Need You Now by Beth Wiseman

Author Beth Wiseman steps away from writing Amish fiction with her first contemporary novel about a family on the brink of disaster. I loved this book! Read it in less than a day and could not put it down. That reminds me, I need to stick clothes in the dryer...
This was very well written but there were a couple of things that threw me out of the story for a bit. The kids getting up early to watch the Space Shuttle launch (that program was ended, probably too late to change in the book before publication), and one time when Darlene went shopping and left the groceries in the car for hours in the summer without once worrying that they'd spoil. Other than that I adored this book.
Darlene and Brad seem to have the perfect life, perfect marriage, but nothing is ever as it seems to be. When things threaten to shake their foundation will they be able to stand strong to their vows and to their faith? An excellent book on marriage and family.
This book was provided for review by The B&B Media Group
About the book and author:

Clinging to the One that Matters Most In her first contemporary release, best-selling author Beth Wiseman explores growing stronger in the broken places of life. We all count on the support of those around us when times are tough, but what do we do when those we depend on the most are suddenly gone? How do we cope when life has pulled the rug out from under us and left us with nothing and no one to hold on to? To whom can we turn when it seems no one, not even God, is there? These are the questions best-selling author Beth Wiseman addresses in her first contemporary novel, Need You Now (Thomas Nelson)

While Wiseman will be the first to tell you her writing has been “all over the place,” this award-winning journalist did not start writing fiction until, through a personal crisis in her own life, her faith was so strengthened that her agent suggested she write a Christian novel. Following the advice, she left journalism behind in 2008 to become a full-time writer of Amish fiction and has been winning awards for her efforts ever since. All of her full-length novels and novellas have been bestsellers and she was the 2010 INSPY Award winner, 2011 Carol Award winner from American Christian Fiction Writers and the 2011 Inspirational Readers Choice Award winner. Using her skills as a novelist to continue “reporting” on the needs, concerns and issues most prevalent in today’s society, Wiseman now relies on the characters in her works of fiction, rather than newsprint, to convey the important messages upon which she chooses to focus. After the safety of one of their children is threatened, Need You Now main character Darlene Henderson and her husband Brad choose to move their family from Houston to the dot-in-the-road town of Round Top, Texas, moving into the old fixer-upper farm left to Darlene by her grandparents. Adjusting to the change is more difficult than any of them imagined, especially for the middle child, 15-year-old Grace, who becomes a cutter, using a dangerous and particularly self-damaging way of coping with stress. The move also begins to take a toll on the couple’s marriage when Darlene decides to take a job outside the home in an effort to make new friends in the community. As the domestic tension rises, both begin to wonder if the same shared faith that has carried them through difficult times in the past will be strong enough to help them now. To make matters worse, Darlene begins receiving inappropriate attention from the widowed father of the autistic young girl she is assigned to work with at the school for special needs children where she is employed. Unfortunately, this new attention comes just when she is most vulnerable. If there has ever been a time in her life when she needed God, it is now. But will she allow arising feelings of unworthiness to keep her from seeking Him? In her first novel not set in an Amish community, Wiseman spins her well-honed characters and setting into a thought-provoking message that not only makes the reader ponder his or her own relationship with God, but also sheds light on the little-known disorders of using self-injury as a way of seeking relief and high-functioning autism. Need You Now is the perfect read for anyone who has ever questioned life and God’s will. While Need You Now will not appear on bookstore shelves until April 2012, eager readers will be given a sneak peek as early as February 21. Beginning on that date, the first half of the book will be made available in digital format (e-book) to readers from all major e-book retailers for only 99 cents. The second half of the e-book and full e-book will then be made available for sale in early April. The full paperback version will be released on April 17, 2012.