"Raising Rain" Book Review & Giveaway!

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Raising Rain
Moody Publishers (September 1, 2009)
by
Debbie Fuller Thomas

MY REVIEW:
I loved Debbie's first book, "Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon", it was amazing. "Raising Rain" goes in a whole different direction and stands on its own two feet. The story of 4 college roommates in the 70's who raise a baby together when one of them gets pregnant and decides to keep the baby in a time of abortion frenzy. It's now 37 years later and Rain's mother, Jude, is dying of cancer and she wants to bring everyone together for one last hurrah. It stirs a lot of old memories and not all of them are good. Rain still doesn't know who her father is and now she wants a baby of her own, but her live-in boyfriend of 7 years just moved out. Jude has many issues of her own, just one of which is that she is dying. Bebe was like Rain's mom growing up and now she is dealing with her own two sons moving out, one to college and one to the Marines, which dredge up a whole mess of issues herself. Toni and Mare, the other two roommates have smaller roles in the book, but are a hoot because they just can't keep from pressing each others buttons.

This is a book all about relationships and issues. Abortion is a huge issue, as is marriage and the lack thereof. Debbie deals with a lot of the 70's hot topics- Vietnam, protesting, rallies - and raised my eyebrows a few times.

It's a good book, especially if the 70's meant anything to you, I was born in '75 so I found it really interesting. Debbie is a master at woman's fiction.

*********Special thanks to Moody Press for a review copy of this book! If you would like an opportunity to win a copy, leave a comment telling me where you were in the 70's. Be sure to leave your email address or you won't be entered though! US entries only, sorry - it's getting too expensive to send elsewhere.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Debbie writes contemporary fiction from an historic Gold Rush town in Northern California. By day, she manages after school and day camp programs, and she burns the midnight oil to write what she loves. Her first book Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon, is a Christy finalist. Raising Rain, her second book became available September 2009.

Debbie has contributed to story collections such as Chicken Soup for the Bride's Soul, and Lord, I Was Happy Shallow, along with articles in Coping With Cancer magazine.

She has two teenagers and her husband is the executive pastor on Sonrise Church with 1,000 members. Debbie is a manager at Auburn Area Parks and Recreation.



ABOUT THE BOOK


Raised to be a 'new woman' by her mother and three college roommates in
the 70's amid anti-war protests, feminist rallies, and finals, Rain
Rasmussen discovers that putting her career first has left her overdrawn
at the egg-bank, and her baby fever has now driven off her significant
other.

When her terminally ill mother demands a Celebration of Life before she
dies; they all confront ghosts from the past on a 'stormy' weekend in
Monterey. Bebe, the roommate closest to Rain's heart, revisits choices
that have impacted Rain the most, raising doubts about God's—and her
own—willingness to forgive and to be forgiven.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Raising Rain, go HERE.