Susan May Warren's Evergreen ~ Reviewed

EVERGREEN
Susan May Warren
Pages 192
Binding Hardcover
Release Date Jul 1, 2014
Publisher Tyndale House Publishers
Series Christiansen Family
ISBN 1414394012

Description

An empty nest has Ingrid Christiansen dreading the upcoming holidays, but her husband, John, couldn't be more excited about this new season of life. He even has a surprise trip abroad planned. He's sure she'll love it. What's more romantic than Christmas in Paris?Before he can stop her, however, Ingrid agrees to spearhead a major church project. Then their faithful dog, Butterscotch, needs emergency surgery, draining their savings. And then--because disasters strike in threes--an unexpected guest arrives, dredging up old hurts.As a beautiful blanket of snow transforms the north woods into a winter wonderland, a deep chill settles over John and Ingrid's marriage. With the holidays fast approaching, their only hope of keeping their love evergreen depends on turning the page on the past and embracing a new chapter of their future.                 Evergreen is a Christiansen Winter Novella.  It’s much shorter than the others in the series, but just as good.  This book focuses on the parents, Ingrid and John.  With all of their children out of the house and Christmas approaching, Ingrid is feeling down and out.  John decides to surprise her with a trip to Europe, only to find she volunteered them to head up the committee for the live Nativity seen that Christmas.  On top of that, an emergency surgery for the dog takes up most of their savings, and a surprise visitor shows up at their doorstep, for who knows how long.  While John is finding himself frustrated that he can’t have the perfect get-away and enjoy life as empty nesters, Ingrid is harboring a lot of anger and bitterness towards John over past issues.                   This book was great, though I was sad not to see much of the kids in it.  It was nice to see a focus on the parent’s, though, and the struggles they were going through.  The characters were very real.  The only thing that bothered me was that there was a point in the book where one of the unsaved characters was very curious about Jesus and John’s character didn’t really spell out the gospel for him.  The touched on trusting in God and such, but didn’t really dig in and explain to him that we are sinners that need a Savior, and that Savior is Jesus.  I wish the author would have taken the time to explain it more thoroughly. Reviewed by: Sarah Meyers