Spoken For by Robin J. Gunn & Allyssa J. Bethke

Cover Description

Say Yes to the Love Story of Your Life

A great romance was set in motion before you were born. A relentless Lover is pursuing you, and He has made His intentions clear. He wants you to be His forever. How will you respond to the One who longs for you to be His with your whole heart?

In Spoken For, Robin Jones Gunn and Alyssa Joy Bethke speak to your heart about what it means for you to belong to Christ, who you are because of His love, and how that affects the way you live. Drawing on biblical promises and their personal experiences,   these two friends share what it’s like to live out God’s unfolding love story.

You are not up for grabs. You are spoken for.

My Review

I was excited to read this book. I love listening to people's love stories and inspiring tales. It gives me hope for my future.

"If God can do that for them then I know he can do it for me!"

Little did I really know just how much he will do for me and why. Robin Gunn and Alyssa Bethke really helped open my eyes to what God sees in me rather than how others see me. To see him as the pursuer of my life and love, because of the love he has for me, brought a new sense of wholeness. Verses from Genesis all the way to Revelations showcase just exactly what God thinks of us. In chapter two there is a list of them in "What God Says About You", which I loved. Be sure to bookmark that page, you'll be making a few trips back to it throughout the book.

At the end of each chapter there are 5 questions called "What do you think?" which I found very helpful and revealing. In a good way! In the beginning, I wasn't sure I was going to do anything more than read and mentally answer the questions, but God told me I needed to write them down, that this was going to be a growing experience. So I prayed for that I might me completely open and honest with my answers. I learned a lot about myself and about God when I answered all those questions and wrote all those notes in between. Like that though I believed God loved me there was still some hesitation deep inside. Yes I believed God loved me, but did I truly deeply believe it? I believed the words that said he loved me but I didn't understand how he valued and saw me for me. I've always been a strong person, but not perfect. I've let people who were close to me hurt me with their words and views of me and believed what they said was true. Even though I knew God loved me, for the reasons most of us know: We are his children, He created us, etc,. But thanks to Robin and Alyssa, I found out so much more!

• I am of great value
• He knows everything about me and familiar with all my ways
• He has given me nicknames: Peculiar Treasure, Beloved, 
• He will never stop being good to me: Loving, Providing, Sheltering and Comforting, Peace,
• He delights in me because I am His

I understand better now how God loves us and truly wants us! He's invited us to the wedding feast and will one day come to pick us up on a white horse and carry us away like a fairy tale love story. But this is no fairy tale, it is real!

Both Alyssa and Robin were very relatable. One chapter I found really got to me. The end of chapter 8, one of the questions was "What lies do you currently believe about yourself?" My answer was: "That I'll be alone, no friends, no husband, no family. Everyone will leave me. I'll be alone because no one wants me." And with my track record of friends abandoning me over the years that lie has slowly rooted itself inside my heart. Despite how much I've said and tried to believe otherwise. I put the book down for a couple hours and when I came back to read chapter 9 I found a nice surprise. Robin tells a story about a time when she was so sad she couldn't do anything but sob on the floor. She too had insecurities that held no truth to them even after she was married for years but when her husband came and comforted and covered her, that when I learned something:

• GOD HAS ME COVERED! 

My insecurities are lies to hold me back from Him. And what I really loved was how Robin's husband loved his wife as Christ tells every man to do. It made me believe more that there is someone out there for me that will love me as Robin's husband loves her and show that same affection and patience that Christ shows me everyday and I pray Christ's light shines through Him just as brightly.

I wish I had this book when I was in my teens, but then, to be honest, I wouldn't have been able to relate to it as I do now. Or draw so much insight and encouragement from it. I believe this is a great book for any young or old woman. To see God and his pursuit of us as a love/romance story is uplifting and inspiring to any woman. Maybe the husbands of Robin and Alyssa should write a male version companion to this book *hint hint*

I highly recommend this book for yourself or perhaps you have a sister or friend. This would make a lovely gift!



