hree sisters, nine husbands between them, secrets and regrets all collide in this riveting novel by Angela Hunt.

This novel deals with a myriad of issues - in fact I was surprised by how thoroughly each of the characters were developed and how vivid their issues were presented. Three sisters raised part time by a grandmother who was married numerous times come together to clean out her house. Little did any of them know that this one weekend would change their lives forever. That for the first time they will be forced to drop pretenses and face the pain of tragedy in their lives.

Ginger thinks she has her life all put together - everything in its place. She sees her sisters as her responsibility - but then why shouldn't she. After her mother's death she was their care-giver.

Penny is the epitome of southern charm and at 49 years old still looks fit and in shape. Searching for love, romance and happiness she changes husbands like she changes shoes - always finding that they just don't fit right. Following in her grandmother's footsteps she justifies each divorce and remarriage. Bored with her seemingly dull husband she is on the prowl again.

Rosie, the youngest of the three is desperately searching for her grandmother's secret for hanging on. A thick impenetrable cloud of despair has beaten her down. She arrives at the cottage that weekend with plans of her own. Detached and set on saying her farewells she spends her time dropping hints to her sisters.

Ginger's life is devastated by a painfully close deception, Penny's version of truth is challenged and she is forced to make a choice, and Rose must finally decide to face her deepest hurt or perish to it.

In their grandmother's album the girls find a truth about God that will set them free from the bondage each of them is tied to.

"I came her hoping to find Grandma's survival secrets. Maybe the biggest of them has been staring me in the face for a long time....."


I received this book from Glass Roads Publication. Special thanks to the publisher, Howard, and Glass Roads Publications for this review copy. ( )

NCLA Review: This book opens as three Southern sisters are heading to St. Simons Island to empty and clean out their grandmother Lil’s cottage which has recently sold and where they have spent many delightful summers. The sisters are not particularly close now. Their mother died when they were young. The eldest, Ginger, felt responsible for her younger siblings. The younger siblings resent her as a result. The grandmother was wed seven times before finding her true love, which was a marriage with a peculiar twist. The sisters have nine marriages among them and wonder if they are destined to follow in her footsteps. Ginger, Pennyroyal and Rosemary each have major marital dilemmas to deal with but are unwilling to confide in one another until pressed to the wall to do so. The book is a page turner up until the very end. However, having three sisters myself and being the eldest I found parts of the story very contrived. Ms. Hunt is a prolific author having written one hundred books. She knows her audience well. This book will appeal to her readers. The book includes a reading group guide and author questions and answers. Rating: 3.5 —RE ( )

Angela Hunt has always been one of my go to authors ever since I started reading Christian fiction. What I love about her books is that even though they are written from a Christian perspective, she tackles subjects that aren't normally discussed in Christian social circles much less in Christian fiction books. For example, in this latest book from her, the main topic is divorce. This is a topic that is pretty much taboo among many Christians because it's not suppose to happen. Those that have been divorced have found themselves alienated from members of the church regardless of the situation that led to the divorce. And yet Hunt writes about three sisters who have 9 divorces between the three of them plus a grandmother who went through seven marriages.

The story is split up by each sister having her own POV in each chapter. The segments are marked by name as well as different fonts to give each sister a distinctive voice. Once I knew who was who, I found this method very easy to follow each sister's thoughts. Being from a three girl family as well, I always enjoy seeing the characterizations in stories about three sisters because of how true they are.

In terms of serious subjects talked about in the story, there are three major ones that get brought up: divorce, infidelity and suicide. All three are pretty heavy subjects that don't get a lot of coverage in Christian fiction. The topics are discussed openly and without shame by any of the characters. Penny and Rose divorced their previous husbands for different reasons but neither is ashamed of what they did. Their current marriages are not what they planned them out to be and it's interesting to see the different directions at how both choose to handle them. Meanwhile Ginger thinks she has the perfect marriage but she's wrong. Her situation is one that no woman wants to hear and I found it a bit sad that she never picked up any clues on what was going on. I found it interesting that what she was worried about most was how people were going to view her if a divorce were to happen.

One thing that bugged me a little was I could have sworn there were references to a very minor character being gay in this story. I'm not bothered at all that the character was gay. I just felt like there were clues pointing to this in revelations from diaries and letters. It seemed glaringly obvious to me, but no one else in the story seemed to pick up on this. And just as quickly as it came up, it went away without anyone else commenting on it. I was just baffled that none of the characters (except maybe the grandmother) realized this because they even questioned the reason why he went away on the trip. It was just a little odd for me.

In all honestly I didn't find this book to be very Christian-y at all. Other than Ginger, I didn't get a sense of faith from the other two sisters. I only think it's because of Ginger's faith that she's able to make her decision at the end of the book. However, I feel that there is a LOT that needs to be discussed before any more decisions are made. I don't know if I agree with her final decision but everyone has to handle things differently. Divorce is something that I don't think a blanket statement can be used to make a decision. There are many circumstances that can cause different reactions in people. Whether you stay or leave does not make you a better Christian or a better person and neither does it make you a bad Christian or a bad person. This is why this book is so fascinating because it will evoke different reactions in different people and it's great for discussion. I expect nothing less from an Angela Hunt book. ( )

I really enjoyed this books as three sisters that led all different lives, with nine marriages among them had gotten together at their deceased grandmother's house. They had been raised most of their lives by her as their mother was dead and their dad just didn't have time for three girls. Their grandmother was something she had been married seven time, some of the husbands had died and some she had divorced. She had a daughter and a son, but the son had died young and the daughter was the mother of the girls.



They all were having problems with their own marriages and Rose (the youngest) was even ploting her death as she just could not live any longer with her past. Ginger was the eldest and had two sons and was still married to her first husband. Penny was on her forth marriage (I think, hard to keep up with) and had one son that she had not raised. But as they gathered together in the beach cottage that they now owned together to clean it out and to get what they wanted to keep for themselves, it was hard for them to get along. Ginger had always bossed them around as she had to take care of her younger sisters for a long time before their mother died and she was the one that found her mother.



Angela Hunt really knew how to put this book together and she made it come to life as the sisters spent the weekend together in the little cottage they grew up in. I think anyone would like this book that likes good clean fun, romance and family.

Thanks to the author and to Glass Roads Publishing for sending me this book free for me to enjoy and review and do this tour. ( )