A Family Forever by Brenda Coulter

"A Family Forever is a superbly written and heartfelt story. Brenda Coulter brings to light real-life faith struggles and God’s healing grace."--Romantic Times BOOKclub

This month’s book review is on A Family Forever by Brenda Coulter (published by Steeple Hill copyright 2006).

To the guys who are reading this post I must tell you that my husband decided to read this one too…and he couldn’t put it down. He read it in two sittings (it would have been one but I MADE him go to sleep!) It is THAT good! Even though it is a "Romance Novel", the story is so good that you will forget you are reading a "chick book!" I can tell you that this had to have been a "NO BRAINER" about being published. After the first chapter you will be hooked…I bet the publisher said, "PRINT IT NOW!" Man, I am not exaggerating; this book is a MUST READ!

Okay, so I have you interested, right? I hope so! Here is what it is about:

It starts out in a café with Shelby staring at her mushroom omelet with revulsion. Now, the ladies who have gone through morning sickness (and the men who have watched their wives go through this lovely process) can relate…I’m not really giving anything away by telling you that Shelby has just realized that she is a little bit more than three weeks pregnant. The problem is that her fiancé, David, just died three weeks ago…she is sitting in the café with her fiancé’s brother, Tucker, and they are discussing how each other are getting along and dealing with David’s death. Suddenly Tucker puts two and two together and gets ‘uh’ baby.

Shelby is embarrassed.

She and David were supposed to be getting married…she knew she shouldn’t have slept with him, but she thought it would be okay since the wedding was to be soon. She is a Christian and David and his family were too.

She feels that God is punishing her. She also feels that Tucker never approved of her…that she wasn’t good enough. He did not want his brother to marry her.

Tucker knows that Shelby cannot afford to have the baby. He also feels obligated to take care of Shelby for David’s sake.

Tucker feels guilty.

He thinks that his brother died because he didn’t stop him from riding his motorcycle without a helmet on the wet street that night. David’s last words were, "Take care of her?"

So, Tucker asks Shelby to marry him…he would take care of her and the baby.

Shelby wants to keep the baby and sees no other alternative…she agrees but on the condition that it is only for the baby’s happiness.

That was what the first chapter kind of covered…I’m not going to tell you EVERYTHING! I will tell you that Shelby had suffered through much abuse in her life and she must deal with a lot of trust issues during the book.

So, what do you think? Can two people who do not love each other find happiness in a marriage of convenience? Will a baby be happy in such a family? What about grief? They haven’t even had time to grieve! What will people say? What will their families say?

I laughed and cried while reading this book. I literally had tears streaming down my face as I bawled like a baby. (I know I am sounding way too cliché but it is all true!) This book will rip your heart out and then replace it with a larger model. It has some great Christian lessons also.

Man, I think I’m going to go reread it! I hope you decide to read it too. If you want to order it from Amazon.com click here.

Also, Brenda is a blogger! She very sweetly sent me my very own autographed copy for the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance Blog Tour. Go say "Hey!" to her at her blog, No Rules. Just Write.

A Family Forever is Brenda’s second 'Love Inspired' book. Her first was Finding Hope...I’ve got to order and read that one still.