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Daring to Live: How the Power of Sisterhood and Taking Risks Can Jump-Start Your Joy

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When her husband, Mannard, unexpectedly passed away at just 50 years of age, Sheri Hunter was devastated. With her whole world falling down around her, she turned to her friends. Years before, she and these Dare Divas had gone on a whitewater rafting trip. Now they sought out other adventures--zip-lining, skydiving, mountain climbing, and more. Through these death-defying activities and the unwavering support of her friends, Sheri slowly found the strength to move forward in life.

More than just a memoir, this empowering female travelogue pairs emotionally resonant, confessional storytelling with spiritual takeaways, challenging readers to engage fully in their own lives, surround themselves with friends who will support them, and face life's challenges with courage and faith.

If you've ever experienced a sudden loss or upheaval in life, Sheri's story will reassure you that even if life as you knew it is over, the future God has for you is always full of new adventures.

224 pages, Hardcover

Published February 18, 2020

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Sheri Hunter

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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
Profile Image for Becki .
349 reviews11 followers
June 10, 2020
Sheri Hunter and her sister-friends, the Dare Divas, consider their friendship as vital to how they’ve navigated their lives. This book could be inspirational to those cautious about chasing their own dreams.

A couple years before her husband’s untimely death, Sheri Hunter felt she needed more girlfriends and convinced him to join a ministry group at their church with her. In this group she met Mia, Ang, and Brenda. Together these four women became each others’ closest friends, and the Dare Divas.

When her husband died, her friendships were more important than ever. They helped her come through using pills and alcohol to deal with her grief, and the ministry they had in common reminded her to always trust God to see her through.

Overall, this book has the potential to be inspirational to someone interested in renewing or strengthening their religious faith. Whatever else happened, Sheri always reminded her readers to trust in God’s will above all else. I’d give this book 3 out of 5 stars and recommend it to Christian women who enjoy inspiring memoir-style stories.
Profile Image for Joan.
3,818 reviews84 followers
February 28, 2020
This book is an inspiration to live big. Her husband died young and Hunter could have retreated to a quiet life. Instead, her three friends came along side her. They had brought daring adventure into her life and had come to be known as the Dare Divas. The first challenge after her husband's untimely death? Skydiving. It was irony, she says, as she felt she was free falling already.

She shares her adventures and weaves biblical concepts into them. She writes about friendship, discovering truths through taking unusual challenges, mastering fears, conquering bumps on the path. She is honest about her struggle with grief and battle with substance abuse.

Hunter's book is a good account of her finding the joy of living again after an unexpected loss. Readers may find many of the adventures beyond their budget, such as a two month cruise or driving NASCAR or climbing Mount Kilimanjaro or a safari. Nonetheless, the book is a good story of an unlikely journey from grief, through friendship and an unexpected romance, to living life again.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.
Profile Image for Sharde'.
49 reviews14 followers
March 5, 2023
Such an excellent, inspiring memoir. Loved hearing about the Dare Divas and their amazing adventures, and as a travel lover this gave me inspiration/ideas for places i want to visit or activities i want to do.
Sheri gives an open and vulnerable account of her grief and how friendships and their dares to take risks helped bring her joy in her roughest times.
Grief, faith, friendship, love, adventures are all touched on.
Cannot wait for the film to be developed!
Profile Image for Anita Elder.
Author 2 books4 followers
October 15, 2020
I couldn't get past chapter 3 - too much about God/religion when I'd rather hear about the adventures! I just can't stand preachy books, so lucky she got even 2 stars out of me.
8 reviews
March 5, 2020
A fun memoir that will motivate you to live your own life full of strength and adventure and jump-start your joy!

I'm a big fan of memoirs -- especially those centered around travel and faith, so I was really looking forward to reading this title.

Author Sheri Hunter's husband unexpectedly passed away at age 50 and this sudden loss (understandably) caused a great upheaval in her daily life.

