I started reading Karen Kingsbury a few months ago. As a former agnostic, I understood Jordan's feelings so much. One of the best books I've ever read. I'd recommend it to anyone.

I am a huge fan of Karen Kingsbury. Her books are modern and full of today's real life situations that plague Christians everyday. In her latest book, "On Every Side", she has once again managed to bring across a very important issue and wind it around a very touching love story that leaves you feeling that if you just believe, anything is possible with God on your side. A real page turner to the very end, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Christian fiction, even if a romance is not exactly what you read.

This is one of the best pieces of fiction I have ever read. The emotions are non-stop from beginning to end. I could feel the pain and the hurts that these characters were going through because the author did such a good job at bringing them to life. It's not just another love story, but a story of justice and sacrifice, of standing up for what you believe in, no matter the cost, and trusting God to honor that stand. I am deeply moved by the strength and innocence of Faith and it convicted me in many ways to realize that I need to be more like her. I can hardly wait to read more of Karen Kingsbury's books.

This was the first book I've read by Karen Kingsbury and the first time I've read a romance of this kind. I was not disappointed! Even though this is the continuing story of these characters from her book A Time to Dance, the author wove their history seamlessly throughout this book so that readers who found this book first would not be confused. It's a story of pure rekindled love at its best!

first book read by Karen Kingsbury and absolutely loved it. As soon as I got back into town I just HAD to go and buy, A Time to Dance. will continue all of Karen Kingsbury books.

This book was an incredible true to life novel. After I read A Time to Dance about 6 months ago I didn't think anything could surpass it. I ended the book wanting to know more! What else haapened in John and Abby Reynolds' lives? I was thrilled to see A Time to Embrace (the sequel) in the bookstore. Karen Kingsbury is truly gifted in a way that is beyond words. Her writing is so beautiful and the characters are always people that you could relate to. This book is a beautiful description of forgiveness, hope, and true love the way God intends for us to experience. I would highly recommend this book. I couldn't put it down! If you haven't read A Time to Dance it would be worth your while to read that first though. I truly can't say enough about this book and it's predecessor.

Karen Kingsbury is one of my favorite author. I've read every one of her books! I recommend everybody to read her books!

I read this book in two days... I just could not stop! It was awesome. Ms. Kingsbury really has a gift from God on writing this. I can not wait to read more of her books.
I could relate in a way to this book... my cousin was killed by a guy falling asleep at the wheel. He walked away and she died. Then he got a few hundred dollar fine, a month or so in jail and that was it. It just wasn't fair for what all my whole family had to go through because of that. I just pray more people pass this book on and read it...

This book was awesome. Karen Kingsbury is the best Christian Author I have read in a long time!!!

I came into this book with the best of intentions. First, I read the other reviews for this book, which are effusive in their praise. Second, I've read "To Bring In the Steel," which is one of the absolute finest pieces of romantic science fiction ever written. But I can't prostitute my opinion for anybody, even Kingsbury.

First, I thought the world Kingsbury created was illogical. Common sense, based on human experience, says that complicated genetic and mechanical manipulations are capable only at the highest levels of human interaction, efficiency and wealth. They certainly wouldn't come in a world where peoples' main preoccupations were humping and eating each other, with only 200 million people and subject to constant famine.

Second, I'm tired of the pseudo-philosophical commentary found at the beginning of each chapter. We've seen enough of that, as someone pointed out, in Dune and other books. Mr. Kingsbury, don't tell us -- show us!

Third, a pet peeve of mine is America-bashing in any context where's it's undeserved. It certainly was in this case. Really, to compare the U.S. *withdrawal* of forces from Vietnam to the starvation and executions of millions in the Leninist and Stalinist purges is so completely ridiculous only a historical simpleton or rabid America-basher could make such an analogy.

I don't know, maybe I'm expecting too much. Maybe I'm pining away for a full-length book written by Kingsbury that's as good as "To Bring In the Steel." One thing's for sure: I haven't found it yet.

