Anita Ojeda I receive free electronic advanced reader copies of these books through an arrangement between the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion on NetGalley’s website. I only review books on my blog that I really love.
How Long is YOUR TBR List?
Do you have a TBR list? You know, a list of books to be read at some point in time? I confess Les Miserables has sat on my TBF list (to be finished) for 15 years. After slogging through 900 pages I just. couldn’t. finish. I can only handle so many pages of horrible things happening to the hero!
Since that time, I’ve kept my TBR list short. 10-15 titles in my NetGalley list, and three or four books in Audible waiting for my next long road trip. Don’t get me wrong, I love books with paper pages, too. But that TBR list consists of only one or two books. I just don’t have space for a lot of physical books.
Whether you read books electronically, hold them in your hand, or listen to them, you’ll want to consider adding these two books to your list!
The One You’re With
By Lauren K. Denton, Thomas Nelson, July 2021, 368 pages.
Edie and Mac Swan lead an idyllic life. She works for a popular interior designer, and he has a pediatric group in their little community of Oak Hill near Mobile, Alabama. Their two children make their family complete. As Mac’s 40th birthday approaches, Eve plans the perfect surprise party for him.
On the day of the party, Mac springs a surprise of his own on Edie. A surprise not even Mac knew about until his birthday. As Edie and Mac struggle through the crisis, they must come to grips with what happened that summer almost 20 years ago when they broke up and went their separate ways.
Each of them held secrets and made decisions during the summer of separation which profoundly affected their lives. Now they must decide how to reconcile their past with their present without harming their children or ruining their relationship.
Why I Loved This Book
Denton, a new-to-me author, knows how to weave a tale filled with relatable characters. We all have regrets and secrets from our pasts, and Denton takes us on a journey of what-ifs. What if our secret came to light at an inopportune time? How do families survive seismic upheavals? How does one forgive?
Denton reminds us of this truth: “Edie was a mother, and mothers had certain codes, just like doctors. Do no harm. Put others first. Help when needed. And always love—even when it’s hard. Even when it flies in the face of everything you feel.”
Mac and Edie show us how making the daily choice to love might not be easy, but it builds something not just idyllic, but indestructible.
Make sure you add #TheOneYoureWith to your #TBR list today! A great read from @LaurenKDenton and @ThomasNelson Click To TweetLove and the Silver Lining
By Tammy L. Gray, Bethany House, August 3, 2021, 384 pages.
Darcy Malone worked for a year to go on a long-term mission trip to Guatemala. Days before her adventure begins, she gets a phone call from the school where she will teach for a year cancelling her trip. Devasted, she doesn’t know where to turn. She must move out of her apartment and find a job. Without her best friend, Cameron, she doesn’t know what she’d do. He’s not-so-secretly happy her trip got cancelled, because he doesn’t know what he’d do without her for an entire year. After all, they’ve been besties their entire lives.
Cam offers to let her move in with him and his two roommates until her new apartment opens at the end of the summer. Her recently divorced mom gives her the same invitation. Neither one appeals to her. When her childhood friend and Cameron’s bandmate, Bryson offers his sister, Zoe’s, apartment as an option, Darcy reluctantly agrees.
Bryson introduces her to Charlie, a recently widowed man with five rescue dogs on his farm that he can’t take care of. Darcy jumps at the chance to work with the dogs and prepare them for adoption—after all, she has no other options that spark her interest.
The unruly dogs become a metaphor for all the things plaguing Darcy—trust, forgiveness, purpose, and love.
What I Loved About this Book
This friends-to-lovers book has a trope twist readers will love. Darcy struggles with her relationship with her parents and the fact her childhood now seems like a lie. The proverbial Christian good girl, Darcy has done everything right yet feels as if God has abandoned her.
Fans of Emma St. Clair’s Sandover Beach series will enjoy this book.
Check out this new contemporary inspirational fiction title from @tlgraybooks. A must have for your #TBR list. @Bethany_House @NetGalley Click To Tweet
