enjoyed reading about how Claire and Brendan overcame these conflicts as they finally learned to love one another.

This book is the second in the Flanagan series. I read the first one and it’s just as good. In the first book the hero is injured in while doing his firefighting duties.

As a result, he has unpredictable seizures. He needs a seizure dog and Nolie, his future love interest, trains dogs for handicapped individuals. I recall Nolie had terrible and negative experiences with religion, which is why she shunned God. This book was also a good read, and I highly recommend this one.

Cecelia Dowdy

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Multnomah (September 15, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1590527518
ISBN-13: 978-1590527511

From Amazon:
Book Description
Maggie Stovall is trapped inside a person she’s spent years carefully crafting. Now the truth about who she is—and what she’s done—is bursting to the surface and sending Maggie into a spiral of despair. Will she walk away from everything, or can Maggie allow God to take her to a place of ultimate honesty—before it’s too late?

When Joy Came to Stay is the heart-wrenching story of one woman’s
descent into the shadows of depression, her husband’s search for
understanding, and a precious child’s unwavering faith.

================================

This book grabbed me from the beginning and wouldn’t let me go! It’s a fast, emotionally charged book, and once you start, I’m sure you’ll finish fairly quickly you’ll be so anxious to see what happens to the characters.

Ben Stovall is a judgemental Christian, however, he doesn’t realize how his views have almost cost him his marriage.

Maggie Stovall loves her husband so much, that she gives up the ultimate sacrifice just to marry him, her child.

Her secret hides with her for years, festering, until it drives her crazy to the point that she admits herself to a mental hospital.

When Ben goes searching for the truth to his wife’s mental illness, he finds a lot of unpleasant surprises, however, he needs to learn to trust in God, and not lean on his own understanding. Maggie learns this lesson too as she heals from past pains.

I highly recommend this book. I loved it much more than the book I reviewed a year or so ago, A Thousand Tomorrows.

I think I prefer this one so much is because of the deep faith element throughout the story. This is the second book I’ve read by Kingsbury, and I’m anxious to read more of her novels. I have another one on my shelf entitled A Moment Of Weakness. I’m sure I’ll be reading that one within the next month or so.

Cecelia Dowdy