The Key

by Debra White Smith

Debra White Smith masterfully combines the nostalgia of early love, with real issues women face-such as entrepreneurship and raising grandchildren. Set in the small, sleepy east Texas town of Jacksonville, this romance unfolds as forty-eight-year-old widow Brendy Lane falls in love all over again with her high school sweetheart, Zeke. But will the grandchildren Brendy is mothering destroy her chances at happiness, with the man she's secretly loved for so long? How can Brendy choose between the children who need her and the veteran who only made it through Vietnam by dreaming of her.

Genres: Christian Fiction

Hardcover

First published February 1, 2003

About the author

Debra White Smith is a seasoned Christian author, speaker, and media personality who has been regularly publishing books for over a decade. In the last twelve years, she has accumulated more than 55 books sales to her credit with more than 1 million books in print. Her titles include such life-changing books as Romancing Your Husband, Romancing Your Wife, The Divine Romance: Developing Intimacy with God, the The Lonestar Intrigue fiction series, and The Jane Austen fiction series.

As a woman of God, Debra is committed to the highest standards of integrity and to spending hours a week being still before the Father, staying in tune with Him, and listening for His voice of direction in all she does. This commitment to romancing the Lord, coupled with her lifestyle of devouring, analyzing, and dissecting the Word of God has allowed God to bring about a miracle of deliverance and healing in Debra's spirit, mind, and soul. Debra holds a double Ph.D. from the toughest schools in the world. The first Ph.D. from the "School of Hard Knocks" and the second, from the "School of Very Hard Knocks." Aside from that, she holds an M.A. in English from the University of Texas.

Along with Debra's being voted a fiction-reader favorite several times, her book Romancing Your Husband was a finalist in the 2003 Gold Medallion Awards. And her Austen Series novel First Impressions was a finalist in the 2005 Retailer's Choice Awards. Debra has been a popular media guest across the nation, including Fox TV, The 700 Club, ABC Radio, USA Radio Network, and Moody Broadcasting. Her favorite hobbies include fishing, bargain-hunting, and swimming with her family. Debra also vows she would walk 50 miles for a scoop of German chocolate ice cream.

Reviews

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. Just wow. Wow in so many senses of wow. I will say if you are looking strictly for a christian romance book, this is not what you need to pick up. It feels like the author just decided in the last 20 pages to suddenly really christianise the book. I didn’t really even read the back of the book to see what it was about, I didn’t realize it was a actual christian book until like page 80ish (it’s a 100-page book).

I decided that this was going to be the first book that I’ve ever annotated, and it was a good book to start with. I do feel that there were a lot quotes that will definitely resinate with my midnight thoughts from this book.

It may be because i’m gen-z but I thought that the plot was well structured. Continuing on me being gen-z there were a lot of slang (i think) that I didn’t have the slightest clue of what it meant, definitely outdated for younger generations.

The one thing that really unsettled me was that the romance was between two people in their 50s. The way that Zeke talked to Brendy was kinda weird, I feel if you took the weird kid form that school and made him grown up, that would be Zeke.

Rant About The Ending (No spoilers):
The ending I feel was very poor structured, and was a sad excuse for an ending. I think it could have been a lot better maybe by just making a different scene the ending scene? Maybe like a little more professional, like not having the ending scene be in a bedroom.

Overall 2.5 starts. I feel like this could be a really bigger book if BokTok were ever to get ahold of it. I was honestly surprised I haven’t heard of the author by how good the book was. It was a really easy read and didn’t absolutely rip by heat out (thank you for that).

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short Christian book, more of a novella. It can easily read in or 2 sittings. The story wad good about a boyfriend a girlfriend who took different paths after he went to Vietnam and reconnected when they were older and both widowed. Although short it was a worthy read i would actually give it 3.5 stars. It has a lesson in it about forgiveness.

[Emmie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall I thought this book was terrible and a poor excuse for a "Christian" novella. The plot was weak and terribly predictable. The reason I gave it 2 stars was because of the "conflict" that did make me laugh and dealing with forgiveness, but even the forgiveness is done weakly. The end was also weak and just as predictable. I would not waste your time on this book.

[Glenette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed with this book. I thought I was picking up a quick love story read. The main character, Brendy, just didn't settle well with me. I hate to say that because this book could have so much better.

[mom2wah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great clean love story about high school sweethearts that come full circle and reunite after the death if there post high school spouses. They gave to deal with injury, forgiveness and fully pressures.
Very easy quick read that was clean and good
Never read this author but loved this book

[Saralyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book. Very funny in parts. Lots of nostalgia and hokey-ness, but I did enjoy the book anyway. A very quick read.

[Janell Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

The main plot was good and there was a wonderful message of forgiveness in there, but what ruined it for me was the disrespectful way the main couple treated their families with no real consequences.