MY REVIEW:
“Hope Springs” is a multi-layered story whose principal characters are members of the Sanders and Dillon families, close neighbors and close friends. In a town long known for its racial prejudice, they haven’t allowed the color of their skin to get in the way of their relationships – at least in most instances. When Pastor Jim Dillon dies suddenly and grandmother Geri Sanders is diagnosed with cancer, the younger generation finds themselves renewing old acquaintances and making new friends when they come back to town.
Granddaughters Janelle and Stephanie decide to stay in town and help their grandmother through her chemotherapy and their cousin Libby is a frequent visitor. Todd and Becca Dillon move back to his childhood home next door. Each of them bring their own unresolved issues with them but through their interactions with old and new friends, they learn to turn their troubles over to the Lord and find their lives forever changed.
“Hope Springs” has quite a few characters to keep straight as well as various sub-plots but the lives of these characters are so entwined that it is not too difficult to sort out. The plot and the situations surrounding the characters are described well and seem perfectly natural. I really liked how encouraging they were to each other and how they seemed to draw each other out. Racial prejudice is handled honestly yet tactfully and some really good ideas for promoting unity between the races were suggested within the story.
“Hope Springs” has a strong message of faith including reliance on God rather than self, forgiveness, and reconciliation. There are several good lessons to be learned in its pages. I highly recommend it.
This book was provided for review by LitFuse Publicity.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
In a small community where everyone is holding tight to something, the biggest challenge may be learning to let go.
Hope Springs, North Carolina, is the epitome of small town life-a place filled with quiet streets, a place where there’s not a lot of change. Until three women suddenly find themselves planted there for a season.
Janelle hasn’t gone back to Hope Springs for family reunions since losing her husband. But when she arrives for Christmas and learns that her grandmother is gravely ill, she decides to extend the stay. It isn’t long before she runs into her first love, and feelings that have been dormant for more than a decade are reawakened.
Becca is finally on the trajectory she’s longed for. Having been in the ministry trenches for years, she’s been recruited as the newest speaker of a large Christian women’s conference. But her husband feels called to become the pastor of his late father’s church in Hope Springs.
And Stephanie has the ideal life-married to a doctor in St. Louis with absolutely nothing she has to do. When her cousin Janelle volunteers to stay in Hope Springs and care for their grandmother, she feels strangely compelled to do the same. It’s a decision that will forever change her.
As these women come together, they soon recognize that healing is needed in their hearts, their families, and their churches. God’s plan for them in Hope Springs-is bigger than they ever imagined.
“Kim Cash Tate draws us into a world where the dreams, desires, missteps, and matters of the heart we discover mirror our own. She is a master at crafting characters who make you forget you’re reading fiction. By the end of Hope Springs, you’ll feel as if you’re cheering on members of your extended family.” —Stacy Hawkins Adams, bestselling author of Coming Home and The Someday List
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kim Cash Tate is the author of Cherished, Faithful, Heavenly Places and the memoir More Christian than African-American. A former practicing attorney, she is also the founder of Colored in Christ Ministries. She and her husband have two children.
Find out more about Kim, her other books and read her blog at www.kimcashtate.com.
Read what other blogger are saying about “Hope Springs” HERE.
Win a Kindle Fire at @KimCashTate’s Hope Springs Author Chat Party {7/10}!
| Celebrate the release of Hope Springswith Kim Cash Tate by coming to her Author Chat Party on Facebook.Grab your copy of Hope Springs and join Kim for an Author Chat Party on July 10th at 8:00 PM EST (that’s 7:00 Central, 6:00 MST, & 5:00 PST)!During the evening Kim will be sharing the story behind her new book, posting book club questions, testing your trivia skills, and of course, there will be plenty of chatting and fun giveaways – books, gift certificates and (I’m so excited about this) – a Kindle Fire!But, wait there’s more – she’ll also be giving you a sneak peak of her next book too!
RSVP today and then come back on the 10th … and bring your friends! |
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