Reunion

by Lauraine Snelling

Keira Johnston, a 50-year-old mother of two grown sons, believes she lives a good Christian life without secrets--until she discovers a life-jarring fact her late mother kept hidden all her life. Kiera was born out of wedlock, and the man she had always known as her father had adopted her as an infant.

Meanwhile, Keira's beloved 17-year-old niece, Kirsten, has just discovered an unwanted pregnancy. Her boyfriend, Jose, is bound for college and Kirsten does not know what to do. As the family comes together for a reunion, Keira and Kirsten struggle with their fractured pasts and jumbled present. Will truth and honesty be the catalysts that allow the entire family to find peace?

Inspired by events in Lauraine Snelling's own life, REUNION is the author's finest novel to date.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Fiction, Christian, Contemporary, Adoption, Audiobook, Inspirational

322 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Award-winning and bestselling author Lauraine Snelling has over 80 books published with sales of over 4.5 million. Her original dream was to write horse books for children. Today, she writes adult novels about real issues centered on forgiveness, loss, domestic violence and cancer in her inspirational contemporary women’s fiction titles and historical series, including the favorite, Blessing books about Ingeborg Bjorklund and family.

Lauraine enjoys helping others reach their writing dreams by teaching at writer’s conferences across the county. She and her husband Wayne have two grown sons, and a daughter in Heaven. They live in the Tehachapi Mountains with a Basset named Sir Winston ob de Mountains, Lapcat, and “The Girls” (three golden hens).

Reviews

[Shelley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gosh, this one was really bad! So bad I can't even fathom passing it along to my sister to read, who I pass along all my books once I'm done. It usually takes me a week to read a book. This one took me 2 days, and it wasn't because I couldn't put it down. It was more like because I skipped paragraphs, and basically then skimmed over the rest. Why complete a book if I don't like it? Because I need to finish a book I start, always.

The name of the book is "Reunion", but it's not really about the family reunion. Actually very little is about the family reunion party. There was lots of writing leading up to the party, like locating photographs from the deceased mother's home to be made into books for everyone, and all the food preparation for the party. The actual party was a couple of pages of nothing too exciting, except for two little spoiled boys thinking it was a birthday party, and whining because there wasn't a cake with candles to blow out. And wouldn't you know it, turns out someone ended up bringing a cake, so the boys were rewarded in the end. Barf!

The story was more about, shocking (sarcasm) of finding out a family secret that would had been buried along with their mother had Keira and her husband not decided to go on a trip to Norway, and who then needed her birth certificate to apply for a passport. Who at 50 hasn't had a need for their birth certificate before now, or even thought to say, "Hey Mom, can I have it?" Pretty lame if I do say so myself to base a story on.

SPOILER ALERT:

Not to be outdone with Keira's ??troubles?? of who her father is (because that's why her passport was never given to her, oh the shame of their mother, ""You know how he (that would be Keira's brother, Pastor Marcus) idolizes our mother. She conceived a baby out of wedlock. What kind of woman does that make her?" I loved the come back, "Most likely a very unhappy and terrified woman." Pastor Marcus' 17 year old daughter ends up being in a "predicament", the same predicament her grandmother was in 50 years ago. What wasn't so acceptable back then, is really no shocker today because yes, these things still happen and even happen to Pastor's children, especially when they aren't given the talk, yes you can get pregnant when you don't have protected sex even if it's your first time and only time. Do kids still believe that nonsense today in this day and age of easy access to finding everything there is on the internet?

And then when Kristen's brother and wife can't conceive, it was pretty obvious what was going to happen. Gag!

I felt like I was reading about a family in the 1950's with the women folk cooking their three meals a day and in great detail too of what they would be eating. And of course, being a 1950's story even though it's 2012 (book was written), they always had a homemade dessert after dinner.

I just rolled my eyes when Kristen was annoyed that "no one was even here to set the table. Did she have to take care of everything?" as"she turned the chicken and forked the potatoes to see if they were done." Seems pretty ridiculous to me when she was moaning about this, considering her husband would just leave the table when they were done eating, without even clearing his own dirty dishes.

