Giveaway alert! Stay tuned at the end of the review for your chance to win a finished copy of Need You Now. This giveaway is open internationally!

Published: March 12, 2012
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers
Source: Finished copy from publisher (thank you!)
Find the author: Goodreads || Website || Facebook 
Buy: Amazon || B&N || The Book Depository

~ The Blurb ~
From Goodreads

When big-city life threatens the safety of one of their children, Brad and Darlene Henderson move with their three teenagers from Houston to the tiny town of Round Top, Texas.

Adjusting to small-town life is difficult for the kids, especially fifteen-year-old Grace who is coping in a dangerous way.

Married life hasn't always been bliss, but their strong faith has carried them through the difficult times. When Darlene takes a job outside the home for the first time in their marriage, the domestic tension rises.

While working with special needs children at her new job, the widowed father of one of Darlene's students starts paying more attention to her than is appropriate. Problem is, she feels like someone is listening to her for the first time in a long time. If Darlene ever needed God . . . it's now.

"Experience a family's triumphant defeat over lies, betrayal, and loss while still clinging to the One who matters most. "

~ My Thoughts ~

I have read Beth Wiseman before but only ever her Amish Fiction novels (and it is no secret that Amish Fiction is my ‘guilty pleasure’ genre!) so I was extremely excited to see that she had just written a contemporary Christian fiction novel. I had no idea what to expect from this novel and I was met with an intense family drama that was so full of emotion I had a difficult time putting it down.

Beth Wiseman has a way of telling a story that makes you forget about everything else that is going on in your life at that moment. When you are reading one of her novels you are there 100% and she is committed to telling the story in a way that makes you feel as though you are a part of it. I think this is why I am such a big fan of Ms. Wiseman, simply put, she is a beautiful story teller and she is not afraid to push the envelope. Need You Now is no exception. It is full of emotion and meaning, based around a strong cast of characters and is built around an unwavering faith. It deals with difficult issues such as infidelity, teenage depression, and Autism and yet the themes and lessons in honesty, tolerance and the importance of friendship make it an extremely uplifting novel.

Need You Now was full of lovely characters that I was able to connect with easily. Darlene ended up being a far stronger character than I initially thought she would be and I always love it when I am surprised by a character. She had a heavy load to carry and still made herself available to reach out to others who were in need of some extra caring and understanding. She was uncompromising in her faith and completely devoted to her family, but she also understood the need to have something just for herself. If I could change anything about Darlene I would wish that she would put herself first a little more often, as she was too willing to give up on herself to be there for others.

Darlene’s Children were also more realistic and dare I say edgy than I expected from Wiseman. I have become used to the wholesome family found in so many Christian fiction novels that I was shocked (in a good way) buy how relatable and utterly teenage they were. Beth tackled some seriously difficult issues in this novel, and she did it with care and grace. She was able to move the story along without minimizing the problems she was writing about and in my books that takes major skill. The problems that this family was going through, and especially the issues that the children were dealing with makes this a novel that I truly believe bridges the gap between straight contemporary fiction and Christian fiction.

Need You Now is a book that could find a home on any bookshelf whether you are a fan of Christian fiction or not. It is an uplifting novel based in Christian faith, but it is so rooted in today’s issues that that it transcends the boundaries of faith. It is an emotional and thought provoking family drama that will have your heart aching for the characters you are reading about. This is a beautifully written novel that I would definitely recommend.

I received a finished copy of Need You Now from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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