Book Synopsis:
A new season begins for Christy and Todd with a pregnancy test and a disillusioning visit to the doctor.
As they try to catch their balance, Todd’s job swerves in a new direction; Aunt Marti overdoes her self-assigned role of preparing for the family’s addition-to-come; and Christy’s parents face surprising changes that might take them back to Wisconsin.
Christy misses Katie more than ever, and just when she thinks life will slow down, Alissa’s daughter, Shawna, comes to visit and brings all her pre-teen charms and challenges with her. A mixture of excitement and anxiety carries Christy through all the baby-bumps. Her hopes and dreams are as many as the grains of sand that cover her sandy toes after sunset walks on the beach with Todd. Christy knows that everything is about to change when she steps into one of the great mysteries of life – motherhood.
My Review:
4.5/5 stars. This will probably be a pretty short review, because I don't have too many specific thoughts about this book. As always, it was super cute and heartwarming. Something about it, thought, just didn’t feel quite like a five-star book. I didn't finish it with the thought of "wow, that was an amazing book," more like "that was a great book."
The pacing was good. It never felt too quick or too slow, despite the fact that it took place over an entire pregnancy.
The Christian themes in this book in particular were very touching. There were lots of pro-life messages, both with Christy and Todd's unborn baby and Shawna - Alissa's birth daughter who she gave up for adoption as a teen - talking about her being "worthy of life." The parts with Shawna especially almost made me emotional. It was also nice to have that callback to the second or third book in the original series.
Aunt Marti is a character who gets on my nerves - which I think is the point - but it was especially prevalent in this book. She was being very pushy about things with Christy and her baby, and wanting things to be about her and showing off. It also annoyed me a little bit how Christy wasn't always speaking up and was just letting Aunt Marti get away with things. At the same time, though, I like Aunt Marti because she's been so prominent throughout the books and because she's flawed.
Christy giving birth at the end was very sweet and emotional. There was a lot of description about the whole process, which I found myself kind of skimming, but was still a great scene. Her reactions and emotions seemed realistic, although I wouldn't know.
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