This story was one big disaster.

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sorenson family gathers every year for a reunion at Dagmar Sorenson’s home, in Munsford, where Keira and Marcus, her two married children live. But this year Dagmar will not be with them. Keira, while going through her mother’s belongings looking for her own birth certificate to get a passport for a trip to Norway, finds a secret that sets her world reeling.
Marcus, pastor of one of the churches in Munsford and his wife Leah are confronted with a staggering secret of their own that will affect their whole family. Keeping secrets begins to tell on the friendship between Keira and her sister in law and dear friend Leah.
I became engrossed in this story and found the characters believable in the ways they responded to problems. Told from a Christian viewpoint, the characters come across as real and complex, as they try to deal with the problem they encounter and the issues life throws at them. Suddenly things they thought they knew the answers to seem less easy to find the right solution.
I don’t read a lot of Christian fiction but I had read one or two of Lauraine Snelling’s before which is why this drew me to it. At the end the author explains the impetus behind the novel’s inception and that is also interesting.

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly written. I felt that I could have written the dialogue better when i was in high school. The total angst felt by a 50-year-old woman who finds that the father who raised her was not her "real" father was way overdone. The second tragedy was the daughter of a pastor discovering that she is pregnant. As I discovered that this is a faith-based book, all the drama about whether she would get an abortion was also way overdone. The ending was predictable.

[Jencey/]

Thank you to Faith Words for a copy of the Reunion by Lauraine Snelling. This copy was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
It is the time for the Sorenson family reunion. They will get together to celebrate those who are still living and those who have departed. What surprises could be in store for this family?
Synopsis:
Keira and Leah are looking forward to the reunion that is coming soon plus the trip to Norway. They make a trip to Keira and Marcus’s mother’s house. Their mother was famous for hiding money and important papers in random places. Keira and Leah, who is Marcus’s wife, are there to look for the birth certificates to get the passports. When they find Keira’s birth certificate it is different from her brothers. Her birth certificate makes no mention of their father Kenneth Sorenson. Who is she if her father is not Kenneth Sorenson? Leah and Marcus’s daughter has another secret. Kirsten is pregnant with her boyfriend’s child. How will this affect her future? Her relationships with her family and boyfriend?
My Thoughts:
I enjoyed this novel. The author asked two specific questions. What would you do if they found out they were an illegitimate child? How would you react? Who are you? Then the author took the opposite side and looked at it from the mother’s perspective. Would you choose to keep the child? Marry the father? How would it change your future? Could you forgive? When I had my quiet time this morning time that we need to show love to those we have forgiven or wronged us. How successful have any of us been at forgiving and loving those who have wronged us?
The reunion played a minor role in this story. It was more about the events leading up to it. I appreciated the author’s complexity of the characters. These characterizations really illustrated the two major conflicts in the story.
Lauraine Snelling is another worth reading more of!

[NancyInWI · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should have stopped reading by page 100, but I kept plodding on. The title of the book is "Reunion" but that reunion didn't happen until the last 30 pages of the book. There were two "crises" that came up in the early pages, and after that, it just plodded on to the ending with stilted conversation, boring narrative and some characters who really irritated me. I wanted to like the book, as I like to read Christian fiction, but this one really was not very entertaining and it took me forever to read because I'd avoid reading it.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't mind faith intertwined in my novels usually but this one used a sledgehammer. One plot line led me to keep asking yes, but what is the problem and the other one was so blatantly obvious that the entire novel lacked dramatic tension. Why finish it,you ask? I only had this book with me for an extended mani-pedi. Wouldn't have missed much if it had fallen the footbath.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reunions bring out the best in everyone. It is the easiest way to catch up and even share a few secrets. But don't forget what goes on in the preparations leading up to the big day. Sometimes the day-to-day challenges are where the real story is as you will see in the lives of Keira and her niece Kirsten.