Years before, she and some friends from church had formed a "Dare Divas" group, getting together to experience exciting activities like whitewater rafting that pushed them out of their comfort zone.

After her husband's death, Sheri and these friends sought out even greater adventures (like zip-lining, skydiving, mountain climbing and more), which resulted in even greater lessons learned and helped Sheri find the strength to move forward in life.

In so many ways, this book reminded me of another popular title, but there were so many aspects of Daring to Live that I appreciated over that other book -- mainly that Hunter writes from a Christian perspective and is truly interested in how she can grow closer to the Lord throughout her difficult time.

Although I have not experienced the same exact devastation that Sheri did in losing her husband suddenly, the lessons she shares are easily transmutable with any life-altering situations we experience.

I especially related to her realization that she'd reached the point where God's love was sufficient for her -- when she knew that if she was alone for the rest of her life, she would be okay, and, spoiler alert, that's when she met her current husband.

Although my linear-happy brain struggled at times with the way she jumped around her timeline in retelling her adventures, it wasn't too much of a struggle to keep me from enjoying the book and those of you who don't have sequential hang-ups like me won't bat an eye at this free-flowing style.

If you like memoirs or are looking for an easy, vacation-style read that still makes you think about things, then this book is a wonderful choice. It's fun to merely read through all the Dare Diva adventures, but provides plenty of opportunities for contemplative thought (if you're looking for them) along the way.

I received a free copy of this product from Baker Books Bloggers in exchange for writing a review. All opinions are my own.
Profile Image for Danielle Hammelef.
1,125 reviews177 followers
March 14, 2020
I knew I had to read this book as the author is from my home state and I did enjoy reading about her adventures in places with names I'd either visited or recognized. I found myself relating to many of Shari's feelings and emotions as I read along. I found the conversational style easy and fun to read, and although the adventures she shared with the Dare Divas are ones far out of my economical reach, I know I don't have to travel the world to dare myself to live after reading this book.

As of my review today, the world is suffering from a pandemic. My need to trust God and make faith my reaction before fear was reinforced in this book. The author reminded me that God will always be there for me, even if I turn to fear first. Shari questions why humans always fear before relying on faith. She reminds herself that God is in control always. "Fear crops up when I experience circumstances over which I have no control...." This quote from the author rang true to me because I have recently realized the same truth for myself. There is nothing I can do to stop the coronovirus, but I can trust that God will see us through. "God's grace, like a parachute, activates when I'm afraid. God has us, in every problem, loss, anguish and we will be okay."

God sends people to us to work in our lives. Shari found that God gave her the Dare Divas to help her in the wake of her husband's death. She shared how her God-given friends pushed her to trust God in a way she had never before done. Her husband's death was this author's first real experience of trusting God through trials, and she tells her readers it was not easy. She tells us that we must hang in there, living life, praying to God, and wait patiently for God's answer. She realized that she ahd to wait on God to reveal the answers we need to our prayers.

As a group, the Dare Divas began getting social media followers and the friends realized that maybe God was using them now to inspire others to live fully and seek out the lives God wanted for them. The Divas experienced strains in their friendships, but held onto their faith to pull through. This book helped me see that I'm not alone in my fear, my doubt, and that God truly is in control.
Profile Image for Monica H (TeaandBooks).
713 reviews63 followers
March 3, 2020
After having children, I think it is easy for a lot of women to lose who they are. When she started feeling lost, Sheri Hunter joined a group of women from her church to find a support system. What Hunter found is much more than a group of friends--she found a group of sisters who called themselves the Dare Divas who challenged her to live life to the fullest. She tells her story in Daring to Live.


A few years after the Dare Divas started challenging each other to live with courage and face their fears, Hunter faced one of the biggest challenges of her life. Her husband, Mannard, passed away at just 50 years old. Hunter struggled to face that challenge and at times turned to crutches like alcohol for a time to numb the pain. But she faced that challenge too, found an accountability partner and conquered that. Through the years, the Dare Divas supported each other with love and prayer--and challenges to do some big adventures together--like whitewater rafting, zip lining, and even mountain climbing.


