Regina Jennings's "Caught in the Middle" Reviewed by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Caught in the Middle

Caught in the Middle by Regina Jennings

Book 3 of the Ladies of Caldwell County

Bethany House Publishers

My OWG blog angels introduced me to Regina Jennings books two years ago, but I didn't get a chance to read her work until recently.  I began with the novel that the Angels raved about: Sixty Acres and a Bride.

In the month of March, while recovering from foot surgery, I made up for lost time and read all three of her books on my Kindle!

Anne Tillerton is the abused wife from Sixty Acres and a Bride. SPOILER: She had ended up killing her husband when he tried to assault Rosa. The story starts out with a literal bang when Anne rescues a train being robbed and she shoots the toe off one of the bandits! She'd intervened when Hero Nicholas Lovelace (the antagonist's brother from book one) was trying to protect one of the young ladies. He would have been attacked if Anne had not acted. 

In Regina's latest book we finally get to understand what had happened to Anne. She'd been brought up by an unloving father and then been lured into intimate relations with her teacher, who becomes her husband.  After marriage this pedophile also becomes physically abusive. Is it any wonder that Anne has no desire to remarry? She's been hanging out with a bunch of buffalo hunters and is still a crack shot.  Nick is now living where Anne has ventured off to while searching for her old friend to bring back to a nearby town to serve as a cook. But her "friend," who has had an illegitimate child, is living is what we soon discover is a bawdy house. And the woman departs with a new consort leaving behind her infant son!

Anne takes the child to  Nick's office, since he offered his assistance, if she needed it, after the train robbery   Nick meanwhile is running for a political office and Anne wants to return to her group of buffalo hunters. But the baby grows on both of them as they begin to love the little boy and grow in their relationship with each other.

You will find yourself rooting for this unlikely couple all the way through! Strong story and character arcs.  Well done, Regina!

Bibliotherapy elements: Abandonment, abuse, adoption, trust, and learning to love again!

You can purchase this and other books by Regina at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and CBD and other bookstores.

Giveaway: We're giving away two books this week. One is an autographed copy of Caught in the Middle and the other is winner's choice of any of Regina's books, choice of format.

Interview with Tamera Alexander

Tamera Alexander

Tamera Alexander is the author of A Lasting Impression, and also of Rekindled and The Inheritance, and is currently working on her tenth novel. Her fall 2012 release, To Whisper Her Name, showcases the history of the Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville, the most successful thoroughbred stud farm in American history. 

Tamera, welcome to Overcoming Through Time – With God’s Help.  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?

One of the most difficult struggles in my life is also––through God’s grace––one of my greatest victories. But as we know, every victor bears the scars of struggle. Sometimes those scars are visible, sometimes they’re hidden, but they’re still there. I was sexually molested when I was a young girl. The incidents occurred over a two-year period. The perpetrator was not someone in my family. It was a family “friend.” As I matured, I grew to realize that none of what happened was my “fault.” But at the time, and for years following, I felt as though I’d done something wrong. I felt dirty. And somehow…less.

That feeling took root inside me and manifested itself in the form of deep insecurity and self-doubt. Even stuttering. When I was around the age of 13, someone I respected read a poem I’d written and told me, “You’ll be making an a** of yourself if you ever let anyone read what you’ve written.” Due to lingering childhood issues, I took that statement to heart and put away writing for many, many years.

In my teen years and through college, God filled my life with people who helped me work through my past issues and hurts. He healed me of so much of that pain. And through a turn of events later in life, he drew me back to the love of writing. With writing comes risk. Risk that can feed insecurity and self-doubt. Funny little twist, huh? But God never calls us to do something we could accomplish on our own. He calls us to God-sized tasks so we’ll learn to rely on his strength and not ours. And his strength––like his grace and healing––is immeasurable!

What is your favorite bible verse and why?

I love Jeremiah 29:11-13, a much-quoted promise and one that’s very familiar to us…

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”

Sounds great, huh? God has a plan for you and me. Plans for good, not for harm. Plans to give us a future and a hope. God will listen to our prayers. If we look for Him wholeheartedly, we’ll find him. This is all great stuff! But…

Are you familiar with verse 10 of that same chapter, and verse 14? The two verses that [bracket] the promise we love to quote? They’re not as frequently quoted, but they should be. Note verse 10 and 14 in bold below:

“This is what the Lord says, “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you, says the Lord. I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your land.”

Captivity. God is promising captivity.

So yes, while verses 11-13 offer comfort and hope, don’t forget that God first promised his “chosen people” seventy years of struggle and hardship, circumstances they would never have chosen for themselves. Sound familiar?

These verses demonstrate to me that I should never judge God by my circumstances. They also remind me that sometimes, enduring a hurt or a painful circumstance is the best way for me to grow closer to God. And isn’t that the ultimate goal of my earthly journey, and God’s will for me here…to grow closer to him. To become more like Christ.

A Lasting Impression

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? 

Yes, A Lasting Impression is available in audio and large print and ebook, as are all my other novels.

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

As I write, I take steps closer to Christ. And it’s my deepest hope that readers––as they read my stories––will take steps closer to him too.

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

I particularly enjoyed writing A Lasting Impression because Claire Laurent and Adelicia Acklen (the “real” woman who built the Belmont Mansion) were both strong women with internal struggles. Struggles they hid well, and that only a handful of people around them knew about. Struggles (and weaknesses) that God used to make them stronger.