[Allan67 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book that I read to Diana. We can't do much anymore after her stroke, so I read to her to spend time together. Diana has always loved to have someone to read to her - and I like to do just that.

[Judi Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lauraine Snelling does it again with her book, Reunion.
Here is a story of family and heartaches. A story of imperfect people who only want to be loved for who they are.
When we put our hurts, trials and self into God’s hands, His grace will come forth.
What A Beautiful Read!!!

[jaimedannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an emotional read. Family secrets and a teen pregnancy. The family grappled with questions of abortion and choosing life, of adoption and the meaning of family. Lauraine shares a piece of herself in this story and I believe she truly honors God with her words. Great read.

[BRan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book. Distinguishing between Leah & Keira was a little difficult early in the story but became clearer as I kept reading. Will continue to read more of Lauraine Snellings work.

[Beth Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book. Usually I like a good happy ending but this one seemed so predictable and convenient. Overall a great book exploring teen pregnancy.

[Christine Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could not put it down. Read it in one day. With God all things are possible. No matter what. All will be well. Always. ❤️❤️❤️

[Cassy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a thought book to get through being a huge heart string tugger! But it was so well written and an amazing biblical message!! Highly recommend !

[Kris · Rating 1 out of 5]

ick

[Rachel Brand · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly quick read for an audiobook, and although I was initially wary of how much I'd enjoy this book (given that my experience with Lauraine's historical romances had been pretty uninspiring) I found myself eager to listen to another chapter as I washed dishes or cooked dinner. I feel torn over how to rate this book as I loved the realism of the characters and their struggles, but also sometimes found that the drama was a little over the top, and that a few situations were dealt with in a manner which I didn't altogether agree with.

The best compliment I can give this book is that it felt incredibly real. The characters in Reunion could very well be your next-door neighbours or your cousins or the family you sit next to at church. And given the Author's Note at the end, I believe this was Lauraine's intention. She wanted to show that any family could suddenly uncover a surprising family secret, like the one Keira comes across. In a way, it's kind of encouraging to realise that the sometimes perfect-seeming families have their secrets and struggles too. And that a happy family might not have always started out that way, as Keira's secret displayed. Keira was constantly worried about revealing the truth of her parentage to her brother, Marcus, because he'd so idolised their mother and didn't believe she could do any wrong. In the end, the truth brought him down to earth and made him realise that no one is perfect. I think this is humbling truth that we could all do with realising. If we never hold any one to a ridiculously high ideal, we'll never be upset when they, too, stumble. Because everyone stumbles at times.

And here comes my ultimate problem with Keira's niece, Kristen's, story. Just as Keira discovers that the man who raised her isn't her biological father, and that he married her mother two days after she was born, Kristen realised that she's pregnant. Kristen is just days away from graduation, turning eighteen and heading off to medical school, and has supposedly been engaging in a chaste relationship with a boy from church. But one night of unrestrained passion has led to a pregnancy and she finally has to tell her parents. Now, I know that most parents would be shocked if their supposedly chaste teenage daughter revealed that she was pregnant, but I hope that I would never shame my daughter or lash out in anger at her. In recent years the Christian community has placed virginity and sexual chastity on a pedestal, and embraced this notion that an individual person's sexual sin can impact those around them. It's taken me years to realise quite how hurtful this sort of behaviour can be on someone who is repentant about their behaviour and just wants to move on with their life, especially when their sexual behaviour has resulted in a child.

I know that Kristen's admittance was shocking to her parents, but they seemed to spend far too long dwelling on the shocking revelation that their teenage daughter had had sex rather than the fact that they needed to sit down together and help each other figure out how to help Kristen decide what to do about her pregnancy. Kristen's father was the worst, worrying more about how the church would react than how his teenage daughter was going to deal with possibly raising a child. I wanted to shake these people and say "You can't go back in time and stop her from having sex! Stop dwelling on what you can't change and figure out how to help your daughter!" I felt so sorry for Kristen, worrying more about whether her father would forgive her than what she was going to do with the life she was carrying. And honestly, what does Kristen's father have to forgive? The fact that he kept dwelling on his daughter "hurting" him by having sex and that this stopped him from loving Kristen and being there for her in her time of need really angered me. (Seriously, giving up this idea of "your past sexual sin hurt me" is incredibly freeing, and I'm saying this as a woman who married a guy who had three sexual partners before he got married. As soon as I let go of that mentality, our relationship was so much easier).