I found Daring to Live to be truly inspirational. Hunter writes well and kept me turning pages to see what the next adventure the Dare Divas would tackle. Along with the adventures, Hunter shares a lot of encouragement and continues to remind the reader that God is with them too--no matter what challenges they face. I also liked that she shares from her heart but she is honest too. She doesn't sugar coat everything. She tells about how hard it was to grieve her husband. She tells about difficulties they had within the group at one point. Yet, she continues to let the reader know that, with the right spirit, these challenges helped her grow and helped them ultimately grow closer. Daring to Live is a good read for someone needing that reminder that they can face the hard things with good friends and God is with them.


I received this book from Baker Books Publishing. All opinions within this review are my own.
February 19, 2020
  One of the things that I love most about blogging is the opportunity to share my thoughts about the books that I have been given the opportunity to read. My newest favorite book is entitled Daring to Live  by Shari Hunter. Shari takes us on a journey around the world with three of her best friends who call themselves The Dare Divas. This memoir tells us how the camaraderie and sisterhood of the friendship with these women changed her life. I laughed and cried while reading this book. I love that the book invites every reader to live a bold and daring life by doing what God calls us to do. Shari shares with us that a good friend will cause us to remember God's faithfulness even in the midst of the hardest and saddest times in our lives. I love the mantra that she preached to herself, "Girl, you can cry, but you gotta keep moving." I was encouraged that she even discussed the messy side of friendships of how to seek reconciliation when one of your dearest friends hurts you. I am thankful that this important topic was a part of this story. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I would recommend Daring to Live to any woman who wants to read an inspiring read about how God can use friendships to teach us and draw us closer to him. 
Profile Image for Aurelia Mast-glick.
361 reviews10 followers
February 15, 2021

What do sky-diving, white-water rafting, zip lining, motorcycle riding, etc. have in common? They take Sheri Hunter out of her comfort zone and force her to find strength to move on. In facing her fears through physical feats, she is also able to face her fears inside of herself and find joy in life once again.

Her husband, Mannard, was her rock. They had a good marriage with dreams for the future until one day when it is all cut short. Mannard suffers a heart attack and dies at only 50 years of age. Sheri is devastated and unsure of how to move on. There were so many things Mannard took care of and now she is left to flounder on her own.

But she has a group of friends who has been there for each other and they stand by her now. They stand by her and encourage her to take risks. They become known as the Dare Divas, and while they have some rough spots, they are committed to standing together and this enables Sheri to get up and keep moving and to find joy in her life again, to realize that she can go on after Mannard's death.

"A truly bold life is lived in the small moments, by choosing what God has called us to do. It's not letting the what-ifs hold us back. It's loving extravagantly, helping those in need, and being a good friend through the peaks and valleys of life."

"When God has me waiting, I've come to know that he is working on me as I wait."

These two quotes are ones I need to remember. I can get bored in the small moments, feeling that what I am doing is not really significant, but it is in those small moments that I can make the best choices--choosing to do what God has called me in loving my family well and treasuring every moment with them. It is in this quietness that God can use me and prune me to be the person He wants me to be and I want to be open to that.

I received this book from Baker Books and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Profile Image for Michelle Kidwell.
Author 39 books79 followers
March 4, 2020
Daring to Live
How the Power of Sisterhood and Taking Risks Can Jump-Start Your Joy
by Sheri Hunter
Baker Books
Christian
Pub Date 18 Feb 2020



I am reviewing a copy of Daring to Live through Baker Books and Netgalley:


After Sheri's husband Mannard passed away unexpectedly at only fifty years of age. Sherri hunter was devastated by her husband's sudden and unexpected death so she turned to her friend's. She had gone white water rafting with the group of friends dubbed the Dare Diva's. Now they have found other adventures such as Zip Lining skydiving, mountain climbing, and more. Sherri is slowly able to find the strength to slowly begin moving on with the help of her friends and the death defying adventures they went on.