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

I’ve received numerous letters from readers who have struggled with insecurity and self-doubt due to past hurts, and who found encouragement and hope as they read A Lasting Impression. A Lasting Impression is about authenticity. It’s about being real first with yourself, then with others. And ultimately with God. 

All of my stories grow from either a personal struggle or a question I’m wrestling with in my own life. For instance, as I was writing my book, Within My Heart, I’d just lost my precious mom to gallbladder cancer, so much of my “working through grief of loss” is in that story, as well as many of my last moments with Mom.

Anything else you’d like to share, Tamera?

Thanks so much for the chance to share how God has poured grace and healing into my life. I’ll be sure to visit back often during this week, so if anyone has any questions––or maybe if they want to share their stories in the hope of encouraging others––I’ll be visiting and reading!

Thank you, Tamera, for sharing part of your journey with us. Have a blessed day and keep on writing!

Tamera Alexander is a bestselling novelist whose works have been awarded and nominated for numerous honors, including the Christy Award, the RITA Award, and the Carol Award. After seventeen years in Colorado, Tamera and her husband have returned to their native South and live in Nashville, Tennessee, where they enjoy spending time with their two grown children, and a ten-pound silky terrier named Jack.

LINKS for purchases of all Tamera's books (click here.) 

October 2012 (November 2012 release but book starts shipping October 10th)To Whisper Her Name, a Belle Meade Plantation novel by Zondervan. (OTT: We got our copies from Amazon, yay!!!)

GIVEAWAYS: Tamera is also doing a giveaway for us this week in addition to our giveaways of a book of choice plus one Tamera Alexander paperback that we are giving away ourselves--grand total of THREE giveaways this week. 

QUESTION: Have you lost a parent to cancer? How did you cope?

Carrie Fancett Pagels Reviews A Passion Redeemed (Daughters of Boston) by Julie Lessman

A Passion Redeemed

Daughters of Boston, Book Two

By Julie Lessman

(Revell, 2008)

Reviewed by Carrie Fancett Pagels

5 Stars *****

World War I has ended and Charity O’Connor determines that she will have Mitch for her husband. Except that because of his relationship with her sister, Faith, Mitch does not want Charity as a wife, because she does not have the Lord in her life. This is the second of the current five novels in this and the next series of the O’Connors, an Irish Catholic family, living in Boston and Ireland.

In some ways Charity represents we as sinners who act in the flesh, looking only for our own wants. While she uses her physical attributes to entice the man she wants to consider marriage she is also manipulating another, and dangerous, man. Her plan backfires with serious repercussions and Charity must leave Ireland and return to America. She lies and schemes but struggles, knowing on some level that what she is doing is wrong. 

Readers may love to hate Charity, but she makes the right choice, after being taken under the wing of the same strong Christian man, John Brady, who led her former beau, Collin, to the Lord.  The sisters have to learn how to renegotiate their relationships after  all Charity has done to destroy what she shared with her older sister. 

Julie Lessman’s books are full of “Passion with a Purpose” and this big book, so make room for time in your schedule because you will not want to put it down. 

Spoiler alert/bibliotherapy: There is a reason that Charity behaves so provocatively.  Part has to do with losing her older sister Hope to polio and losing her position as Daddy’s girl when her father sinks his energies into his relationship with the surviving twin – Faith. And something happened to Charity. In this current story there are two violent attacks that could trouble some readers.  Most of it is off the page, but not all. I still gave this book a five star review as it was extremely well done. It takes some savvy to take such topics and handle them well, and Julie has done so!

I love Julie's books and can hardly wait until her next release!!!  

Julie Lessman's books can be purchased on CBD, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lifeway, and other book stores.

GIVEAWAY:  Leave a comment and your email to be entered in this week’s contest.  Drawing will be late Saturday.  Your choice of Julie's books, choice of format*. Void where prohibited by law. *International winners will only receive the book in ebook format not as a paperback. Three giveaways this week!

Overcoming Childhood Sexual Abuse – With God’s Help, by Carrie Fancett Pagels

When Abuse in Within the Extended Family

In this post I am not going to address to the child who is sexually assaulted or molested by strangers or someone outside the extended family.  There are some differences in the dynamics. I am a believer that no amount of therapy is going to bring healing to a sexually abused child like God’s touch.  His gentle, loving ministrations to us, sometimes through others. And it is often hard for a child to trust others after being betrayed by someone who is supposed to love and care for them.

So at the heart of sexual abuse is a loss of trust. Relationships are often problematic. The child who has been abused may isolate, be quiet, or try to be perfectly.  Conversely, there are children who begin to sexually act out or be provocative in their relationships with others.  Almost always there are somatic symptoms.  Chronic stress can affect many facets of health. 

God loves us. I don’t know why He allows this travesty to occur. What we do know is that He promises us that He will never leave nor forsake us and that He can bring healing. 

Kim Vogel Sawyer’s ministry focuses on bringing beauty for ashes.  Her testimony is an example of how God can help those who have been abused, even for years and years, to be overcomers, through Christ. 

We have enjoyed having Kim on the blog this week.  I am listening to "Courting Miss Amsel" on audio right now and loving the story.  God has blessed Kim with a nine book contract recently!  And one of our readers is about to be blessed with a Kim book!

Thank you, Lord, that  You are sufficient and that You can heal ALL our hurts, including those so terrible that they may never be expressed aloud.  We give You thanks and praise, for your healing.  In Jesus’s precious name, Amen.