I just went downstairs to check on some muffins that were in the oven and ended up talking over my worries about the treatment of Kristen's pregnancy with my husband. We both came to the agreement that if we ever had a child who got pregnant, we'd want the first words out of our mouths to be "How can we help you?" rather than "How could you do this to us?" Because, honestly, sex is a private act between two people (and God, if you want to look at it that way) and while you might be disappointed if your children acted without seriously considering the consequences of having sex before marriage, that is their decision to make--not yours. This is why I'm concerned with teenagers making purity/chastity pledges in public. If you're going to make a pledge with anyone, it should be your boyfriend or girlfriend. Baptism should be public, sure, but chastity pledges? That should be between you and your partner and God. No one else.

Okay, I'm going to get off my soap box now. Although I don't guarantee that I won't end up getting on to another one ;) I flip-flopped over how I felt about Kristen's behaviour. In one way, I was a bit frustrated in her immaturity (she's only three years younger than me, and I'm married and managing a household!) but I could also see how she was the result of her upbringing, and her parents seeing her as their little girl. She was forced to grow up when she discovered she was pregnant, and I couldn't help but think that a lot of teenagers should grow up when they're eighteen, not when they graduate college or finally move out of their parents' house. We live in a society that is worried about making kids grow up too fast, but as a result of this, we also delay adulthood and responsibility. I did worry a little about the messages given by Kristen's belief that she was too young to get married and raise a child. It is possible to get married and go to college, and even to raise a child while studying. It's not easy, but it can be done. I was also a little concerned that there seemed to be a message that going to college is the only path to success. I'm sure that the target marked for this book isn't entirely made up of privileged, middle-class families who send all their kids to college. College is expensive, and I don't believe everyone should go, particularly if a) they don't actually know what they want to do with their life yet and b) their career plan could be achieved through other means. I don't know if I would have gone to university straight out of high school if it hadn't been free in my country.

So here's my issue with the treatment of Kristen's pregnancy--on the one hand, I got incredibly frustrated with the way her family (especially her dad) treated her. But then again, it was also probably pretty realistic of a lot of Christian families. The shock of discovering that a good Christian upbringing doesn't guarantee your kids won't make mistakes is one that a lot of families probably aren't prepared to face. Plus, the fact that I got so annoyed at Kristen's family means that I did care a lot about Kristen. There were times when I wanted to hop into this book and say "I know your family is too wrapped up in their own worries to help you, so let's talk about what you're going through." These were all pretty authentic characters, and although I wished that the male characters had a little more depth, I was pretty satisfied with the characterisation in this novel.

I listened to this book on audiobook, and for the most part, I was pleased with the narration. The only odd thing was that, at times, some of the characters sounded almost a little Irish (or maybe it was a bad Scottish accent?), but I'm fairly certain they were all from Minnesota, and of Norwegian ancestry. So I'm not sure what was up with that! Maybe Minnesotans sound Irish?

I've pretty much written an essay on this book, so it's obviously provided a lot of food for thought. I don't necessarily agree with the way in which several topics were dealt with (and don't even get me started on Kristen's father's scriptural reasoning for resigning from his pastoral position upon hearing of her pregnancy!) but I think this book will probably challenge a lot of readers. If Reunion causes any of its readers to realise that being a Christian doesn't mean that you aren't going to stumble, then I'd say it's done a pretty good job. The main lesson that Keira learnt from her discovery of her parentage is that it was her mother's mistakes and Christ's unconditional love and forgiveness that allowed her to bestow the same love on her family. I'd say that's a lesson we all need to remember before we judge another's mistakes. We all stumble from time to time, and no one sin is worse than another. The skeleton in your closet might seem smaller than the one in your neighbour's, but ultimately, it doesn't matter in God's eyes. 4*

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reunion by Lauraine Snelling is a nice story about life-altering events that happen between two related families. It’s written okay with a great message but the only person in the story who made any sense was Jose. Maybe his mom, too. And maybe Bjorn. Even though the author wrote in the back of the book that this story is based on true events that happened in her own life, it feels off.

