Sometimes God's ways are not at all what we expect . . . and exactly what we need.
Grant and Audrey are adding grandchildren to their family left and right, but middle daughter, Danae, and her husband, Dallas Brooks, have been trying for years with no baby in sight.
Though Danae is ready to consider adoption, Dallas will not even discuss it. Despairing of ever having a family of her own, Danae decides to pour her passion and energies into volunteer work with a newly opened women's shelter in town. Looking for a good cause to fill her lonely days, she never expects to give her heart to the hurting women she meets there. She's finally learning to live her life with gratitude, but then heart-wrenching events on Thanksgiving weekend threaten to pull the entire Whitman clan into turmoil-and leave them all forever changed.
Deborah Raney's books
have won numerous awards, including the RITA, National Readers Choice Award,
HOLT Medallion, and the Carol Award, and have twice been Christy Award
finalists. She and her husband, Ken, recently traded small-town life in
Kansas-the setting of many of Deborah's novels---for life in the (relatively)
big city of Wichita, where they enjoy gardening, antiquing, movies, and
traveling to visit four children and a growing brood of grandchildren who all
live much too far away.
MY REVIEW:
This book is part of the Chicory Inn series. If you haven't read any of the books before this one, don't worry, you won't be lost. The author does a very good job of keeping this story complete and the characters are fully explained so you won't feel as though you're missing something.
This story focuses on Danae and her husband, Dallas. Danae is the daughter of Grant and Audrey, who own the Chicory Inn bed and breakfast. Danae has been trying desperately to get pregnant for years and her whole focus and world is wrapped up in the fact that she hasn't been able to conceive yet. She and Dallas have spent a lot of money on fertility treatments to no avail and now it's starting to put a strain on their marriage. The greatest strain is Danae's attitude because she feels like there's something wrong with her and she's getting very selfish in her attitudes.
Adoption has been brought up to them but this is something Dallas won't even consider, even though he was adopted himself. It's not exactly clear at first why he's so against it since he had a very happy childhood with loving parents. As you follow along in the story, this is finally revealed why he's so apprehensive about it.
Finally, Danae realizes that she needs to put her focus somewhere else when her sister gets pregnant, again, and she is jealous and less than kind or happy for her sister. Her church has a ministry that helps a women's shelter for abused women and she feels led to get involved with this. This opens up a whole new world to her and gives her an outlet for giving of herself. This opens new doors for her and her husband that will change their lives forever.
I absolutely love this family. I have read all the books in this series and feel like I know these people. They are so real in their faith and in their lives and you really feel as though you're reading about real people instead of a novel. You'll laugh and cry along with them because you'll grow to love them so much. I just couldn't put this book down, which is how I felt about all the others I've read, too. That's why I'm going to recommend you read all the books in this series because you'll love them. I highly recommend this book - the story and the characters will stay with you! I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.
*This book was provided to me for my honest review by LitFuse Publicity Group
You can read more reviews of this book HERE
Blessings - Julie
good review.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your review! I really like this series!
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