{"id":1124,"date":"2009-02-23T16:54:19","date_gmt":"2009-02-23T21:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/\/?p=1124"},"modified":"2009-02-23T16:54:19","modified_gmt":"2009-02-23T21:54:19","slug":"age-before-beauty-by-virginia-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/?p=1124","title":{"rendered":"Age Before Beauty by Virginia Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/strong> book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Today’s Wild Card author is:<\/strong><\/div>\n
Virginia Smith<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n

and the book:<\/span> <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Age before Beauty<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

book 2 in the Sister-to-Sister Series<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Revell (February 1, 2009)<\/strong><\/p>\n

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>Virginia Smith is the author of eight novels, including Age before Beauty, Stuck in the Middle, and A Taste of Murder. In 2008 she was named Writer of the Year at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. A popular retreat speaker, Ginny keeps audiences enthralled with her high-energy presentations. She and her husband, Ted, divide their time between Kentucky and Utah, and escape as often as they can for diving trips to the Caribbean.<\/p>\n

Visit the author’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Product Details:<\/p>\n

List Price: $13.99
\nPaperback: 320 pages
\nPublisher: Revell (February 1, 2009)
\nLanguage: English
\nISBN-10: 0800732332
\nISBN-13: 978-0800732332<\/p>\n

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:<\/span> <\/strong>
\n<\/span>
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The mirror had to be warped. That was the only explanation for the image staring back at Allie from its treacherous surface. Her thighs couldn\u2019t be that wide, her belly that flabby. Could glass warp? Of course not. But the weather so far this fall had been wetter than normal, following a horribly humid Kentucky summer. All that dampness wreaked havoc on the wooden front door at Gram\u2019s house. And this mirror had a wood frame. That had to be it.But the warping seemed only to be in the middle, like one of those fun-house mirrors. She squinted down at her pink toenails. Her feet looked normal. Her face looked okay. Pretty good, even. This was the first time she\u2019d put on makeup in weeks, and a little color worked wonders. She could use a haircut, though the dark blonde layers falling in waves to rest on her shoulders managed to hold the extra length well.<\/p>\n

She blew her bangs out of her eyes. Actually, the long hair made her face look fuller, and that offset some of the width of her hips. Which needed the help, especially now that she got a good look at them wearing only a nursing bra and panties. If she cut some of the volume out of her hair, she\u2019d look like one of those toys she and Joan and Tori played with as kids. What were they called? Weebles. She\u2019d look like Mother Weeble.<\/p>\n

She swayed from side to side, eyeing her oversized bottom half as she sang the toy\u2019s jingle. \u201cWeebles wobble but they don\u2019t fall down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you say something?\u201d<\/p>\n

Allie whirled to find Eric standing in the bedroom doorway, a grin twitching at his mouth. She felt a blush creep up her neck. Though he was the world\u2019s most awesome husband and devoted new daddy, she still felt awkward parading her postmaternity body around in front of him. A flabby belly covered in stretch marks was soooo sexy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long have you been standing there?\u201d<\/p>\n

His voice dropped an octave as his smile deepened. \u201cLong enough to admire my beautiful wife.\u201d<\/p>\n

No mistaking that husky tone. She snatched her jeans off the bed. \u201cDon\u2019t get frisky, lover boy. My sister will be here any minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eric\u2019s lips twisted. \u201cStory of my life lately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allie crossed the room and placed a tender kiss on his cheek. \u201cI\u2019m sorry my family is here so often. They just don\u2019t want to miss a day with the baby. She\u2019s growing so fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know, I know.\u201d He grinned. \u201cBut tonight I get Joanie all to myself. Our first father-daughter date.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allie sat on the edge of the bed and slipped her feet into the jeans, avoiding Eric\u2019s eyes. He had been looking forward to this evening for a full week, ever since Joan invited her to go to a stupid party where some fanatical woman would try to force her to buy something she didn\u2019t want and for which she had no use. If only Joan hadn\u2019t asked in front of Eric, she would have turned the invitation down without a second thought. But he had insisted it was time she took her first outing without the baby.<\/p>\n

Pulling the waistband up around her knees, she gave Eric a worried look. \u201cAre you sure you\u2019ll be okay? She\u2019s only taken a bottle a few times, you know. She might cry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

He held up a finger. \u201cNo buts. She\u2019s five weeks old. In three weeks she\u2019ll be taking a bottle at the daycare center when you go back to work. She needs to get used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tears stung Allie\u2019s eyes, and she looked away so Eric wouldn\u2019t see. \u201cI guess you\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course I am. Now finish getting dressed while I go wind the baby swing again.\u201d<\/p>\n

He left, and Allie sat staring at the handwoven rug in front of their bed. Three weeks. Then she\u2019d have to leave her precious little Joanie in the hands of a total stranger.<\/p>\n

