Author: Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck
Published: Thomas Nelson Publishers
ISBN:1595544895
Details: Hardcover, 272 pages
“The Sweet By and By” is a contemporary Christian fiction/romance by Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck, which is set in a fictional, rural Tennessee town called Whisper Hollow.
Centering around Jade Fitzgerald, who finds herself confronting a difficult and conflicted past as she prepares for her upcoming wedding to Max Benson. Jade struggles to come to terms with her past and a mother haunted by her own personal choices.
“The Sweet By and By” shows promise as it follows Jade and her attempts to come to terms with her past and the choices she had made, but there were times when the story felt either too forced or too rushed. Reading ““The Sweet By and By” felt like reading a contemporary fiction or romance novel.
This was disappointing because the main protaganist, Jade Fitzgerald is a strong character .There was huge potential to show how God loves the broken and seeks to offer hope and redemption through His redeeming Grace, but it didn’t feel like this was reached, but instead skirted the issue.
The Sweet By and By” , really feels more appropiate for the general contemporary market than a Christian fiction market. For the discerning reader of Christian fiction, I would advise that there are adult situations in the book that, although are not discussed, are implied enough to understand what is being shared and for readers who normally don’t read secular romances could make them uncomfortable.
In addition, there seems to be uncertainty on how the book wants to handle the overall message of salvation and redemption. Max, Jade’s fiance’, arguing with a pastor during a premarital counseling, wanting on one hand “a religious ceremony with God present”, but on the other hand being upset about the pastor asking Jade about her salvation presents salvation as a non-necessity and something that the pastor didn’t have a right to ask.
Unfortunately, The Sweet By and By“ does not take the opportunity to explore redemption through our Heavenly Father. Instead seems to treat redemption as an afterthought.
This is an unfortunate miss on capturing how even the most broken can be redeemed through our Heavenly Father, but for a more casual reader, The Sweet By and By“, does serve as a good escape for the casual contemporary reader.
Overall, the book does manage to draw the reader in, to feeling like they are with Jade and experiencing the town of Whisper Hollow with her, drawing in readers with a very casual and conversational style and for a light read.
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