This book is more than a memoir, it is a powerful female travelogue pairs emotionally driven tells, of healing and spiritual awakening.


I found Daring to Live to be a powerfully written , heartfelt book, and therefore I give it five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Sarah.
958 reviews33 followers
March 14, 2020
Daring to Live is a motivating and fun memoir by Author, Sheri Hunter. Her husband passed away at the age of 50 and this loss sparked an adventure inside of her, that allowed her to view the world in a new way. From skydiving to zip-lining and everything in between, Sheri decided to take life by the horns and not let go.
This book is written from a Christian perspective as she shares how during the most difficult season, she grew close to the Lord. She shares her experiences, heart and lessons that she learned along the way. She is very honest about her journey into allow God's love to be sufficient and then God showed her something else that was missing.
If you're a fan of memories that have elements of faith, fun, vacation and God's life lessons, this book is great. I think you will find some laugh out moments and even moments of seriousness with the Lord. This has a lot of time for reflection as you read Sheri's thoughts and God speaks to you about His own thoughts for you.
Don't miss this book! Pick up a copy today.
183 reviews2 followers
July 16, 2020
This candid read is a behind the scenes look into the life of Sheri Hunter, her family, and her special friend group, the Dare Divas. When Sheri's husband suddenly passes away, she is absolutely heartbroken. She doesn't know how to continue on without her true love. While she instinctively turns to bad habits to cope, she quickly learned that wasn't the way to move on in her life in a positive way. Through it all, Sheri's friends were there for her. This group of friends is no ordinary group of ladies. Nicknamed the Dare Divas, they plan epic outings together such as whitewater rafting, ziplining, and race car driving. There is never a dull moment when the Dare Divas are together and their friendship is definitely a special and unique one.

This book was a really interesting read. I really appreciated how Sheri Hunter was open about her problems in life. It was also really inspiring to see how she faces her fears head on. Everyone could learn something from reading about Sheri's outlook on life. Thanks so much to Sheri and Baker Books for the chance to read and review this book!
1 review
March 4, 2020
Daring to Live was an amazing read. I couldn't put the book down as I wanted to hear all about the dares they accomplished. It took be about 5 days to read the book only because I still had to do life...with my husband and kids. I haven't physical read a book for pleasure in a long time. This book was a great start to my reading journey for 2020.

I've followed the Dare Divas on social media and was completely intrigued by their relationship and their adventures.

I commend the author on her transparency and vulnerability which indeed will help someone who may have suffered a loss, broken relationships/friendships or may simply be living in fear.

I cant wait to see how God is going to bless the DARE Divas.

I DARE YOU TO LIVE!
341 reviews2 followers
March 6, 2020
Daring to Live: How the Power of Sisterhood and Taking Risks Can Jump-Start Your Joy by Sheri Hunter is an inspirational book about overcoming fear and seeking joy. Sheri Hunter faced personal tragedy in her life, and her interesting book serves as part memoir, part self-improvement book, as she encourages us to be brave and live outside our comfort zones. I loved reading about Hunter's journey, as she took new risks and embraced the joy that life has to offer. Each chapter talks about how we can be daring in different ways; I especially liked Chapter 5, "dare to be bold," and Chapter 6, "dare to move forward." I liked seeing Hunter's bond with her friends, and how she and her friends lifted one another up. 

I received this book for review.
Profile Image for Shannon.
629 reviews42 followers
April 25, 2020
I don't read a lot of memoirs but I enjoyed Daring to Live, as it focused more on faith, friends and traveling. The author lost her husband at a young age and rather than sinking into her grief alone, she decided to join 3 of her friends, the Dare Divas on some big adventures. Throughout the book, Hunter not only talks about her travels and adventures with friends, but also incorporates Biblical concepts into these experiences. The author is honest about her grief and struggles along the way. I enjoyed hearing about how Hunter chose to live fully, finding joy along the way after going through a devastating tragedy.


