I was unaware Saving Grace by Annie Jones is a sequel to another book which really made some of the references harder to understand. For the most part though, the book could be a standalone book.
My only real complaint, if you will, is Saving Grace, really isn't so much about how Naomi, Rose, Lucy and Gayle save Grace as it is how these four friends each save themselves through God's grace.
The book styles itself as a book about the reclusive widow Grace Grayson-Wiley, but you find out next to nothing about Grace, until near the end of the book. Her eccentric yearly habit of dressing for the New Bethany Splendor Belle Gala and waiting for her "beau" is described in the first few chapters. Otherwise the book remains silent about Grace, and the four leading ladies' lives are examined..
Each of the four ladies have their own real life crises to deal with. Naomi is an older newlywed adjusting to her blended family. She discovers shocking and seemingly unwelcome news making her yearn for her deceased mother. Rose's boyfriend is suddenly secretive and petulant. At the same time her career daughter loses her job and moves back home with no intensions of moving out. Gayle's husband seems to be withdrawing and she fears he's having an affair. She has no reason to doubt his fidelity and doesn't want to accept he could have a physical cause for his withdrawal. And Lucy is finally beginning to trust herself around the same time handsome bachelor Dr. Ben Martin moves into town, needing her day care services. His alternating hot and cold pursuit throws all her old insecurities into high gear.
I enjoyed the book despite the fact that Grace's story gets little mention until solved in the last chapter of the book. The book captures your attention and holds it with the stories of the four "real" leading ladies.
Saving Grace is a sweet Christian story illustrating our need for friends and most of all our need for God's grace.
I plan to check out the first book and meet my new "friends" again. I also want to check out other books by Annie Jones.
The e-copy of this book was provided to me by Waterbrook-Multnomah in exchange for an honest review.
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