Teresa Reviews Beth Vogt's "Wish You Were Here"

Wish You Were Here by Beth Vogt

Howard Publishing, 2012
4.5 Stars****

In this fun tale of “nothing like waiting ’til the wedding to realize I don’t want to marry you” Beth K. Vogt takes us on an exciting, albeit sometimes, upsetting adventure in the life of Allison Denman.

Allison Denman for years has wanted nothing out of life but to feel she is worthy of love. As a small girl something happened to Allison that has had devastating and lasting effects on the way she sees herself. She just wants someone to love her and make her feel safe. So when in high school Allison meets Seth Rayner she thinks her dreams have come true. But is he exactly what Allison needs or is she missing what God really wants for her life? Allison convinces herself Seth is safe and safe is what she wants, so when Seth asks her to marry him, she says yes.

Since a young man Seth has always played by the rules, he never caused his parents any worries, he went to the college his father picked out and now he is in line to become the owner of the family business. But if Seth is so perfect why does Allison have all these doubts days before the wedding?

When Seth’s older brother, Daniel shows up at Allison’s door five days before the wedding to help her move, Allison thinks nothing of it. There’s nothing to be concerned about, Daniel is like her big brother too since she has known him just as long as she has known Seth. Just because he is so ruggedly handsome and lives an adventurous life and her heart does funny things when he is near, it doesn’t mean anything. When Daniel goes to leave after helping Allison, somehow he finds himself kissing her. What is he thinking? What is Allison thinking? What could possibly come of this? Nothing good if Seth finds out.

On the morning of their wedding Allison is trying so hard to be in a happy mood but somehow nothing is working. She has to go through with this, Seth has planned the perfect wedding she can't ruin it by not showing up. As Allison is walking down the aisle to marry Seth she is still torn by doing what is expected of her and what her heart feels is the right thing to do. Can she do this, can she marry Seth or does God have something much better in store for her life? 

Beth took a “runaway bride” story and added a lot of depth, it was what I expected and even more. Beth takes us through a lot of Allison’s emotions during this conflicting time in her life; she even has to deal with an issue she thought she had overcome as a teen. When I was given a copy of this book to read I honestly thought this would be a quick, quirky, fun read that I would blow through in a couple of days. Boy was I wrong! Thanks Beth! I can't wait to read more of your work!

You can find this terrific book by Beth at Amazon, CBD, Books A Million, and other stores.


Giveaway:  Leave a comment to win a giveaway of Beth's book! She may even autograph it!

Guest Amanda Stephan Reviews Beth Vogt's Debut Book "Wish You Were Here"

Wish You Were Here by Beth Vogt
Howard Publishing, 2012

Reviewed by Amanda Stephan

5 stars *****

Realistic Portrayal of a Confused and Hurting Woman

Meet Seth Rayner. Self-absorbed and selfish, he's so self-assured that he never takes Allison Denman's thoughts or feelings into consideration.

Allison Denman, the lucky bride-to-be who is looking for safety. But is Seth the one to give it to her? After one kiss shared with his brother, Daniel, Alli's not so sure.

With Seth around, you never had to think...

Tough decisions face Allison as she leaves her groom-to-be standing at the altar with his mouth hanging open. Marrying Seth was what everyone expected. It was what Alli wanted. Or so she thought. Until she had to do it. Now, all she could see in her ruined future were lists of regrets and apologies she owed everyone. There was no un-doing her choice. She hadn't thought of all the consequences. Such is the conflicted state of Runaway Bride, Allison.

Guided by her wise friend Meghan and the gentle leading of the Holy Spirit, Allison faces her confused future. Would it have been right to go through with the marriage? While the kiss shared with his brother had at first been innocent enough, was she right to have enjoyed it so much? Would it be possible to share a future with her fiance's brother? These are just a few thoughts troubling Alli.

"If you can stop controlling your life, maybe God will finally have a chance to get a word in edgewise and be able to tell you what He wants for your life."

How many of us could have that statement uttered to us? Meghan, Allison's maid of honor and best friend, is a lighthouse of wisdom as she helps guide Alli back to reality and pull the pieces of her broken life back together.

Are we just the sum total of our past mistakes? Would it be possible to say sorry for a mistake so huge that it would take God's grace to forgive it totally?

This isn't a story about freedom-seekers who have everything under control. This is a story about real people dealing with real situations. Hurting, bruised, broken people. People who make mistakes and people who they've hurt with those mistakes. Although this book is fiction, it packs a punch and is loaded with wisdom. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and am looking forward to more from Beth Vogt.
Highly recommend!

Beth hit some pretty hard issues and treated them respectfully without going into detail.

Amanda Stephan ~ Christian Romance Author
www.booksbyamanda.com

Leave a comment here, too, for the giveaway.  