***SPOILERS***

I don’t understand the lack of knowledge of the pastor and his family. Kirsten has an accurate reaction to her unplanned pregnancy, going so far as to into an abortion clinic. But when she turned to her parents, instead of mentoring her in her time of vulnerability and crisis they contemplate abortion, too. Even though Kirsten knows the exact date of conception (she had sex only once), she is asked by the abortion clinic worker how many periods she has missed. This is understandable because the clinic worker is not going to trust the word of mouth of a sexually active teen in a crisis pregnancy. But for her mother, Leah, who is *supposed* to be a nurse to ask the same thing (how many periods did you miss?) shows extreme ignorance on behalf of the mother or a lack of trust between the mother and daughter.

Not once in the novel were pro-life words used, or scientifically/medically accurate words used. There was no mention of a heartbeat beginning at 21 days after conception, or that brainwave activity begins at 6 weeks. When Kirsten came to her mother with an unplanned pregnancy, the mother should have told her about embryonic and fetal development. Instead, every single person in the story used abortion-affirming words such as “anti-abortion”. Again, the mother, Leah, is *supposed* to be a nurse. Yet she says, “That’s what the books say,” when, no, that is NOT what the books say.

That is what propaganda says.

^read that sentence again^

Perhaps the author was trying to show the entire family as a group of hypocrites, all the way to the marrow, with no faith or trust in God, and if so, she pulled it off. Even though the story resolved well, with the adoption of the child, I would not intentionally buy another novel written by this author because the characters experienced no growth. They are all still stuck with their heads in the sand refusing to look at reality, seek a relationship with God, or understand the consequence of believing in propaganda. Keira (who I have not yet mentioned) feels like a very self-interested woman. From beginning to end she does not allow the less fortunate to use a vacant house.

This novel was published in 2012 so I think it was meant to take place around then, but I feel like the story would have been better to take place in the 1980s or 1990s because in the 2000s it’s far too common and accepted for a teen to get pregnant. I graduated high school in 1997. So many girls in my high school got pregnant that the school had to open a daycare to prevent the girls from dropping out. In my junior year, I drove a pregnant girl to and from high school so she wouldn’t have to walk, and in our senior year I drove her, and her son in his car seat, to high school. Her atheist father had kicked her out so her atheist mother had to house her, but would not drive her to and from school. Instead, I, an ignorant Catholic with an almost non-existent relationship with God, who had never cracked open a Bible at that age, knew the loving, Christian thing to do was be her transportation to ease her suffering. This is in stark contrast to how the pastor and his family reacted.

Also, I may not have an empty house, but I had an empty twin bed, so I fostered children until I could finally adopt to fill the bed.

I want to say the casualness of abortion among teens is spot on. And the pastor’s reaction of being so vehemently mad that he couldn’t speak to his daughter for days is spot on. And Kirsten’s mixed feelings about possibly having a miscarriage is spot on. But the lack of concern demonstrated by Leah (a nurse!) that she might be having an ectopic pregnancy is beyond me.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reunion is the story of the Sorenson’s. A family planning a reunion after the death of the patriarch. As daughter Keira and her sister in law, Leah, clean up and prepare secrets are uncovered that sends Keira’s orderly life turned upside down.

But for Leah her family is sent reeling with the news of an unexpected pregnancy.

I’m conflicted in my feelings. While I appreciated the faith these families had I also questioned their actions and thoughts. Some just seemed out of place for this pastor and his wife. The unwed daughter was who I connected with, her struggle was real and handled authentically.

