My Thoughts:
God Bless Us Everyone is a contemporary story with parallels to the classic book, A Christmas Carol. Charlene Dixon was raised by her grandmother, "Sis", while keeping the whereabouts of her parents a secret. Life is good until she loses her position at an exclusive all-girls school. Charlene returns to her home town as the holidays approach and discovers that her old crush, Dusty Kennedy, is now the school drama teacher. Memories from the past assault her as she also runs into her father- whom she hasn't seen in many years. Has he changed? Can she forgive him? Charlene's grandmother and Dustin guide Charlene toward an introspective look into A Christmas Carol. Faith, grace and forgiveness play a large part in yesterday as well as today.
God Bless Us Everyone is an interesting contemporary twist on an old story. Unfortunately, I didn't connect with many of the characters, as they all seemed a bit shallow to me. I wanted to like Charlene and Sis but their relationship appeared awkward, at best. I'd categorize this book as more of a novella and that's perhaps why the characters lacked the depth that I typically prefer in a story. I wanted to hear more about Dusty's wife and son, Charlene's mom and dad, as well as Charlene's grandmother. I was left with more questions than answers after finishing this book.
God Bless Us Every One(Abingdon Press, September 2016)
Charlene Dixon—called Charlie by family and friends—is devastated at the recent loss of her job.
For the last five years, the twenty-seven-year-old has blossomed as the activities director of an exclusive all-girls school. But when a misunderstanding with the headmistress leads to a pink slip right before the holidays, Charlie packs up her dreams and returns to her grandmother, Sis, who raised Charlie as her own in the mountains of North Carolina.
When Charlie arrives—broken and confused—Sis immediately puts her granddaughter to work behind the scenes of the local school’s Christmas play, A Christmas Carol. Charlie prickles at working with Dustin Kennedy, the drama teacher and her old crush from schooldays, but is even more put out at that the choice of the Dickens’ classic for the holiday performance. When she discovers her estranged father’s involvement her world turns on its head once more. But when Sis and Dustin encourage her to take a deeper look at the story behind A Christmas Carol, Charlie learns about trust, faith, and forgiveness and the needs of people in their own community.
{MORE ABOUT EVA MARIE EVERSON}
Eva Marie Everson is an award-winning speaker and author of “The Road to Testament,” “Things Left Unspoken,” “This Fine Life,” “Chasing Sunsets,” “Waiting for Sunrise,” “Slow Moon Rising,” and The Potluck Club series (with Linda Evans Shepherd). She is the president of Word Weavers International, Inc., a member of AWSA, ACFW, RWA, the director of Florida Christian Writer’s Conference, and the contest director for Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer’s Conference. She and her husband make their home in Casselberry, Florida.
Find out more about Eva Marie at http://www.evamarieeversonauthor.com.
*I was given a copy of this book by Litfuse in exchange for my honest opinion. No other compensation was received.*
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