Mrs. Perfect

My Review:

I first discovered Jane Porter years ago when I happened across her book "The Frog Prince" in our library.  It made me laugh out loud so I didn't hesitate when I saw this novel of hers on deal (Christmas bookstore giftcards are amazing!!).

This is the story of Taylor Young...a woman who reminds me a little of the women we see on all the Real Housewives shows.  She is perfect...in everything thing she does...on the outside.  But on the inside, where the prying eyes of the perfect neighborhood can't see, she struggles as much as any other woman (including the RHs set) with our own past and insecurities.  So when she finds out that much of what she was trusting in was a lie, she is forced to figure out who Taylor Young really is.

I was very aware of the reality that we live in, where what you own and how you look is what defines so many in the world today...every commercial we see is about weight loss, new cars and upgraded technology these days. But as the "stuff" faded away, I related to the woman who had to realize what was really important.  As I watch her let go of the "fake" to embrace the real, I am convicted of the areas where even I get too wrapped up in the "non-important" in life.  While the ending runs a a bit on the predictable end...I actually found myself rooting for Taylor to get all that I think she deserved.

Cover Information:
As a young California girl growing up in a blue collar neighborhood, Taylor Young dreamed of being popular, beautiful, and acquiring a wardrobe to die for. Not to mention marrying a handsome, successful man and living happily ever after in a gorgeous house with three wonderful children. Now, at 36, Taylor has reached the pinnacle of her dreams, but is it all about to unravel? As the new school year approaches, Taylor prepares herself for playing the perfect alpha mom: organizing class activities, fund-raising, and chairing the school auction.
But the horror!
Her archrival, bohemian mom Marta Zinsser, is named Head Room Mom of Taylor's daughter's fifth grade class.
As tensions rise at committee meetings and school activities, the two rivals seem to be destined for a final confrontation. But as Taylor plans her next move, she is floored by a more serious blow at home-her husband has been secretly unemployed for the past six months. With her posh lifestyle crumbling, Taylor struggles to maintain her alpha image-but could Marta, who cares little about appearances, be her only true friend?

My only caution that this is not a Christian Fiction book...and while it is not a "romance novel", it does contain a bit of cursing and references to sex.

Still Reading...
Bina

Havah: The Story of Eve

I have actually read this book twice now...and both times felt myself experiencing an emotional rollercoaster much like the one Eve travels in Tosca Lee's fictional rendition of her story.  In fact, this reading inspired me to lay out my own heart in regard to how this beautiful creature must have felt at one point, banished from Eden.  To read that, click here to pop over to my main blog.

Opening on the moment breath first enters her lungs, the reader is instantly transported into the perfection that was Eden...and Adam...and an untarnished relationship with the One that is the center of their world.  By the time the author brings us to the big moment of Eve's choice, I felt the beauty of the world that was...and as the scene plays out and the apple is devoured, a small part of me screamed out along with Eve upon the realization of what her choice would mean. 

From the introduction to the final farewell of the mother of all that live, I found my mind captured in a way that made my heart both love and break open for this woman.  She is both the reason we are all here and the reason why we all live under the curse of sin...and yet, she must also have been a woman of great emotion and regret as she moved thru her life, day after day, seperated from the original perfection that was once hers. 

Back Cover Information:

Havah, Adam's chosen name for Eve, recounts her life from a singular vantage point. From having known only blissful innocence, she must struggle through every post-Garden moment. Frustration compounds her plight as she repeatedly attempts to regain her former idyllic existence and repeatedly fails. Havah's life becomes a fight for survival once she and Adam are cast from the Garden, and Lee's poetic prose beautifully depicts the couple's slow surrender to a world tending to destruction. Havah gives birth, raises a brood of children, watches one son kill another, observes disease and death. Yet all the while, she waits for the fulfillment of "the One" (God) who will bring reconciliation and redemption through her seed. Lee's superior storytelling will have readers weeping for all that Havah forfeited by a single damning choice.

I am both moved and inspired by Tosca's ability to weave poetry out of her choice of words and her talent of painting a masterpiece with each and every scene...and I would highly recommend this read for anyone who enjoys Biblical historical fiction.

Still Reading...
Bina

Just One Of David's Women: Michal

It was last in my stack of summer-must-reads...but that's ok cuz I'm a sucker for Christian historical fiction and this book helped to remind me why.

Her face glows from the cover as her eyes left me wondering exactly what she is thinking...until I began to read her story and then I knew exactly what was going thru this chickie-poo's mind.  (Well at least from the viewpoint of Jill Eileen Smith, anyway.)

Michal was the first wife of King David...the one who captured his heart and caused him to double the dowry price asked by her father, King Saul.  But, this sweet girlie is also the same one who is later on listed as "despising David in her heart" as she watched him dance in the streets in praise over the return of the Ark of the Covenant.  I'm sure you can understand when I say that I've read this Bible story many times and have always just thought Michal to be a "spoiled little rich girl"...but as I experienced her thru new eyes, I found myself feeling for her as her life is played out before me. 

This princess is traded to a handsome husband and then very soon abandoned as David flees from the murder-plotting Saul.  She then is forced to get married to yet another man at her father's whims only to be re-claimed (over 15 years later) by the now King David when he decides he wants her back.  What girl wouldn't throw a bit of attitude on the cover of her story after all that, I ask you?!?

I love the way Jill presented characters with such depth and emotion that you can't help but feel as though you know them..and since King David is one of my all time favorite Biblical characters, it was an added bonus to get to experience his rise to power in a book so well-written and researched.  If you like a great story that is wrapped around Biblical accuracy and characters you can learn to love (either again or for the first time)...this is a definate title to check out!   Can't wait to dig into Abigail...the second in the series.

Welp...it's been a long hard day...made up of staying in bed till 10 and in PJ's till almost 3.  I am off to snuggle with my hubby for a bit before bed as I feel I have deserved it today.  Woo hoo!!

Looking up as always...