Not for the faint of heart, as you learn within the first 100 words of the book that Geta is a harsh world with no source of food during a famine other than it's only source of meat -- other human beings. Though this idea is initially repulsive to our way of thinking, you soon discover an incredible morality of the people in this book that far surpasses our own. They cannot imagine a war where they could not eat those they fought. Wars such as we fight today are beyond horrific to them, the most vile form of evil. Makes you really think about our values, and about how easily we tend to accept war. A great read, if you can stomach it. One of my favorite all-time books.

Also released through Panther as Geta (ISBN 0-586-05932-6) this novel is one of the few Science FIction novels which I've been drawn to re-read along with Banks 'Consider Phlebas' and Bears "Eon'. The world Kingsbury devises fulfills the true literary purposes of the genre; to present us with circumstances bizarre but people who are just like us. He challenges us to put ourselves in the place of these characters whose daily lives are different from our own but explicable. A hard to find book now, but worth searching out. It will occupy a priviledged place on your bookshelf, and become dog earned as you dip again and again into its' rich moral dillemas.

After reading "A Moment of Weakness", I didn't think Karen Kingsbury could have written a better book. Boy,was I wrong! "When Joy Came to Stay" is such a wonderful read! I never knew what depression was all about, but now I feel I understand it better, and have deep sympathy for anyone that has ever gone through it.
Please read this book! You'll be glad you did!

When Christ enters our lives, it's a feeling you will never forget. Christ worked a wonderful miracle for Ben and Maggie. Maggie shut down her heart to her husband and to Christ. She had such a massive secret and deep depression, she shut her whole world out. Is what Maggie finds out is, Christ did not shut her out. He helped her through her feelings about her daughter as well as her husband. Kingsbury once again does a tremendous job on a novel. Depression does happen to Christians. Kingsbury shows us with the Lords strength and scripture, He does lead us to joy. This is an incredible story of Maggie and Ben Stovell, then enters Amanda, Maggies daughter she gave up for adoption years ago. Ben thought he married a wonderful, pure virgin. If it wasn't for the dedication and devotion from her husband Ben,and Orchards Hospital, Maggie would have been lost. Through Christ they both learned to forgive each other and find Joy in the end. This novel sends a strong message about depression and how Christ never leaves us, even if you think you have left Him. Get your tissues ready!

Excellent book. Karen Kingsbury is the best christian writer that I have read in a long time. I would recomment all her books to anyone. You can't help feeling blessed and full of faith and hope after you read her books.

Jake Bryan is a firefighter with the FDNY, the only thing he has ever wanted to do. His Christian faith gives him the strength to get through each day, both on the job and at home. His wife Jamie has run from God most of her life. After a tragic childhood, she doesn't believe God would want anything to do with her or her failures. She worries constantly about Jake and his safety. The two have a daughter, Sierra, who is the light of their lives. Jake has been praying for God to make a statement in Jamie's life to bring her to know Him.

Eric Michaels is a businessman striving for success at any cost. And his greatest cost is his family. He has slowly shut out his wife and young son. His wife is at the end of her rope. When Eric returns from his business trip to New York, she is not sure whether she can continue marriage with him or not.

These men meet in the stairwell of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The tower collapses and only one survives, burned and suffering from amnesia. Jake's supervisor recognizes the man as Jake, but is it really him? Jamie works with him to re-gain his lost memory, and in the process learns about God and her husband through his Bible and journals. Which man survived the disaster? Can God redeem even those who seem completely lost?

I was touched by this fictionalized account of the calamity that affects us all. Ms. Kingsbury states that it was her way of working through the grief, and I am glad she wrote this book. The characters are very true to life, seeking God's will as well as running from it. Eric and Jamie go through tremendous transformation as God becomes real to both of them. It would be difficult to finish this novel and remain closed about God's hand in our lives.

I highly recommend ONE TUESDAY MORNING. It isn't a book that can be read all in one sitting. It takes time to experience, especially the scenes that take place on September 11. I felt as if I was right there with the characters in the book. For an emotional, yet uplifting look at God's everlasting love and mercy in our lives, ONE TUESDAY MORNING is not to be missed.

This is a wonderful book. It is the first book that I have read by Karen Kingsbury, but I am sure I will read many more soon. Once I started the book, I could not put it down. I definitly suggest reading it, it will touch your hearts.

