Kylie had her life all planned out--with marriage to Matthew and a "happily-ever-after" in their sleepy Wisconsin hometown. But when she opens a wedding invitation and a decades-old faded photograph falls out, she uncovers a side of her mother Kylie never suspected. As she digs into the past, Kylie uncovers a whole world of hidden surprises, including grandparents she never knew existed. Suddenly, Kylie faces a choice between two worlds. . .and doesn't feel she fits in either. As the past changes, so does her whole foundation of security. Will Kylie learn who she really is and where she fits in God's plan?
Andrea Kuhn Boeshaar has been married for more than 30 years. She and her husband, Daniel, have three adult sons, daughters-in-law, and two precious grandchildren. Andrea's educational background includes the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, where she studied in English, and Alverno College where she studied in Professional Communications and Business Management.
Andrea has been writing stories and poems since she was a little girl; however, it wasn't until 1984 that she started submitting her work for publication. Eight years after that, she was convicted about writing for the Christian market. She read books in her genre (Inspirational Romance & Women's Fiction), studied the market, and worked hard to hone her craft.
This was billed as a Christian romance, and it's a good Christian story. However, there isn't a happy-ever-after end to the romance, so it wasn't what I was expecting. The book reached a satisfactory conclusion, but there are a lot of loose ends. Apparently there is a sequel, but it doesn't seem to be currently available.
Thus is the second of a two part series. It's a good book. Not your typical romance read. But things are not really wrapped up at the end. And you can't get the third book (Precious Things) as an ebook, at least not as of this writing. I would definitely read the three books in order.
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 I've owned this book eight years and finally decided I needed to give it a try. Wow! Was this a faith filled book! Several times the gospel was shared, and once was a step-by-step gospel presentation with Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8 and Romans 10:13… with results. Lovely. You don’t see this often in Christian fiction these days.
This was not a romance, in fact it was full of stops and starts and full-fledged halts. It was a mystery of sorts as the main character, after being sent an old photograph, just found out her whole life was a lie. And she was looking for answers about why this was all kept from her. But what she did find, after the shock, was a set of new friends and relatives, and a new faith that was the icing on the cake.
However, I had issues with a recurring theme in the book which was "God doesn’t give you more than you can handle". After repeating this several times, the verse 1 Corinthians 10:13 was partially quoted. This is often a mistake in Christian circles, using that verse as proof that God won’t give you more than you can handle. But what the verse is talking about is temptation. God won’t let you be tempted beyond your strength, and will provide a way of escape so that you may be able to endure it.
Another thought was to forgive and forget. The main character, Kylie, was told she must not only forgive like God does, but she must forget it like God does. Mind you, her fiancé was caught making out with her best friend. Chances are, no matter how much she’s told she must forget that, it’s not going to happen, nor do I believe scripture tells us we must do that. Forgive, yes. But forgetting is impossible. We remember, move on, and grow from it.
I enjoyed the trip the two young women took from Chicago down through my neck of the woods: Knoxville, Sevierville (Dollywood country) Smoky Mountain National Park, then a drive through the Blue Ridge Parkway over to Asheville to see the Biltmore, which is right over the hill from me, then further into North Carolina. I love that one of the young women said, “How could anyone doubt there’s a God in heaven after seeing a site like this?" Oh yeah! That was my first impression when we first moved here!
This was very clean and I can honestly say that this book is good for people of all ages.
I read Andrea's first book in this series and really enjoyed it. I found Kylie's story less engrossing, maybe because I'm older. I enjoyed her finding her grandparents and building that relationship. And there was some mystery to the unraveling of her parents' past. Worth the read if you're going to pick up all three books. I already bought book #3, so I'm moving on to the next one tonight. :-)
This is my first read for this author. what a journey Kylie had. She. discovered she is adopted which was one story and other stories from her grandparents and a cheating guy Matt with her best friend Dena The story is one that since around from different settings. There is a lot of soul searching as to their Christianity.
