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The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck by Bethany Turner Review

Hello Everyone :)


I hope you're doing well, and that you all had a fantastic weekend!


Unfortunately, mine didn't go quite the way I planned. I came down with an awful virus that's been going around work, and it hit me pretty hard. I spent most of the weekend without any energy to do even the littlest things, and basically I mainly just laid around watching Disney vlogs on YouTube, and making a huge dent in my TBR pile.

Thankfully, a bunch of the books I'd ordered from the library came in before the weekend, and one such book is the one I want to review for you all today.


The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck by Bethany Turner:



Source: Library

Publisher: Revell

Publication Date: October 3rd, 2017

Genre: Christian Fiction/Chick Lit

Synopsis:

Becoming a Christian is the best and worst thing that has ever happened to Sarah Hollenbeck. Best because, well, that's obvious. Worst because, up to this point, she's made her very comfortable living as a well-known, bestselling author of steamy romance novels that would leave the members of her new church blushing. Now Sarah is trying to reconcile her past with the future she's chosen. She's still under contract with her publisher and on the hook with her enormous fan base for the kind of book she's not sure she can write anymore. She's beginning to think that the church might frown on her tithing on royalties from a "scandalous" book. And the fact that she's falling in love with her pastor doesn't make things any easier.

With a powerful voice, penetrating insight, and plenty of wit, Bethany Turner explodes onto the scene with a debut that isn't afraid to deal with the thorny realities of living the Christian life.


(synopsis from goodreads)


My Review:

I'm a huge fan of Christian fiction that represents Christians as not being perfect. I don't typically enjoy books that give the notion that as soon as you accept Christ, your life will be nothing but perfection, or represent the notion that being a Christian means you'll never make a mistake. However, for me personally, there's still a fine line between Christian fiction that's realistic and stays true to faith, and Christian fiction that blurs the line into secular fiction with incorporating unacceptable content. So when I went to pick up The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck, I was honestly a tad nervous. There's a lot of controversy surrounding this particular title, and I wasn't sure how I'd end up feeling about it. I'm happy to say though that I downright devoured this novel, and it was a pleasant surprise from start to finish.

At its heart, The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck is a detailed examination into the life of a new Christian. A new Christian, Sarah Hollenbeck, who was brought up really with no notion of the Christian faith, and as such, really no idea as to what's truly expected of her now that she has entered into a relationship with Christ. She's got some pretty heavy skeletons in her closet, and she's thankful for her best friend Piper, and new boyfriend Ben to show her the ropes on her new walk of faith. However, not everyone in her new church family is happy to have her there, and Sarah's quickly learning firsthand about the judgmental attitudes that can often come from those it definitely shouldn't.

From start to finish, this delightful tale will have you laughing, tearing up, and rooting for Sarah on the roller coaster of a ride she's found herself on. It's a heartfelt examination of being new to Christianity, and trying to come to terms with what "walking in faith" truly means. While I did think the romance was adorable, it still kind of gave off some insta-love vibes which is never my favorite, but overall this title is a welcome addition to the Christian market, and I gave it four out of five stars.

Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)



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