Faithful by Kim Cash Tate is another book I won in a contest at Mocha With Linda.
Kim unfolds the lives of three friends:
Cydney is approaching her 40th birthday, single, wondering why God has not fulfilled her desires for a husband and children, stung by the fact that her thoughtless sister planned for her wedding to take place on Cyd’s birthday. But as the handsome and likable best man shows interest in Cyd, she’s flattered and even attracted, yet sure he is not the one for her.
Dana seems to have a perfect marriage — until her husband is caught having an affair.
Phyllis has been praying for her husband to come to Christ ever since she did six years previously, but he remains adamantly opposed to anything smacking of Christianity. Then at a college reunion she runs into an old friend who is widowed and seems a sensitive, thoughtful, godly Christian man, and she finds herself torn between the marriage she has and the ideal one that could be.
Each of these women learns in various ways what it means to trust in God’s faithfulness and to be faithful personally in their situations.
This was a hard book to put down — I kept wanting to let everything else go so I could keep reading and see what happened! Kim Cash Tate made it very easy to like her characters and to empathize with them and to be drawn into their struggles.
I know some women might avoid a book like this because of its subject matter, but real women in this world do face these kinds of situations, and Kim shares both the struggles and temptations they face as well as both spiritual and practical ways to deal with them in a gracious and non-preachy manner. Nevertheless I would urge caution before allowing a teen to read it: I definitely recommend a mom previewing it first.
(This review will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)
Stray Thoughts 
This sounds very good, Barbara. I have a few dollars left a book store gift card. I think I might be looking for this one.
Ha! You are so right, Barbara…. this wouldn’t be a book I would normally pick up. But then you are also right that women in our world do face the struggles posed in the book.
This isn’t one I’d normally pick up either, but my reading seems pretty blah lately. Maybe I need something out of the ordinary.
sounds like an interesting read. My hubby and I were just talking about how many divorces there are in our church. It really is amazing. I think statistically it is 2 out of 3 marriages end in divorce and that includes Christians. This can be disheartening and I think more books should address it from a Christian perspective.
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Great review, Barbara! This really makes me want to read the book.
Hope you’ll stop by my review of Operation Bonnet by Kimberly Stuart:
Cindy’s Book Club
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I read this one for two reasons – you recommended it, and I have a dear friend who went through discovering her husband was having an affair. I got it at the library, and you’re right – it is hard to put down! I enjoyed the story, and thought it’s not something I would normally read, it was good to see how the characters applied God’s Word in such practical ways. I remember thinking as I was reading how good it would be if all of us would take God’s Word so literally and apply it so practically – and pray with the same faith and power that the characters in the book did! Thanks for recommending it!
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