Twin sisters grow up in the same difficult home life, but each takes a different path as adults. After years of not seeing each other one sister is in a desperate situation and the state has stepped in to take her children. The other sister is contacted by them and asked to help, but she didn’t even know they existed. She has recently married, bought her first home and is starting a business and this decision puts everything in jeopardy. Then there is a third woman who has reached out to the mother and is trying to help her, even as she works through the grief of losing her own daughter. All 3 are pushed to their limits as they look at what sacrifice means to their own families and the cost of unconditional love. This story rings true, I’ve been there and recognized so much of what each one was going through. There is a lot in here, and more characters that are equally well written. I liked the ending which could have gone so many ways and yet the author stayed true to the story. ( )

Zara is loving this season of her life - newly married, starting her own business, moving into a new house. Everything seems to be coming together - until the news comes. First she finds out the results of a genetic test that undermines her dream of starting a family. Then she gets news about her twin sister Eve that means she must make a life changing decision. Meanwhile the reader also meets Tiff, a woman coping with the loss of her own child to the streets. Tiff copes by helping street walkers, hoping give help to another mother's child that wasn't given to her own. When she encounters a woman caught in an abusive situation she reaches out to help - much to the consternation of her husband. Still she can't abandon this woman and her children. The woman Tiff is helping turns out to be Eve and the reader must read on to find out if Eve will be successful in turning her life around and if Zara will reach out to help her and her children. I loved the realistic look at people tackling tough situations through a lens of faith in this story. However I thought it all wrapped up a little to neatly at the end. Fans of Christian fiction that tackles contemporary issues should give this debut a try. ( )

Beautifully heart wrenching story. This was a hard story to read and a harder story to put down. Ms. Nelson does a great job of conveying the effects addiction has on multiple groups of people. She tells this story from several angles.
This is the story of Eve and how she tries to overcome her addiction to care for her children, Sammy and Charlotte. The struggles she goes through are documented in her journals. Her twin Zara and new husband Chad have a quick decision to make. Their story is told from the perspective of foster parents to their niece and nephew. Another part of the story is told through the eyes of Tiff, a concerned lady who chooses to help Eve personally. Having experienced a great loss, she is trying to live out her Christianity by caring for the helpless and the homeless. She is also trying to move past a tragedy and hold on to her marriage. We even glimpse the whole thing through the eyes of the children and that is very moving.
“Could there be any deeper connection than to be known?”
This story is beautifully told but it is a very hard subject to write about and Ms. Nelson does so admirably.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House on behalf of the author. I was not required to give a favorable review. All opinions are my own.* ( )

I love women’s Christian fiction and the emotional journey this genre offers. I also enjoy when a story is told from different viewpoints. The Way It Should Be provides three points of view. Zara and Eve are estranged twin sisters living diverse realities, and Tiff is an integral bridge between the two.

Addiction is a powerful separator. I yearned for Eve to overcome her battle with addiction, I sympathized with Zara whose path in life was interrupted unexpectedly, and I connected with Tiff’s desire to help. I became invested in these three women’s lives and rooted for each of them to find healing.

This story is far from typical, presenting difficult subject matter, and three unique viewpoints. With touching topics of addiction, sisterhood, and motherhood, this story shows varying perspectives knitted together by a string of hope and strengthened by the power of love.

Dɪsᴄʟᴏsᴜʀᴇ: I ʀᴇᴄᴇɪᴠᴇᴅ ᴀ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟɪᴍᴇɴᴛᴀʀʏ ᴄᴏᴘʏ ᴏғ ᴛʜɪs ʙᴏᴏᴋ. Mʏ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ ᴡᴀs ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴғʟᴜᴇɴᴄᴇᴅ. ( )

This is the second novel of Christina Suzann Nelson’s that I have read, and both of them have been a one day read! Her writing is so fluid and I just want to know what happens next. I can’t put her books down, I have to know what happens and how things turn out!

Zara has what appears to be the perfect life. Newly married, a new farm house they are going to renovate, and her own business doing what she loves. Her upbringing was not ideal, but she has moved past that. She has a wonderful husband and life is everything she could have dreamed of until she gets some medical tests back and a letter about a niece and nephew she did not know existed.

Eve has struggled her own life, she has done what she has felt she needed to do for her kids and this may be the last straw to get her to realize this is not a life, for her nor her kids to be growing up in. Her kids have been taken into state custody and she thankfully was found and taken to the hospital where she is healing and fighting a terrible withdrawal. This may just be rock bottom. Her kids were taken. But she has a savior who is willing to give it her all to help her, Tiff and Eve is not sure why.

Zara’s perfect world has been turned upside down. She is being asked to take her twin sisters two children as a foster parent. That is just until Eve can take them back. Can she do this? Zara feels overwhelmed and yet she is reminded of how these children did not have a choice in their situation, and that many people believe in her and Chad. They can do this, and they will not be alone. Is this what it will take for her to finally make amends with her sisters even though this seems to be under the worse of circumstances?

Thank you to the author, and Bethany House for the free novel. I loved this book! The author did an amazing job in writing and making us readers understand the hold and world of addiction some can get lost in, and they really are terrified or cannot get out. It is not as simple as we often think it is, to just give an addiction. ( )