"Reunion" Blog Tour

About the Book: Keira Johnson, a 50-year-old mother of two grown sons, believes she lives a good Christian life without secrets-- until she discovers a life-jarring fact her late mother kept hidden all her life. Kiera was born out of wedlock, and the man she had always known as her father had adopted her as an infant.

Meanwhile, Keira's beloved 17-year-old niece, Kirsten, has just discovered an unwanted pregnancy. Her boyfriend, Jose, is bound for college and Kirsten does not know what to do. As the family comes together for a reunion, Keira and Kirsten struggle with their fractured pasts and jumbled present. Will truth and honesty be the catalysts that allow the entire family to find peace?

Find more information about this book here.

About the Author: Lauraine Snelling has been writing since 1980, with over 65 books published, both fiction and non-fiction, historical and contemporary, for adults and young readers. Her books consistently appear on CBA bestseller lists, and have been translated into Norwegian, Danish, and German. A hallmark of her style is writing about real issues of forgiveness, loss, domestic violence, and cancer within a compelling story. Lauraine and her husband, Wayne, have two grown sons, and live in the Tehachapi Mountains with a watchdog Bassett named Chewy. Visit her Web site at www.laurainesnelling.com.


My Take:

Right off the bat, I thought Reunion was a very well-written book, and this continued throughout. Even though I didn't necessarily relate to the characters, I still cared about them and wanted to know what would happen.

This story is definitely character-driven. What is described in the summary is basically what happens in the book - there is not much else to the plot except for the ultimate conclusions, which were quite satisfying. Reading about the two situations with Keira and Kirsten were interesting, but there were a few times when I thought the story and the action dragged a bit.

This novel is one that comes from everyday life. The situations in which these people found themselves occur all the time in every town. The way this book was so highly based in reality made it not so much just fiction but more of a contemporary biographical fiction. This is not necessarily a bad thing, just something to keep in mind.

I appreciate the sense of unconditional love that was portrayed in this novel, both from God and from others. The emotions were real, but the characters constantly came back to knowledge of the love God had for them and also the love of their family. The characters also strived to live their lives according to the Bible. Even though they made mistakes and had wrong thinking, they went back to the God's Word to get back on track.

One thing that struck me when I was reading this book was how often the characters fixed tea. I'm surprised they didn't float away considering how much tea they drank! I like tea, especially iced tea, but you would think the characters were British considering the numbers of times they fixed tea to drink. I did enjoy the descriptions of the characters baking cookies and fresh bread and fixing their meals. Made me want some homemade cookies! It would have been really neat to have some of those recipes in the book.

Reunion deals with some difficult topics in very real ways. Although it was well-written and thought-provoking, there was not always enough story there to entirely keep my attention. However, fans of contemporary fiction based on real life will not be disappointed.

I will give Reunion ... 3 ½ BookWorms.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from FaithWords/Hachette Book Group through Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this is accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."