If only . . .<\/p>\n

She jerked the shirt over her head. No. One of the things she and Eric had talked about before they got married was how they\u2019d handle life after they started having children. She\u2019d insisted on laying it all out, because Eric\u2019s mother had been a stay-at-home mom, and Allie wanted to make absolutely sure he didn\u2019t have the same expectations. Her toenail caught the edge of her sock as she tugged it up, and she hissed with pain. No way would she become one of those women relegated to a dull life of child rearing. She was a career woman\u2014the second sock followed the first\u2014with a college degree and plans for her professional future. She liked her job, liked the independence it gave her. Besides, they agreed on having two incomes so they could afford things like nice clothes and good cars and vacations at the beach.<\/p>\n

But that was before she\u2019d had a baby.<\/p>\n

If only there was some way she could pursue her career and keep her daughter at home. She had quietly investigated every work-from-home scheme she could find lately, but all of them sounded more like scams than jobs.<\/p>\n

Banishing the tears, she stood. No sense crying about it. She had no option. In three weeks she\u2019d return to her job as a team leader at the social services office. She might even be able to recapture some of the excitement and ambition she\u2019d felt before she got pregnant. At the moment, though, it sounded like a life sentence with no chance of parole.<\/p>\n

She pulled her jeans up over her knees. This was the first pair of zippered pants she\u2019d tried to wear since Joanie\u2019s birth, having lived in sweats and oversized T-shirts once she put away the maternity clothes. Wiggling her hips back and forth, she inched them upward. Come on, come on, they had to fit. They were her biggest jeans, stretchy and so loose that she\u2019d worn them all the way up to her fifth month of pregnancy. Just a little farther . . .<\/p>\n

Ugh. She panted from the effort. But at least she\u2019d managed to get them pulled all the way up.<\/p>\n

Now the zipper. Suck that gut in. Pull hard. Harder. She hopped up and down, tugging at the waistband. Okay, if the zipper wouldn\u2019t go all the way to the top, it didn\u2019t matter. She\u2019d just wear her shirttail out. Everybody did these days. As long as she could get the button fastened.<\/p>\n

There! They fit! She was wearing pre-baby Levis! Well, sort of.<\/p>\n

She stepped up to the mirror and bit back a gasp.<\/p>\n

The stupid thing had to be warped.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, look at you all dressed up.\u201d Joan stood on the doorstep, car keys clutched in one hand. \u201cYou look great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allie scowled and tried not to think of the jeans she could almost wear shoved in the back of her bottom drawer. \u201cThese are maternity pants. Nothing else fits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh.\u201d Joan\u2019s smile drooped a fraction, then brightened again. \u201cBut that\u2019s not a maternity shirt. And turquoise is totally your color.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her eyes shifted to a point inside the room, then she practically bowled Allie over as she rushed toward the swing to snatch up the baby. Sighing, Allie closed the door. So much for Joanie\u2019s nap.<\/p>\n

Allie tried to ignore a wave of insecurity as she admired her sister\u2019s slim frame, the way her jeans fit without a single bulge. Straight dark hair fell forward to tickle the baby\u2019s face as Joan cooed at her slumbering namesake while she unfastened the safety strap. Soft baby noises answered as little Joanie\u2019s eyelids fluttered open. Allie clasped her hands together to keep from taking the infant from her middle sister\u2019s arms. She was so sweet when she first woke. Tiny fists rose above her head and she kicked her legs out to their full length and arched her back to stretch.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at her! I swear she\u2019s grown an inch since the last time I saw her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allie answered dryly. \u201cI doubt that, since you came over yesterday.\u201d She held her hands out. \u201cHere, let me change her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joan clutched the baby closer. \u201cI\u2019ll do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a sigh, Allie followed her sister into the nursery. Bright pink daisies on fields of green bordered the white walls and also decorated lacy curtains and crib bedding. Joan laid Joanie on a daisy-covered pad atop the changing table. While she unsnapped the pink onesie, Allie took a diaper from the stacker and popped open the plastic cap on the wipes. The sweet smell of baby powder was quickly replaced with a less pleasant odor when Joan peeled the tape off the dirty diaper.<\/p>\n

Eric stuck his head through the doorway as Allie pulled out a wipe and handed it to Joan. \u201cWhew, I\u2019m glad you girls got that out of the way before you left. Of course, the way this little piggie eats, I probably have at least one unpleasant surprise in store tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry.\u201d Allie dropped the soiled bundle into the Diaper Genie and twisted the knob. \u201cWe won\u2019t be gone very long. I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll be back for the next dirty diaper.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m kidding, Allie. You know I don\u2019t mind taking care of my girl.\u201d He leaned over and buried a kiss in Joanie\u2019s chubby neck, eliciting a gurgle and an excited waving of arms and legs.<\/p>\n