This was a fantastic Historical Christian fiction book in the series! I've really been enjoying following this trilogy saga. The pieces are starting to fit together, and the characters are developing so wonderfully! I'm looking forward to reading the final book! I was able to read a physical copy of this book by borrowing it from my local library. All opinions are my own, and I was not influenced by anyone or anything.
When a photo falls out of an invitation for her mother, Kylie begins a journey of discovery. She finds out her fiance has been unfaithful to her with her best friend, her family wasn't who she thought they were, and on her journey of discovery she finds new friends and a new relationship with God.
I really enjoyed this book but all the Christian talk started to get to me by the end of the book. I don't mind some but all the bible verses got in the way of the story. Don't get me wrong I think it was a wonderful story but I didn't need the bible verses all the time. A little less would have been better for me. Just saying. It was well written and I enjoyed it.
In this very good book, you will find a young lady seeking truth after finding out, after her mother dies, that she has been lied to from birth. Add to that ,finding her fiance in a compromising position with her best friend, propels her to begin a journey to find truth.
Several character sets to track, lots of drama, serious twist s and turns in the plot. I liked this book for all of the new that was brought into the main character's life but wished it would have had a little more resolution at the end of the book.
I loved the Christian theme throughout this book. But I was disappointed that the questions about Blythe and the mystery of something terrible happening as the reason why Kylie was never told she was adopted were not answered.
Things change fast when you learn your best friend and your fiance had a make out session. Next she found out her mother had lied to her her whole life. What can she do it leave town.
It started out well but after about 70 pages I got bored with this book. My daughter is reading it now. Will see what she thinks as she progresses into the story line
I have no clue how this book ended up on my bookshelf, I don't remember buying it and I can't find a friend who admits they loaned it to me. Evidently this is the second book in a series so I need to go and find book 1. This was a heart warming book to read. Yes, parts of it were kinda over the top "Focus on the Family" sugar coated, but I would rather read that than some stuff printed in other books. It does show a woman who discovers that just because she's been in church her whole life doesn't mean she has all the answers (I can relate to that). It also shows that you have to rely on God even when your heart and mind are telling you something else. I see some reviewers complaining about unanswered questions but I see there is a book 3 so hopefully those questions will be answered. I do like how not everything was wrapped up perfectly in a bow at the end-that's not always how life goes. I look forward to the next book.
Kylie had her life all planned out--with marriage to Matthew and a "happily-ever-after" in their sleepy Wisconsin hometown. But when she opens a wedding invitation and a decades-old faded photograph falls out, she uncovers a side of her mother Kylie never suspected. As she digs into the past, Kylie uncovers a whole world of hidden surprises, including grandparents she never knew existed. Suddenly, Kylie faces a choice between two worlds. . .and doesn't feel she fits in either. As the past changes, so does her whole foundation of security. Will Kylie learn who she really is and where she fits in God's plan?
*** I thought this was a great faith journey story full of twists and turns. The romance aspect kept me guessing. A great experience in forgiveness and faith.
I enjoyed this book about a woman who is searching for her roots. After her mother's death, she receives a picture of her mom that shatters all of her images of her mother. In a search to find the answers to her questions, she learns secrets that may or may not benefit her in the future.
The only thing I did not like was the ending. The book left many questions unanswered, so reading the next book is imperative. This happened to be the second book in the series Faded Photographs, so I have to read number one Broken Things and then number three Precious Things.
I received this from Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas in exchange for an honest review. I wanted to like this book and I gave it my best try. The plot is very typical for Christian genre, but it dragged. There just wasn't enough substance for my taste. I also could not warm up to Kylie. She is just not a character I am fond of. I hate giving negative reviews, but I had to be honest. This maybe for some, but just not for me
I liked this book. The story was very good. There were a couple of places where there was too much description of clothing etc. That didn't detract from the story. It just slowed it down. However, there was a HUGE question that was never answered. Why wouldn't Blythe answer Kylie's question. That was important to the book. It leaves the reader wondering and feeling the story is unfinished!