"Slow Burn" Book Review and Giveaway!

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
A Slow Burn
Zondervan (October 1, 2009)
by
Mary DeMuth

MY REVIEW:
This is book #2 in the Defiance, Texas trilogy and I liked it even better than the first book! My biggest issue with the first book is that it doesn't wrap up any issues or mysteries except for one... is Daisy really dead? The answer is yes, but we don't know who the killer is. That was really frustrating for me. REALLY FRUSTRATING! All the same I was looking forward to Slow Burn to see what revelations we would get this time around. In Daisy Chain the story is told from the perspective of Daisy's best friend (and true love), Jed Pepper. A 14 year old boy who holds himself responsible for Daisy being kidnapped. In Slow Burn we switch points of view and see everything through the eyes of Daisy's drug addict mother, Emory, with the viewpoint of Hixon, the black man that God told to marry Emory, being thrown in there periodically too.

We still don't find out the murderer, that will apparently be revealed in book #3, but I was okay with that this time because I've figured out Mary's style a little more by now... I didn't really expect to find out yet. There are many other revelations in this book though and if you are not crying by the end of this book you must not have a soul... just kidding, well, kind of.

Mary's style is amazing and her characters are so real, flawed and imperfect, that I just start to think of them as people I should know. This is not a series to be read out of order, or to be started without finishing (I really can't wait for book #3) but this is a book that woman's fiction fans will love.
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I was fortunate to meet Mary at the ACFW conference in September and she is so wonderful! We sat together for breakfast one morning because my mom had really wanted to meet her, I couldn't believe how gracious she is! If you would like to win a copy of this book then leave me a comment telling me if you have read any of Mary's books and I'll enter you in the drawing. Be sure to leave an email address so I can contact you if you win - good luck!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Mary E. DeMuth is an expert in Pioneer Parenting. She enables Christian parents to navigate our changing culture when their families left no good faith examples to follow.

Her parenting books include Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture (Harvest House, 2007), Building the Christian Family You Never Had (WaterBrook, 2006), and Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God (Harvest House, 2005).

Mary also inspires people to face their trials through her real-to-life novels, Watching The Tree Limbs
(nominated for a Christy Award) and Wishing On Dandelions (NavPress, 2006).

Mary has spoken at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, the ACFW Conference, the Colorado Christian Writers Conference, and at various churches and church planting ministries. She's also taught in Germany, Austria, Monaco, Italy, France, and the United States. Mary and her husband, Patrick, reside in Texas with their three children. They recently returned from breaking new spiritual ground in Southern France, and planting a church.



ABOUT THE BOOK


She touched Daisy’s shoulder. So cold. So hard. So unlike Daisy.

Yet so much like herself it made Emory shudder.

Burying her grief, Emory Chance is determined to find her daughter Daisy’s murderer—a man she saw in a flicker of a vision. But when the investigation hits every dead end, her despair escalates. As questions surrounding Daisy’s death continue to mount, Emory’s safety is shattered by the pursuit of a stranger, and she can’t shake the sickening fear that her own choices contributed to Daisy’s disappearance. Will she ever experience the peace her heart longs for?

The second book in the Defiance, Texas Trilogy, this suspenseful novel is about courageous love, the burden of regret, and bonds that never break. It is about the beauty and the pain of telling the truth. Most of all, it is about the power of forgiveness and what remains when shame no longer holds us captive.


Watch the video:



If you would like to read the first chapter of A Slow Burn, go HERE