Joan snapped the onesie back in place over the fresh diaper and picked up the squirming infant. Allie stepped forward to take her, but instead Joan thrust her into Eric\u2019s arms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time to go. I don\u2019t want to be late.\u201d With a meaningful glance in Allie\u2019s direction, she marched out of the room, Eric right behind her with Joanie hugged tightly to his chest.<\/p>\n

Left alone in the nursery, Allie fought a wave of panic that caused her throat to tighten with unshed tears. Cheerful daisies mocked her. She knew this feeling, had sensed the edges of it creeping toward her all day. The moment had come. After five weeks of constantly being in Joanie\u2019s presence, she was about to leave her in someone else\u2019s care.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be ridiculous. She scrubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. Joanie wasn\u2019t staying with a stranger. She was staying with her daddy! He\u2019d watched her many times while Allie enjoyed a long bath or a nap.<\/p>\n

But what if she cries? What if she misses me?<\/p>\n

She started toward the living room, and then stopped short as an even more distressing thought struck her. What if she doesn\u2019t even notice I\u2019m gone?<\/p>\n

\u201cAllie, are you coming?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joan\u2019s voice propelled her feet into motion. She would not think about that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

One step took her from the hallway into their tiny living room, where Eric had deposited Joanie on the mat beneath her baby gym. Allie fought to suppress a wave of regret when chubby infant hands waved with erratic enthusiasm at the dangling toys, and happy coos filled the room. It had only been in the past few days that she\u2019d started noticing the toys. She was growing so fast, changing every day. What if she did something really cool for the first time tonight, while Allie wasn\u2019t here to see it? She dropped to her knees and showered Joanie\u2019s face with goodbye kisses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a couple of bottles all ready to go in the fridge,\u201d she told Eric. \u201cRun hot water over them to warm them. Don\u2019t use the microwave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eric stood and pulled her up with him. \u201cI won\u2019t.\u201d He planted a kiss on her cheek.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe ate two hours ago, so she\u2019ll probably be hungry around eight. If she gets fussy before\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Joan grabbed her arm and steered her forcefully toward the front door. \u201cCome along, Mother. It\u2019s time to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thoughts of all the terrible things that could happen pummeled her mind like giant hailstones. She pulled away and whirled toward Eric. \u201cDon\u2019t give her a bath until I get home. You know how slippery she is when she\u2019s soapy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face the door. \u201cStop worrying. We\u2019ll be fine. Now go have a good time.\u201d A gentle shove pushed her forward.<\/p>\n

From the porch, Joan seized her and jerked her through the doorway. Allie shook her off and spun around to remind Eric to put the baby\u2019s sweater on because the house would cool when the sun went down, but the front door slammed shut in her face. Tears welled in her eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re pathetic.\u201d Joan folded her arms across her chest and leveled an unsympathetic look on her.<\/p>\n

Allie sniffled. \u201cIt\u2019s the first time we\u2019ve been apart in five weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen it\u2019s about time you gave the poor kid some breathing room.\u201d She shook her head. \u201cYou\u2019re becoming one of those hovering mothers. I can totally see you stalking her on the kindergarten playground during recess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Actually, Allie didn\u2019t see a problem with dropping by to check on your kids during the day, but in the face of Joan\u2019s sardonic expression, she didn\u2019t dare mention it. Instead she lifted a chin. \u201cI will not be a hovering mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

A snort blasted from her sister\u2019s nose. \u201cI know my big sister. You\u2019ll hover like a helicopter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her head held high, Allie marched past Joan toward the driveway. \u201cI thought you didn\u2019t want to be late.\u201d<\/p>\n

She rubbed her hands on her arms. It was a chilly fifty degrees, and the orange October sun was rapidly dropping toward the horizon. They\u2019d shoved her out the door without a jacket, but she didn\u2019t dare go back inside now or she\u2019d never hear the end of it. Serve them both right if she caught pneumonia and died.<\/p>\n

For more information about Age before Beauty, visit www.VirginiaSmith.org<\/p>\n

Used by permission of Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, copyright \u00a92009. All rights to this material are reserved. Materials are not to be distributed to other web locations for retrieval, published in other media, or mirrored at other sites without written permission from Baker Publishing Group. www.BakerPublishingGroup.com<\/p><\/div>\n

MY REVIEW:<\/h3>\n

Age Before Beauty<\/a> is a well written story that perfectly illustrates how\u00a0 self-dependency rather than reliance on God can cause multiple problems in a person’s life. As Allie works to build a business of her own in order to spend more time with her husband and new baby, she finds herself alienated from her husband, deeper and deeper in debt, and increasingly stressed and unhappy with her work. Throw an unwelcome mother-in-law and a flirtatious coworker\u00a0 into the mix and the potential for a very interesting tale emerges.<\/p>\n

Will Allie and Eric be able to work out their problems? Will Allie listen to her sister Joan and turn to the Lord for answers? Get a copy of Age Before Beauty<\/a> and find out for yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1124"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1127,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124\/revisions\/1127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}