First things first -- I can't believe I didn't know Kiera Cass had released the first book of a completely new series until I saw it on the shelf at Barnes & Noble! I don't know how I didn't hear about it sooner, but as soon as I saw it there in the store, I knew I had to buy it. I have been a huge fan of her Selection series ever since I (finally) read it, and I had no doubt that her amazing storytelling talents would lead me to loving this book, too. And I was so impressed with The Betrothed! It started out almost predictable -- beautiful woman catches the eye of the king but also finds that she is falling for the foreign commoner in the castle and does not desire all that the royal crown promises. But the plot proves to get more and more intricately complex. I found myself having no idea what the next chapter would bring the farther I read. I think it is crafted to bring the classic fairytale sense to a story with a main character that suffers more than I was expecting. The conclusion of this serie's first addition was also not what I was expecting... I will be eagerly anticipating the next addition. All in all, if you liked Cass' Selection and other work, you will not be disappointed with her ability to create the world of a young woman named Hollis weaving through the tumults of love and the darker sides of royalty and monarchical life. I would also like to say that I always adore when the author chooses to "give" their readers an image to associate their character with by selecting a front cover that shows the character. Throughout the entire book, I was able to clearly picture Hollis' golden hair and wardrobe which made the reading all the more enjoyable. Go read this book!


Some of my favorite quotes from The Betrothed:

"You bring words out of me that I didn't know existed."

"To finally be kissed was a wondrous thing, and to be kissed by a king was even more thrilling."

"The most valuable thing you can own is the assurance of your place in someone's heart."

"But neither of us moved. Until we both did, meeting in the middle of the hallway for a stolen kiss."

"... there is an education that can only be received through travel."

"Hollis, even in the night, you are still my sun, bringing light to my world."

"And if I one day find the will to love again, I will only know if it's love... because you taught me what that was."

As a single Christian woman, it may appear strange for me to have read a book geared towards unpacking what the Bible says about marriage and sex. But in reality, as a single Christian woman, I feel like it is imperative for me to invest in gaining a healthy mindset towards a future that may include marriage. And also, this book is about more than just marriage and sex: it is about the fundamentals of male and female, how God created us and the intimacy of sex, and how this world has distorted what started out very good. I read this book with my mother outside on our patio every Saturday and Sunday morning, and I have to say that there is something about reading books aloud that helps in really absorbing the information. As we read through this book together, we had so many good and deep conversations concerning both of our ideals towards dating and marriage, our views surrounding what the Bible has to say about sexual sin, and how I view healthy relationships as a single person. We owe these life giving discussions to John Mark Comer's amazing writing. Loveology is the first book of his that I have read, but I am already itching to buy more! His conversational and often humorous writing style kept us both engaged and laughing; it truly feels like you are just having a casual talk with him over coffee. In terms of what this book gets down and dirty with, I believe that it digs deep and gets muddy in the stuff that today's culture has caused us to feel complacent in. Whether that be sex before marriage, types of intimacy in dating relationships, how marriages turn out healthy and unhealthy, and how it all started in the garden of Eden with God and his first two humans, it is the kind of book that pulls you out of those places of complacency and makes you think and question. Not everyone may agree with everything Comer has to say, but I encourage those who choose to read this book to approach its topics in the same way that Comer does: with a biblical frame of reference. Because it all comes down to this: God created love, sex, marriage, intimacy, males, and females to be very good things. The reason why these things have experienced perversion is because this world is not perfect. But doing our best to live and love the way God intended is what He wills for us and what this book helps to illustrate.



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Some of my favorite quotes from Loveology:

"We were set up to love. To absorb the love of God into our bloodstream and then to share it with another human being."

"Jesus' life is the example for how to love. It's that easy. And that difficult."

"To God, your identity -- what makes you you -- isn't rooted in the past (who you were) or in the present (who you are), but in the future -- who you are becoming." I absolutely love this quote because it gives us as imperfect humans "room." It truly encapsulates the kind of love and grace that God has for us, that he constantly has his sights set on the best version of who we can be and believing that one day we will be that.

"Do not underestimate what he can do in your life to put you back together."

"If he isn't doing anything with his life to that matters for God's kingdom, how will you partner with him?"

"Will we buy the lie? Go our own way, thinking we know better than God?"

"The word helper is ezer in Hebrew. It sounds derogatory in English, like God made Adam a personal assistant. But it’s not that way at all in the original language. Ezer can be translated “partner” — one who comes alongside to help achieve a goal."

I was truly impressed with Marissa Meyer's unique take on the life of a girl that was once just Lady Catherine Pinkerton rather than the infamous and feared Queen of Hearts. I have not read Meyer's acclaimed Lunar Chronicles (or any of her other books for that matter), but I find her ability to story tell and world build with such ease and natural talent to explain at least in part why she has so many fans! Overall, I have always been drawn to books that play with fairytale adaptations, so this tale set in the whimsical world of Wonderland was right up my alley. Characters like the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter even make contributions to the (plot. The romance orchestrated between Catherine and Jest, the kingdom of Heart's new court joker, is one of the most swoon-worthy YA romances I have read in quite some time. I loved how the story seemed rather simple in the beginning, especially in regards to this romance -- girl catches king's eye, doesn't wish to marry him, and meets someone else who she could never wish to actually marry. But it is revealed in an expertly tedious way that the world of Wonderland is not a landscape suitable for simple stories; fate, destiny, and magic are all twisted into this tale, perfectly explaining why the raving Queen of Hearts in the cartoon we all grew up watching thirsts for heads, hates white roses, and is positively mad. I greatly enjoyed this piece of fantasy fiction, mostly for its connection to the timeless character but also for its lyrical language and depth. I will definitely be taking notes on how to craft believable dialogue and balanced descriptions from this novel. I recommend this book to avid fantasy readers, but also to those trying to break into the genre. This is a great place to start!



