233 pages
Women’s Humorous/Contemporary/Romance
In this romance, we follow the progress of Phoebe as she attempts to find a new home for herself, her siblings, and her parents following their loss of employment. Set in America, it has the usual tendency to reference aspects of life that are familiar only to those who live there. In this case, however, that was less annoying than is usual with US novels.
Part way through the reading, I began to wonder how I’d stumbled across this story, which gradually wormed its way into my empathetic side. I finally recalled I’d come across the author via Twitter and had found one of those limited offers, making the book available for free for a short time. As the author was unknown to me, but I like to explore new work, and this was shown as contemporary and humorous romance, I took advantage of the offer.
For parts of this engaging story I was irritated by the Christian aspect with its references to guilt, a woman’s place in society, and old-fashioned dogma that has no place in the modern world. I’m still unsure whether this was supposed to be the ‘humorous’ aspect of the novel. If it was, it failed to engage my laughter muscles and merely served to increase my antipathy to religion and its unfailing hypocrisy and narrow-minded cant.
But I was intrigued by Phoebe as a character, and when Gage appeared as the male love interest, I could see there would be fireworks as well as stormy weather. In this aspect I wasn’t disappointed. That the sex scenes concentrated on the emotional rather than the erotic aspects fitted well with the nature of the story and suited me fine.
Interestingly, had this book declared its Christian aspect, I would almost certainly not have bothered with it. My previous experience of such work has invariably raised my hackles as the authors preach their individual mantras on the evils of those who refuse to join their particular tribe. But I’m glad this aspect was excluded from the description, as I enjoyed the story and was engaged by the characters throughout.
[Any review is a personal opinion. No reviewer can represent the view of anyone else. The best we can manage is an honest reaction to any given book.]
Stuart Aken 
Thank you so much for this honest, well-written review, Stuart! I’m so pleased you were able to look past the outdated beliefs of a young girl from the backwoods of Tennessee and enjoy “Finding Home.”
And nope! I never preach. To each his own! My stories are about my characters, not me. Also, while my publisher did her best to update “Finding Home,” it is forty-plus years old. 😉
Thank you again for not only reading, but also sharing my story with your avid-reading friends!
Quick note: While “Finding Home” is no longer free, Amazon did choose it as a Kindle Daily Deal for the month of February 2021, so it is on sale right now!
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You’re very welcome, Jackie. You presented these characters in a well-rounded form that allowed me to become engaged in the story.
Wow! Forty years old, eh? Good to know it’s still entertaining readers. You give hope to all of us who write: our efforts may not yet have found their readership, but it seems possible they may still be around in the future to find new readers.
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Thanks for the review. I, too, can be quite irritated by the American penchant for assuming that everyone knows what they’re referencing. The religious stuff would have irritated me as well.
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Excellent review. You didn’t try to re-tell the story but told what you liked and what you disliked. And without disparaging the author.
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As you know, Brenda, writing a novel is a seriously demanding task, however much the author enjoys the process. So I try hard not bring writers down. Balancing honesty for the reader with respect for the writer often requires a careful balaning act, of course!
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Good review my friend. Sounds like for the most part you enjoyed the read. It is unfortunate that often Christians give Christianity a bad name. You can’t take a verse from the Bible without including everything the word has to say on the matter. Unfortunately that is done to prove some point that an individual has to make, given their own agenda. You know I am saying this as a person of great faith.
Again nicely written and I appreciate the fact that you respect and admire women. The Bible shouldn’t be used to paint women in an inferior light.
Sending love and hugs to you and Valerie my friend. 💕🤗❤️🦋
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Thank you, Joni. In this book, the religious aspects were largely included as an integral part of Phoebe’s character, having been raised by devout parents and as a church attendee. It’s the associations with guilt over what most see and accept as natural feelings and actions that most irritate me in this book. Those, and the inevitable hipocrisy that results from Biblical dogma contrasted with natural urges. But, that aspect aside, I found the story well written and the characters fully rounded. Phoebe comes off the page as a strong young woman whose life experience has been seriously narrowed by devout parents and a home community steeped in religion. That she manages to escape at least some aspects of this brainwashing, and is able to allow herself to fall in love is refreshing.
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Sounds like it my friend. She was able to follow love even though her parents or someone wanted to control with guilt. Hypocritical behavior runs unchecked in so many unfortunately. I am glad the book ended in a positive light. By the way have you and Valerie watched “Last Tango in Halifax?” We are partial to British shoes as often the acting is better and the people are so much more believable. Not everyone is a size 0 and six foot tall with an utterly perfect face. Have an amazing rest of the week my friends. Hugs 🤗 Joni
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Yes, enjoyed Last Tango in Halifax. Good actors and a great story. And set in a part of the country we know well.
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Yea I thought so. Great show. Hugs 🤗 Joni
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