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Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for Downsizing<\/i><\/b> by Lin Stepp, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours<\/a>!<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”MY REVIEW” _builder_version=”4.9.3″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n MY REVIEW:<\/strong><\/p>\n Downsizing<\/em> may be just the book for those readers who complain that most Christian romance novels feature young, beautiful women. Mary Pat is a wife who has paid her dues. She has raised her children well, taken care of her home and husband, and participated in various community organizations during her marriage. When her husband of thirty-four years comes home with the unexpected announcement that he wants a divorce because she has become boring and has gained too much weight, Mary Pat is shocked. The icing on the cake is that she must vacate their home because he has already sold it. Fortunately he has signed over to her the family vacation home near Gatlinburg where she grew up.<\/p>\n A well written story that takes the reader through a multitude of emotions along with Mary Pat, Downsizing<\/em> is ultimately a tale of forgiveness, hope. and second chances as well as overcoming obstacles in one’s life. I could easily identify with Mary Pat’s weight problem because it is one I have struggled with most of my life. I do wish I could overcome it as easily as Mary Pat seemed to do it. It was encouraging to observe how the relationship between Mary Pat and her children improved, especially the one with her daughter. Faith is an important component of this story but was not overpowering. I also liked how the title described both Mary Pat’s weight loss and her living circumstances. I would recommend this book to those who prefer more mature primary characters.<\/p>\n I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by Just Read Tours. A favorable review was not required. All views expressed are my own.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Downsizing-Cover.jpg” title_text=”Downsizing Cover” _builder_version=”4.9.3″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”ABOUT THE BOOK” _builder_version=”4.9.3″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n ABOUT THE BOOK:<\/strong><\/p>\n Title: <\/b>Downsizing<\/p>\n Series:<\/b> Mountain Home Books #2<\/p>\n Author: <\/b>Lin Stepp<\/p>\n Publisher:<\/b> Mountain Hill Press<\/p>\n Release Date:<\/b> April 1, 2021<\/p>\n Genre:<\/b> Clean\/Sweet Contemporary Romance<\/p>\n Forced to suddenly downsize her life, and not by choice, pushes Mary Pat Latham to give up all that is familiar, to reexamine her life in every area, and to eventually open her heart to new beauty and purpose, instead of only looking back in regret.<\/i><\/p>\n At midlife, Mary Pat Latham has an almost perfect life\u2014a successful husband, a beautiful home, four fine grown children, and a wealth of meaningful activities and social clubs to fill her days\u2014so it\u2019s a total shock when her husband walks in one day and says he wants a divorce. As if hearing a stranger talking in her own kitchen, Mary Pat listens to Russell\u2019s reasons for wanting to abandon their long marriage and to his plans, already in place, to sell their home and move on. What will she do? Where will she go? She hasn\u2019t worked since the children were born, her life wrapped up in home and family. Stunned, Mary Pat heads to the small mountain home she and Russell bought from her parents years ago, too shocked and humiliated to face her friends or anyone she knows right now.<\/p>\n Owen McCarter knew he\u2019d need to stop by the old Jennings place, on some pretense or other, after Wheeler told him he\u2019d seen a woman up there acting sick. After all, the house was next door to his at the end of Highland Drive. When he knocked on the front door later, it took him a minute to recognize Mary Pat, weeping and so different from the girl he\u2019d known in childhood and fallen in love with. Owen reached out in friendship, of course, seeing Mary Pat so upset, but he felt surprised at the old memories that touched him, too. Hearing her problems and learning why she\u2019d come to the mountains, Owen knew it unlikely she\u2019d stay for long after the more lavish life she\u2019d known. But he couldn\u2019t help wishing she would.<\/p>\n Another Lin Stepp novel set in the Smoky Mountains \u2026 with a special \u201cDownsizing Diet\u201d available free to readers as a book supplement.<\/i><\/p>\n PURCHASE LINKS*:<\/b> Goodreads<\/a> | Amazon<\/a> | Barnes & Noble<\/a> | Book Depository<\/a><\/p>\n MORE BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”ABOUT THE AUTHOR” _builder_version=”4.9.3″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n ?Lin Stepp<\/b> is a New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly<\/i>, and Amazon best-selling international author, A native Tennessean, businesswoman, and former\u00a0 faculty member at Tusculum College, Lin has twenty-one published books, including her beloved Smoky Mountain and Mountain Home novels, all set in different Tennessee and North Carolina locations, plus a novella A Smoky Mountain Gift<\/i> in one of Kensington\u2019s Christmas anthologies.<\/p>\n Stepp\u2019s latest novels, set around the Smoky Mountains, are Downsizing <\/i>(2021) and Happy Valley<\/i> (2019). Lin also has three novels set on the South Carolina coast in her Edisto Trilogy: Claire at Edisto<\/i> (2019), Return to Edisto<\/i> (2020) and Edisto Song<\/i> (2021). Lin and her husband J.L. also write regional guidebooks, including a Smoky Mountain hiking guide and two state parks guidebooks for Tennessee and South Carolina.<\/p>\n Lin\u2019s title Claire At Edisto<\/i> was the 2019 Best Books Award Winner in Fiction: Romance,<\/i> sponsored by American Book Fest, her novel Welcome Back<\/i> a finalist in the 2017 Selah Awards, and Lin and her husband\u2019s guidebook Discovering Tennessee State Parks<\/i> a 2019 Best Books Award Finalist in Nonfiction: Travel Guides <\/i>with American Book Fest.<\/p>\n Lin enjoys hiking and exploring out of doors and she loves speaking for events, festivals, libraries, and book clubs and sharing about her work and interests through her monthly blog and newsletter, both on her website at: www.linstepp.com<\/i><\/p>\n CONNECT WITH LIN:<\/b> Website<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”GIVEAWAY” _builder_version=”4.9.3″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n TOUR GIVEAWAY:<\/strong><\/p>\n (1) winner will receive a Tennesee gift pack including a print copy of Downsizing<\/i> by Lin Stepp, The Afternoon Hiker<\/i> and Discovering Tennessee State Parks<\/i> by J.L. & Lin Stepp, and a Great Smoky Mountains National Park pocket guide!<\/p>\n Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight April 5, 2021 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on April 12, 2021. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.<\/p>\n Giveaway is subject to the policies found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/divider2.png\")
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