I listened to the audiobook and wasn’t a fan of the reader, her voice wasn't sympathetic and didn’t evoke any real emotions. The book was repetitive with lots of woe is me vibes and a tad too long. All in all an ok read, maybe one I would have dnf if it wasn’t a book club pick.

I appreciated the author notes at the end along with her thoughts and real life experience.

My copy was obtained through my public library.

[Stacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I honestly hated this book. Full disclosure, I too was pregnant at 17. Although it was a surprise, it was never, ever, anything that I would consider evil, or a mistake. It honestly was absolutely the best thing that ever happened to me. This book is sanctimonious and honestly everything I truly dislike about our world today. Guess what? God is love. Your job is not to force your religion on everyone else, you are not the person with all the answers, you do not get to decide whose lives are sinful. That all is way above your pay scale. There are homophobic comments in the book, there is self-aggrandizing about forcing religion in public schools, it's honestly nauseating. I do not recommend. Sad that so many people feel it is their right to practice hate in the name of a loving God.

[Rizwana Rajgara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by this author. Story about two god-fearing, loving, close-knit families with their roots in Norway. Marcus is a pastor in a small town, his wife Leah and his sister Keira are the best of friends. Bjorn, Keira's husbnd runs an insurance buisness. Marcus and Leah's daughter, Kirtsten is the only girl cousin among 4 boys. Beloved princess of her parents and her aunt and uncle. Their love, faith and beliefs are tested under the shocking news Kirsten's teenage pregnancy. The struggle to come up with answers while believing God does everything for a reason is hard. The families strongly believe that He has a plan for you, it may not be the one you had in mind but you have to just wait and see.
You will like this story if you like family, small-town stories.

[Celina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't stand to continue this crappy book. This is anti-choice garbage. I have never read something so disgusting in my life. This is everything that is wrong with bible banging christians. They punish girls and women and advocate for them to be used as incubators for their "sins". They never teach girls about fertility or ovulation or conception and then tell them they must give up their lives for the sake of one moment. This book has nothing to do with reunions or family and everything to do with shoving forced birth and parenthood down people's throats. Abortion is not murder and adoption is throwing your baby away to be someone else's problem. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!

[Lori Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story really hit home with me. Having a large family with so many personalities and problems, it felt pretty normal. I thought the blending of the histories of past and present was well done. To learn at the end of the book that part of the story was true to the author, made it even more interesting to me.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best book, but definitely not the worst. The story kept my interest even with the very detailed descriptions of the characters' daily lives. A few of the characters were a bit much for me, but who am I to judge their situations and emotional reactions. My favorite character was Leah, and she kept me interested in the story!
I give it 3-1/2 ⭐ .

[Fay Fawcett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A family planning a family reunion finds out they all have secrets. Grandmother had a child out of wedlock and the man her daughter thought was her father was not. She gets so wraped up in trying to find the real father it almost drives her and the rest of the family nuts. Easy, fast read.

[MrsRenee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very badly written. By the time I got to page 15 I knew if I saw the words ‘birth certificates’ again I was going to scream. I made it through the first few chapters, writing is all over the place and disjointed, just can’t do it. Off to the donate pile.

[Teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t really expect more from Christian fiction. It was better than some I suppose! Positively DRIPPING with piety and pretty heavy handed - it could have gotten the same message across about trusting God with less heavy repetition.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my twenties, I enjoyed the romance of new love. Now entering my fifties, I enjoy stories of faithful love through the trials of life. This book captured many of my own thoughts and worries and joys. Enjoyable light read.

[Lynelle Fluegel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been some time since I have read a book like this. The storyline is on a tough topic & each character is battling with something deep. It is a very thought provoking novel. I shed many tears. The Christian element and biblical pros are beautiful. This is one I will think about for some time.

[Kimmy Yost · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't finish it. Too sappy for me.

[Leslie_lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

smooth, peaceful...