I received this book for free from the publisher’s in exchange for this honest and unbiased review as part of their Blogging For Books program.

Once A Shy Little Butterfly

So, I've been thinking... I really want to involve more of your readers out there in this blog of mine. I used to think "Oh, they'll just jump in when they feel like it." But then I realized, I have to really give you something to jump in with! So far, I haven't really done that. I've always enjoyed talking to people but at one time I was the very shy butterfly (sometimes I still am that!).

If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Just leave a comment in the box below. How can I involve you, my readers, in my blog posts?

Now to give you a little taste of my day, a tweet from this morning!

Woken by one of our cats jailbreaking😼the kittens out of the bedtime carrier! 🙀 Why? So she could could get in! #sillycat #needsleepnow #lol
— Victoria (@MissTadoodles) May 14, 2014

Smitten Book Club by C.C; K.B; D.H; D.H

Description

At a rummage sale, Heather, a member of the Fireside Book Club, discovers a turn-of-the-century romantic advice book written by a once-famous Smitten, Vermont, resident. When she shares the precious volume with her friends in the club, they find clues about a hidden treasure rumored to be buried in their tiny town.

As Heather, Abby, Lia, and Molly take turns reading the book, each projects onto it her own literary tastes. Heather sees it as a mystery. Abby discovers delicious dashes of Jane Austen. Lia sees in it the idealism of a bygone day. And Molly just wishes they'd made the book into a movie!

My Review

This was my first time visiting the town of Smitten and I must say. I wasn't sure how these four wonderful authors were going to write this book together, but when I saw they each wrote an individual story I was interested to see how it would come together. 

Heather DeMerrit, a single mom always ready and willing to help her friends. That’s how it all began, the treasure hunt would never had taken flight had it not been for Heather's determination to follow Chambers love advice book. But when it comes to trusting the man she once loved, and still loves, she hastily runs in the opposite direction. Not ready to be humiliated and heart broken by him again. 

Abby Gray, worker at Smitten library and has seemed to catch the eye of a very handsome bachelor. His adventurous lifestyle has her crawling back to her shell but daydreaming for something more. When she finds out her father sent him to deliver a message, she discovers he could be the very angel to help spread her wings and fly. 

Elliana Burton, a kindergarten teacher with a lot of love and compassion but when her best friend from childhood comes back to Smitten with his five-year-old daughter, she doesn't know what to do. With a little help from her mother (loved her!) she boils it down. Let him go and try to move on (miserably) or tell him her feelings and mess up their friendship forever? But even that is put aside when she hears he isn't going to celebrate Christmas with his daughter, hiding her from the haunting memories. But Elliana won’t let the shadows of the past snuff out the spirit and true meaning of Christmas that brought so much healing to the world and to their hearts. 

Molly Moore, recent widow and single mom and Smitten expeditions owner. After her husband dies in a firefighter accident, she’s left with the mess he left behind. The business is drowning and she has no clue what she’s doing. On the very strand of failure, hope comes walking in with an offer of help. Her rival competitor offers to assist her, training her and looking over her books. But what happens when he spends money that she doesn't have? And what about the secret treasure left by her late husband’s great grandmother Pearl Chambers gold mine? If only they could find it she would make it. Except, her growing feelings towards her rival has begun to fill her heart more than any gold could ever fill.  

I really loved the quotes from the Gentleman Guide to Love and Courtship. I wanted a full copy of my own and share it with my friends! Even just for a good laugh or discussion topic; a lot of it was true and accurate. 

The only thing I maybe disliked were some parts felts a tad too rushed in between when it was running so smoothly I didn't want it to end! In the end though I wished each story could have been written into full-length novel. I guess I’ll just have to go back and read the other two, which I highly recommend anyway. Otherwise you won’t know the characters as well and you will feel a bit tossed in the middle of it all, like I did. It was a great book though and I wish Smitten was a real town cause I would move there tomorrow!

BookLook Bloggers provided this book to me for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review as part of their BookLook Bloggers Program.