"Just Between You And Me" Book Review

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Just Between You And Me
Thomas Nelson (September 1, 2009)
by
Jenny B. Jones

MY REVIEW:
Jenny, Jenny who can I turn to
You give me something I can hold on to
Okay, aside from the fact that those 2 lines are a mini tribute to Tommy Tutone and a famous phone number, they are true. I look forward to every book Jenny B. Jones writes and she has yet to let me down. First off a great YA series, the Katie Parker series, and then she follows that up with So Not Happening the first of The Charmed Life series. Admittedly they are both considered YA series (but come on, she's a high school teacher and she knows her audience very well!) but I have thoroughly enjoyed them. I was curious to see how her first turn at women's fiction went, you know, the whole if it ain't broke don't fix it kind of thing... I'm so glad she decided to fix it.

Jenny takes some tough subjects - abandonment, mental disease, suicide (?), forgiveness and bitterness and does an amazing thing by adding some incredible characters (Maggie is wonderful and you can feel the struggle she is going through in trying to protect herself and also do the right thing, and don't get me started on Riley and how she tries so hard to put up a wall so she won't get hurt again but she just wants to be loved) throwing in some good humor and topping it off with wonderful realism (the relationship between Maggie and her dad and seeing her reaction to how he treats Riley now was so real that I couldn't believe it!) and she winds up with an amazing story. I wish this wasn't a stand alone book, but I think it is. If not, I really hope to see Maggie Montgomery in print again someday, what a gal!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I write Christian fiction with a few giggles, quite a bit of sass, and lots of crazy. My novels include the Katie Parker Production series and So Not Happening. I would also like to take credit for Twilight , but somewhere I think I read you’re not supposed to lie.

When I’m not typing my heart out (or checking email), I teach at a super-sized high school in Arkansas.

My students are constantly telling me how my teaching changes their lives and turned them away from drugs, gangs, and C-SPAN.

Okay, that’s not exactly true.

Since my current job leaves me with very little free time, I believe in spending my spare hours in meaningful, intellectual pursuits such as:

-watching E!
-updating my status on Facebook
-catching Will Ferrell on YouTube and
-writing my name in the dust on my furniture

I’d love to hear about you, so drop me a note. Or check me out on Facebook.




ABOUT THE BOOK

The only thing scarier than living on the edge is stepping off it.
Maggie Montgomery lives a life of adventure. Her job as a cinematographer takes her from one exotic locale to the next. When Maggie's not working, she loves to rappel off cliffs or go skydiving. Nothing frightens her.

Nothing, that is, except Ivy, Texas, where a family emergency pulls her back home to a town full of bad memories, painful secrets, and people Maggie left far behind . . . for a reason.

Forced to stay longer than she intended, Maggie finds her family a complete mess, including the niece her sister has abandoned. Ten-year-old Riley is struggling in school and out of control at home. The only person who can really handle the pint-sized troublemaker is Conner, the local vet and Ivy's most eligible bachelor. But Conner and Maggie keep butting heads--he's suspicious of her and, well, she doesn't rely on anyone but herself.

As Maggie humorously fumbles her way from one mishap to another, she realizes she's going to need to ask for help from the one person who scares her the most.

To save one little girl--and herself--can Maggie let go of her fears and just trust God?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Just Between You And Me, go HERE