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Some of my favorite quotes from Heartless (the title makes heartbreakingly perfect sense on the last few pages):

"A laugh like that is richer than gold to a man of my position."

"The look had been just long enough to fan the flames of her curiosity, and short enough to put none of them out."

"She knew, in that moment, that she would go to him, if only he asked. She would be his, if he wanted her."

​"You've had me mesmerized from the first moment I saw you in that red dress, and I don't know what to do about it, other than to use every skill at my disposal to try and mesmerize you back."

"Catherine, I don't want your heart to belong to anyone but me."

"You have my heart, Jest. I don't know if you deserve it or not. I can't tell if you're a hero or a villain, but it doesn't seem to matter. Either way, my heart is yours."

"'I choose you,' she repeated. The words tasted like sugar."

"I am not empty. I am full to the brim with murder and revenge. I am overflowing and I do not think you wish for me to overflow onto you."

"But hoping... is how the impossible can be possible after all."

I would like to think that I can speak for virtually everyone when I say that these past few months (and 2020 as a whole) have been full of "not supposed to's." 
Life was not supposed to come to a screeching halt.
COVID-19 was never supposed to change even the smallest parts of our daily routines or take away loved ones.
The riots and protests across the country were not supposed to result in more perpetuated misunderstandings and anger.
And, most of all, we were never supposed to live in fear.
I read Lysa TerKeurst's book Uninvited a little over a year ago. It spoke directly into an emotional situation I was currently dealing with. And when I happened to hear about this book through social media, I was immediately hooked by the title and believed that it could also speak into my current situation: dealing with this season of uncertainties. And I was right.
But I want to be clear in giving God the credit. I am going to talk about how much I enjoyed this book, but the book was merely the device God used to show me his perspective and truth, just like he does with the Bible and, I believe, every other book I have ever read, religious or nonreligious. 
So, this device of a book is one that I highly recommend to women on all walks of life. Even though it is easy to look at the quarantine situation we are all living and feel like this means that we are all living the exact same season of uncertainty, that is not the case. Behind the closed doors of our homes, we are all dealing with disappointments or misaligned realities that may have been causing us strife before 2020 even began.
This book speaks right into these dark places. It speaks so well because of the dark place its author was inhabiting when she was in the process of writing it, which she elaborates on within each chapter. From her own hurts, she sympathizes with those expectations that have set us up for disappointment. Those lies from the Enemy that are really easy to believe when we get caught up in the parts of life that don't look the way we thought they would or should. Those rather scary questions and doubts we have concerning the nature of God. All of that is addressed and written about so plainly through TerKeurst's writing (she has one of my favorite conversational writing styles among the Christian women authors I have read). 
I was right about this book being able to help me better grapple with the disappointment and frustration that I had been wrestling with concerning finishing my first year of college online in the extra room next to my bedroom. It helped me realize that I had been focusing so hard on being grateful for the good parts of this change of routine that I had not let myself acknowledge that I was really sad in several different ways.
I was sad about leaving my dorm and doing everyday life with my friends, of the meals and weekend outings that we would have shared. I was sad about the sense of independence I had grown used to being temporarily taken from me. And I was more than sad about how my OCD, which flares up during times of change or extreme transition, was really getting the best of me in a number of ways.
But like I said, this book was certainly something that God used to help me recognize the truths I had been reading in his Word in new ways. He made certain verses fresh and new perspectives crystal clear. He also assured me that reading this book wasn't going to solve all of my problems, make my sadness dissolve or completely wrangle my OCD. But the words within its pages rang true in just the right ways. God used it to strengthen me to fight against the Enemy during this time when the chaos that is ensuing is music to his ears.
I hope that if you choose to read this book, you approach it with eyes willing to see beyond the printed letters and a heart that is open and vulnerable to be touched no matter what 2020 and all of its unforeseen circumstances have been like for you



A few of my favorite lines from this book (it is extremely quotable!):

"We praise God when our normal looks like what we thought it would. We question God when it doesn't. And walk away from Him when we have a sinking suspicion that God is the one who set fire to the hope that was holding us together."

"Sometimes to get your life back, you have to face the death of what you thought your life would look like."

"If I want His promises, I have to trust His process."

"God loves me too much to answer my prayers at any other time than the right time and in any other way than the right way."

"We don't have to know the plan to trust there is a plan." (AMEN.)

"When you live slow for a season, the Son has access to the parts of you normally covered up by everyday put-ons." 

"The enemy wants us paralyzed and compromised by the what-ifs, opinions, accusations, and misunderstandings." (This one resonates with me during this season the most)

"We must let God's Word become the words of our story."

"To create meant that I would look a little bit like my Creator."

"How many times have I let imperfections cause me to be too hard on myself and too harsh on others?"

"If we are going to be true to ourselves, we'd better make sure we are being true to our most surrendered, healed, and healthy selves, the ones God made us to be."

"Perfection intimidates. Compassion inspires... when you make one other human simply see they aren't alone, you make the world a better place."

"Upside down are the perfect words for a girl who will eventually land right side up, messy and marvelous and so very alive."