Loving: A Review

Warning: Spoilers

In the third book of the series, one sentence stood out to me: Your first love isn't always your forever love. Although Kingsbury had invested years in the Cody and Bailey relationship and fans had grown to love them both as they read about their growth from teenagers finding their way to adults fulfilling their God directed destiny, I could buy that after so many missed chances for happiness, it was just too late for them. (Although, it could be argued that they had so many missed opportunities for love so that the publisher could drag out more books on the same people.) At the end of the third book, I knew I would be happy with whichever guy Bailey ended up marrying.

However, this series could have been wrapped up in two books. Because it was a four-book series, I felt the author was dragging out the story lines and ended up giving us the same story from a few years ago. This book could have been called Dayne and Katy Part Two. It was the same plot, and at Bailey's wedding, they even played the same song from Dayne and Katy's wedding. I skimmed through most of the Bailey and Brandon scenes because I felt like I was rereading the Fame series.

I'm a character-driven reader. Bailey was one of my favorite characters in the Baxter series, but she became stagnant and boring. I grew tired of hearing her thoughts, going back and forth between loving Brandon and not wanting to live in LA. Readers heard all that before in Katy. I felt she  never struggled and therefore never grew. She was a flat character. I liked Brandon in the third book, but he became tedious in this book. Too perfect. Too predictable. I don't know if that's because Kingsbury based them on her family and therefore didn't want to write about their flaws, but it made for a boring read.

Cody is an amazing character. He struggled, he messed up, and he grew. I loved the Cody and Andi scene at the beach, and I love the redemption in both their lives. I didn't like how fast they "fell" for each other, but at least they seem real. The most touching scene was when Andi was able to see the little boy she gave away for adoption. Kingsbury should stick to stories like that instead of celebrity-driven plots based on her family.

Kingsbury's books have always been about real life experiences. Sometimes they are too real and I long for a happy ending. :) But, this series was too unbelievable and far-fetched to be life-changing fiction. 

Longing

Even though Cody and Bailey are dating other people, their story is not yet finished. When life events cause their paths to cross, the two must figure out their lingering feelings for each other. Will they return to their first love or discover that your first love isn't always your forever love?

After being disappointed with the first two books in the Bailey Flanigan series, I enjoyed Longing. Bailey finally makes a decision about which man is the one for her. (I won't spoil it for you, but I will say that although I love both Cody and Brandon, the decision is logically and satisfying.) I became frustrated with the first two books because I felt characters I had loved for so long were being destroyed to fill a four-book series. However, this book brought the journey to a close in many ways. Both Bailey and Cody are now completely developed as characters, and as a faithful Karen Kingsbury reader, that was wonderful to read.  Although some of the subplots were far-fetched (Cody's football story), the story of Cheyenne was delicately written and touching to read since I have walked that road with someone I love. Now that Bailey has made her choice, I look forward to the fourth book to see her final growth as an adult woman.

I received this book in exchange for my review. My thoughts are my own.

Learning by Karen Kingsbury

     I am a part of Karen Kingsbury's Team KK, which  means I get the book before its release day and review it for Karen's Facebook page. Because I receive the book before it's published, Karen asks that I not share plot details. Here's my review that I shared with Karen.



     Often in life, the most important lessons we learn are the ones that take us through hard situations, choices, and circumstances. In Learning, Karen weaves a story of learning through hard choices. Many authors write a beautiful story of love, one that ends in happy ever after. Not Karen. Instead she writes about real life in life-changing fiction. The situations the characters face are ones that the people who live on either side of us face. The characters face hard choices that we face ourselves.

     It is this honesty, this openness, this vulnerability that sets Karen’s characters, particularly Bailey and Cody, apart from other books and other characters. These characters make mistakes, have flaws, and face rough times. Readers can identify with them, and that is why the characters in this series are some of my favorite. I have read many books. I’m a life-long book lover, former language arts teacher, and now a librarian. I know books and characters like I know my friends. After the thousands of books I have read, these characters stand out. In addition to enjoying the storyline, their stories speak to my heart and encourage me to learn in difficult situations, to have integrity when I’m faced with a hard choice, and to love Jesus more than all else.