Thank you to the publisher, Baker Books, for sending me a review copy of this book.
February 28, 2020
I have read a lot of memoirs and inspirational books and this one leads the pack. Full of wisdom, humor, and honesty, the author is masterful at challenging the reader to re-think his/her life choices and self-imposed limitations in a way that uplifts and inspires. Oftentimes, these types of books make change seem easy and generate feelings of inadequacy. Sheri's message is totally the opposite. She acknowledges the difficulty in getting out of our comfort zone and encourages us to dare bigger, stretch farther, and climb higher. At a time when I started to doubt my capabilities, this book lit a spark in me to live my life to the fullest. Thank you Divas!
Profile Image for Stephanie A-M.
175 reviews4 followers
January 13, 2022
I am a sucker for a spiritual self help book. Even if I don't use all of the suggestions I just enjoy seeing the many ways people find faith and healing. This is an inspirational story about loss, friendship, trusting GOD and trusting yourself. Sheri's love letter to her late husband and subsequent love letter to GOD takes us from the day she fell in love with Mannard to how she worked and leaned into GOD to have a full meaningful life filled with sisterhood and adventure after his untimely death.
Profile Image for Jacqueline Allan.
519 reviews8 followers
February 11, 2020
A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I enjoyed this story very much and felt like I knew each character personally due to the description of them. I enjoyed the storyline. This is not my usual genre but in this instance I am extremely pleased and grateful for opening up my mind to something totally different. Thanks again.
February 18, 2020
I saw a meme recently talking about the miracle of Jesus and how nobody ever recognizes the miracle of Jesus having 12 friends in his thirties. Sheri’s book is a reminder of how much we all need each other, and that no one can predict what will happen in this life. Journeying through debilitating loss and grief, and deciding to move forward courageously into the unknown, Sheri is fearless and hilarious in her pursuits. MUST READ!
Profile Image for Cindy Fazzi.
Author 10 books63 followers
July 5, 2020
I’m so glad I picked Sheri Hunter’s book. It’s exactly what I needed to read during this pandemic when every little thing can amplify my deepest anxieties. I’m in awe of how Sheri went from a devastated widow and fearful single mom to a pillar of strength for her family, friends, and everyone around her. The Dare Divas are the kind of friends we should be so lucky to have. My favorite quote from the book: “The secret to success was not to rush it, to not attempt speeding to the finish.”
1 review
March 10, 2020
Love, Love, LOVED this book! I felt like the author was speaking directly to me about how to continue living life after loss. I cried reading her story and felt such encouragement from her words. It was beautifully written and took me on an emotional & spiritual journey. This book is a MUST read!
Profile Image for Brooke Hofmeister.
55 reviews1 follower
March 24, 2020
I won this book in a giveaway. It took a while for me to really get in to it, but in the end I loved it. I enjoyed how she gave advice on how to handle situations and how to move on in life and not let anything hold you back.
106 reviews2 followers
June 23, 2020
This book got me fired up. It reminded me to value my family and friends, to dare to do new things and have fun. To live. To laugh. To value each moment, because tomorrow isn't promised. Such a good book.

I will be recommending this to all my friends. Thank you for writing such a powerful book.
February 28, 2020
Thank you Sheri for sharing your story and allowing God to use you to inspire others to Live and to Trust Him especially as we climb up from our despair. Can hardly wait for the movie in 2021.
February 29, 2020
Great read. The reader will began to visualize and often personally insert themselves into the book and relate to the ups and downs of living life and overcoming grief and life challenges.
341 reviews
March 5, 2020
A must read. Well written. Insightful. I definitely recommend this book
Profile Image for Caroline  .
66 reviews
November 15, 2021
a great book about sisterhood and living life to the fullest even after tragedy strikes.
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