This is a reread for me. It’s been years. I do love the Baxter Family.

Really interesting to hear the beginnings of the Baxter family stories.

This series focuses on the five grown children of John and Elizabeth Baxter, Kari, Ashley, Luke, Brooke, and Erin. Each one has personal problems or issues ranging from adultery to AIDS to adoption to mentally challenged children to cancer to marital problems to doubts about God. Through the series, we see each character grow and mature, especially in their love life, since all five are happily married by the end of the series (Two of them are married at the beginning of the series).

I think a lot of people rate this book for the message it gives: Love is a Decision
If my opinion would have been based solely on this I would also give it five stars, [a:Karen|3159984|Karen Kingsbury|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1458747158p2/3159984.jpg] truly brought the theme through beautifully.

But I don't just read for a theme or a messages, I want an intriguing plot and full well developed characters. I want a clear line between whose point of view I'm reading.
For me this was the biggest issue, there were so many characters that sounded the same, that felt the exact same thing, and described it the exact same way. I get that this is the first book in a series, but there where so many unwanted characters and thoughts brought in, that at stages it was just to much.

This is my second [a:Kingsbury|3159984|Karen Kingsbury|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1458747158p2/3159984.jpg] novel and to be honest I was disappointed, the plot for this book and [b:A Time to Dance|115036|A Time to Dance (Timeless Love, #1)|Karen Kingsbury|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1171695767s/115036.jpg|2465598] was almost the exact same plot, cheating husband dedicated wife, supporting family that doesn't quite understand. The plot was not really a surprise for me in any way. I predicted the ending so accurately when I hit the forty percent mark it was an "I told you so" ending.

I really like the christian fiction and would try other books, I'm just not sure it will be [a:Karen Kingsbury's|3159984|Karen Kingsbury|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1458747158p2/3159984.jpg] books.

The first three quarters of the book were good...but not great. I was glad I persevered until the end though...definitely worth it. It became a page turner during the last quarter and had all of my emotions working. I love Christian fic like this because everything comes back to God...teaching us how to better live our lives for God in the midst of all troubles.

Yay! Christian-themed book where everyone in the book isn't perfect AND it's well-written. And you actually care about the characters. I think everyone can find a bit of someone they know in any given character. Can't wait to read the next one....oh wait, I didn't wait! Had the first chapter in the back of this one, so I've already started!

http://www.b00kr3vi3ws.in/2014/01/Redemption.html

A Special Note: Redemption series is Christian Fiction. I am not Christian and I have not read the Bible. So, I am not in a position to agree or disagree with the religious side of the book and my review will be solely focus on this series as a work of fiction and my point of views on the characters/situations as a third person. I do not mean to criticize or applaud any of the religious views presented through the stories.

http://www.b00kr3vi3ws.in/2014/01/Redemption.html


Our protagonist in this first book of the series is Kari Baxter Jacobs. When she discovers that her husband has been having an affair and wants a divorce, she decides not to divorce him and instead work through their problems. She moves in with her parents, where her ex-flame, Ryan walks into her life. She also discovers that she is pregnant with her husband’s child, one that they have been trying for quite some time. The story follows Kari through her struggles with her marriage, her attraction towards Ryan and how she comes to term with everything and try to work out her problems.

My main problem with this book was Kari’s attitude towards her cheating husband. I am sorry, I do not approve of cheating in any form and I cannot fathom why she would want to continue her relationship with her husband. I mean cheating isn’t something that just happens… It requires a lot of conscious decisions, and in my book any man who has taken those conscious decisions over and over again over a period of time doesn’t deserve a second chance. A person should make an effort to work out whatever problems he had in his marriage that pushed him towards cheating instead of just going about cheating on his wife. To top it off, Tim, Kari’s husband cheats on her with his student…! That’s just not done. I get the part about forgiveness and loyalty… well forgive him and move on. Not forgive and move back in so that he can go on and continue with his ways!

Well, ranting over! Now that I have managed to get that out of my system, let me move on to the good aspects of this book. We meet a lot of character in this book. It is clear that the authors were aiming to set up a background for the other stories in the series and as such, some characters play a more important role than the others. But the leading casts of this story were all very well fleshed out. I loved to hate some of the characters in the book. The plot is pretty simple and almost predictable. I am actually happy with the ending because I don’t think that given Kari’s train of thoughts, I would have liked the ending any other way. The author’s language and style story-telling is most fascinating. It was probably the USP of the book.

Overall, this was a couple of hour’s worth of light reading for non-Christians like me. I will be picking up the next book in the series for sure.

great series - easy read