This book was wonderful. It was a very easy read and once you start you cannot put it down. I will definetly look to read more from Karen Kingsbury.

I have read many of Kingsbury's novels and this one has to be my favorite! Kingsbury writes about these characters as if she were talking about people she actually knows. She has an incredible talent for bringing the characters alive. I truly felt like I knew this family and their trials and tribulations, personally. I finished this book in three days having had a hard time putting it down. I reccomend this book for anyone that has ever been in a family, knows a family or is married with a family. Great reading, please send your fans more, soon!

This is the book that made me love Karen Kingsbury's books. I had never read any of her books before, and, to be perfectly honest, the only reason I wanted to read her books was because the covers looked awesome. I was soon to be going on a trip and I needed to "re-stock" on my books so I could read in the car(yes, my family was driving). I decided to give Mrs. Kingsbury a try. After I read the back of her books I decided on A Time to Dance. It sounded like it had a good story line and wasn't like the fluffy, don't-have-to-think-just-read type book. Boy, was I in for a treat. This book forces you to think about your life in a different view. I talked so much with God while I was reading A Time to Dance. Mrs. Kingsbury does an excellent job getting you to become familiar with the characters, to the point where you hurt when they hurt and wish you could be there to give them advice and talk to them. I just finished A Moment of Weakness a few days ago and it's just as good as A Time to Dance. I really encourage you to try Karen Kingsbury. You'll be surprised how much you enjoy her work.

This was my first Kingsbury novel. I can't even express to you how good this story was. The characters were so well written, I felt like I was actually in their lives hearing and seeing everything in the story. John and Abbey Reynolds fell in love. They got married. They had kids. They lost each other somewhere in the middle of all the growing years. John had his thoughts and reasons, and Abbey had hers. This story shows the power of God and how He does work miracles. This may seem like a tragic story of divorce, but it is also a wonderful story about John and Abbey, and their love for each other. I could not put this novel down. The ending was so incredible, they.......can't tell you, read for yourself. I know alot of people that have gone threw the same pains as John and Abbey. This hits home for alot of couples. The strength you will feel not only from John and Abbey, their kids and family but the strength from God. You must read this. This is also good for anyone who is having marriage problems. This is very inspiring and will make you think. Kudo's to Karen Kingsbury. Make sure you have your box of tissue's ready, you will need it.

Handsome, priveleged, eighteen year old Fletcher Greel finally returns to his small Southern hometown to mourn the death of his mother. Fletcher hooks back up with his childhood friend Riley White. Riley is a good looking good-ole-boy in the making: stealing beer, spending his time drinkin' and fishin'. But Riley in is love with Crystal Nash, beautiful, sixteen year old Crystal, who is black and sings the blues like she's making love to the music. Through Riley and Crystal, Fletcher falls in love with motherless, wild, beautiful Haley Ellyson, who is obsessed by a unconsummated lust-filled affair with her father's best friend.

Why is it that Southern novels have to be filled with angst-ridden forbidden love, often between blacks and whites? This novel has it to overflowing. That being said, however, this novel has a lot of wonderful points. The aspect with the most promise (although unfulfilled) is Riley's character. It is interesting to watch him try to fit into both his white redneck world and the black music-filled world. The lush writing conjures up the image of a small town in the deep South, with aspects that still seem like it is the 40's there, not the 80's of the novel. Even the heat is depicted with clarity, down to every sheen of sweat. The story flows easily and pulls you into it's inevitable conclusion.

This was a book that was enjoyable to read but once finished, left me irritated by its cliches.

Kingsbury's writing has a ring of truth
to wake a town, the countryside and
her characters manage to carry the burden
as they come of age one summer.

While it might be accused of cliche and though, to coin a phrase, Kingsbury is no Harper Lee (as claimed on the cover), the thing that makes this book sizzle is its amazing description. You can actually feel the heat through the words. Kingsbury's description and language to describe each scene are outstanding. One such description is the bar where we first encounter crystal.
An outstanding debut.