Interview with Beth Vogt by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Beth Vogt

BETH K. VOGT, welcome to Overcoming With God.  I am very pleased to have made your acquaintance several years ago as part of the My Book Therapy Voice Ezine, which we both contributed to and was recently discontinued.  We appreciate your willingness to share your testimony of overcoming with our readers. 

Would you tell us about the most difficult thing in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help?

I’d like to tell your readers about one of the most difficult things I’m facing right now in my life: vertigo. My first episode happened two years ago (January 2010), and I’m still dealing with periodic vertigo, which can last anywhere from a few days to several months at a time. Most days, I am able to function – drive, write, live my life normally so no one even knows – but there are times I can’t even lift my head up off my pillow without the world tilting off course.

There have been times I’ve pulled the blankets up over my head and cried because I’m just so weary of the dizziness. And then there are times I laugh and joke about having my own personal mental roller coaster. I’ve had close friends and family pray for my healing – and God knows that I believe he can heal me of this. But I also know that, for now, He’s called me to walk this time of vertigo out with faith, trusting that He loves me and hasn’t deserted me, even if I don’t know from day to day if I’m going to wake up and feel like I’m standing on firm ground or on a rolling ship.

My husband and I start each day reciting Psalm 118:24, “This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.”  And I also decided not to waste this experience, so I gave one of my characters in my upcoming novel, Catch a Falling Star, vertigo. My husband said when he read one particular scene he was a bit nauseous, so I know I got it right.

 

What is your favorite bible verse and why?

Different verses have been “favorites” during different seasons in my life. But one that first spoke to me about God’s love for me is Colossians 1:13, which says “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”

Wish You Were Here

Disability friendliness: Is this latest release available in audio format or do you have any other works available on audio?  Do your e-books have audio capability? Do you have any in large print? 

WishYou Were Here and Catch a Falling Star may become available on audio at some point – the sooner the better! I also learned about ensuring my website is accessible to the visually impaired, thanks to Edie Melson and her blog, Write Conversation (http://thewriteconversation.blogspot.com/2012/07/is-your-blog-accessible-to-visually.html). So I am using her recommendations as I update my website and blog.

Catch a Falling Star

What has been the most important thing you hope your readers will get from your books and why?

We are each called to reflect God to others in our unique way – and mine is as a writer. So I hope that readers, wherever they are in their faith walk, are brought one step closer to God as they read my novels. With each story I write, I tackle real-life issues, such facing our mistakes and life not going according to plan – I just wrap them up in a romance.

As you researched your books, did you learn anything that particularly touched your heart?

I learned how dependent I am on both God and others to be the writer I desire to be. I knew writing a novel wasn’t easy and the hard work didn’t scare me. But writing a good novel – now that was scary. And then writing a second novel, and upping my game, that petrified me. I’m blessed to have Rachel Hauck and Susan May Warren as wonderful, godly mentors who pour both their writing talent and their faith into my life. And I also had three very close friends praying for me as I wrote Catch a Falling Star. Their ministry was invaluable. There’s more to writing than what we see.

In this latest work, do you have any topics useful for bibliotherapy, or therapeutic influence through reading about a disorder or situation?

As I mentioned before, I like to write about real life and so a number of topics useful for bibliotherapy show up in both Wish You Were Here and Catch a Falling Star, including:

·         Parental abandonment

·         Parental favoritism

·         Cutting

·         Perfectionism

·         Unhealthy romantic relationships

·         Adoption – and the issues that show up between adoptive children and their foster/adoptive parents

·         Divorce

·         Death of a parent

·         Sibling relationships

Author Bio: Beth K. Vogt is a non-fiction author and editor who said she’d never write fiction. She’s the wife of an Air Force family physician (now in solo practice) who said she’d never marry a doctor—or anyone in the military. She’s a mom of four who said she’d never have kids. She’s discovered that God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” Her contemporary romance novel,Wish You Were Here, debuted in May 2012 (Howard Books), and Catch a Falling Star Releases May 2013. An established magazine writer and former editor of Connections, the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth is also the Skills Coach for My Book Therapy, the writing community founded by best-selling author Susan May Warren. 

Thank you, Beth, for agreeing to answer these questions.  Have a blessed day and keep on writing!!

Giveaways:  We are giving away four copies of Beth's books this week.  Beth is giving away two copies of Wish You Were Here and one copy of Catch a Falling Star.  We are giving away an ebook of either of her books, which helps open the contest up to international readers. We will be giving away throughout the week, for each post.  To enter, answer each post's question and leave your email addy if we don't know you well.  

Question: Have you ever suffered from vertigo?  What happened and how did you deal with it?  Please offer up a prayer for Beth, also--thanks!