Sally John

Dear Readers,

Jack and Jill went up the hill... What if that hill was the hill of success?

To fetch a pail of water.

Jack fell down and broke his crown... What if his fall was that he didn't want to be married to Jill anymore?

and Jill came tumbling after... What would Jill's reaction be if the 'fall' came after 25 years and a career based on being a marriage advisor?

Now I don't know for a fact that these are the questions that Sally John is trying to answer in her book, Desert Gift, but they are ones that sure fit the storyline.

Jack and Jill have been happily married for 25 years.  At least Jill thought so, along with her radio audience and now book fans.  The morning that she is leaving to go on her first book tour Jack drops the bomb of "I don't want to be married any more." 

How do you keep functioning after an anouncement like that?   If you are considered a marriage expert who do you turn to for help when your marriage goes sour?  Jill is floundering and Jack isn't helping her understand why he wants out.  This is not a place she thought she would ever be in, doesn't she always have an answer for everything?  Oh wait, is that part of the problem?

 

I really enjoyed this book.  It wasn't an easy read and yet it was.  The story flows right along, the characters are likable and real.  The storyline is something that could happen to any one of us.  It is also a reminder that we never know what a day is going to bring. 

There was one aspect of the story I was getting annoyed with and that was the "make lemonade" type of answers people kept giving Jill.  It was something that she herself used, but I found it so trite and superfical, then reminded myself that I have used some form of that a few times myself.  I needed to remind myself to stop that.  More often than not the person who is having any sort of trouble doesn't need to be reminded that God can use it for good. They know that, but are not ready to hear it just yet. 

Book #3 in the Side Roads series is due out in 2012.  Book #1 is Ransomed Dreams. 

Happy Reading.