Where Yesterday Lives was a good book, but not my favorite by Karen Kingsbury. While I thought her other books were amazing, this one got a little more tedious. However, the end was terrific. On the other hand, I found the characters very realistic. When the Barrett kids were young, they got along really well. As they grew older, they changed, and their relationships deteriorated as their problems came between them. As their stories were told, I found myself feeling sympathetic for them and understanding each one's individual problems. It was as if I was right there, which is what can make a book really great. And it also showed me what can happen when a family doesn't work to stay together.
I think the only thing that got slightly monotonous was the constant fighting between the siblings. This book only takes place over one week, and when there was so much obvious tension, I began skipping ahead to see when things would finally change. Also, the book is supposed to be mainly about Ellen, but there were many pages about her siblings, which was also necessary to learn about their past. And though I wasn't completely happy with some parts of this book, by the end I was satisfied. And I think anyone who reads this book will finish it feeling satisfied and perhaps even looking at how their own life can change. After all, this book is really about families and love, and how great families really are!

A scattered family is drawn together when the father dies. Four sisters, a brother, and their grieving mother are forced to face the past demons that haunt them and have made them a most disfunctional family in this moving, tear jerking novel. Sibling rivalry, temptation, and buried secrets come against this family as long held resentments are forced to the surface and arguments and tempers flare over the smallest things.

Amidst this ballistic scenario, one of the sisters, Ellen, is reunited with a lost love, at the worst possible time. Her marriage is troubled and she is angry and hurt by her husband's behavior. Finding the man she has always loved again is a temptation almost too great to bear, especially as her family crumbles around her.

Yet, despite all the negative forces, a more powerful one is interceding to work to make all things come together for the good. A new prayer chain encircles this grieving clan in the hope that the power of it will repel the forces of darkness that they have each allowed to enter their heart.

Everyone who has ever lost someone they love or been involved in family contentions will identify with someone in this book. Powerful, realistic, and moving, this novel will inspire you with the power of prayer and love. Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

As with all books by Karen Kingsbury, I was unable to put it down. I've concluded several of her books at 2:00 a.m. when I had to get up at 6:00 because I needed to know how the characters would make it through the tough situations. You won't be disappointed.

This is the first Pennyfoot Hotel book I have read and I will definately read more. The characters are fun, some reminding me of characters in Fawlty Towers, so they seemed like old friends. The mystery is a bit predictable, and the solution rather evident as you get about half way through the book, but there is alot of enjoyment along the way, although it sometimes is a bit disjointed, jumping between characters suddenly. It is a great book if you want something to relax and escape with for awhile.

I have read all the Pennyfoot Hotel mysteries having stumbled across them in the library. They are delightful - like a good cream cake and hot cup of tea in the local tea shoppe. Ms. Kingsbury depicts her characters in such a way as to make the reader truly care or revile them - my favorite to revile being the Vicar, who is hopeless. The local constabulary is also without lightbulbs. I hope to see Cecily & Baxter marry eventually. And I hope to see that poor maid with the twins go to Scotland and finally find some happiness. I reccommend these books highly!

The winds of social change are in the air, sweeping across Edwardian England in 1908, even reaching isolated villages such as Badger's End location of the famous Pennyfoot Hotel. Two London suffragettes have come to the hotel in order to make one of the guests miserable. Lord Bertram is the judge who sent the pair to prison and insured that they suffered during their incarceration. The duo never has a chance to put their plan into operation as their intended victim is poisoned.

The hotel's owner, Cecily Sinclair and her new partner (business and personal) Baxter cannot help but be concerned with the Lord's death. Food poisoning has been identified as the cause and the hotel is the only place he ate. Cecily begins to investigate, but before she gets very far her gardener dies in a suspicious accident. Cecily soon realizes that there is a plethora of suspects, both staff and guests, who had ample motive to want the judge dead.

The latest installment in the "Pennyfoot Hotel" saga is as delightful and charming as the previous book in the series. Readers are treated to an intriguing who-done-it and a glimpse into a society that is on the verge of enormous change that blurs the line between the gentry and the middle class. The developing relationship between Cecily and Baxter adds spice to a delicious meal.

Harriet Klausner