‘Chasing Sunsets: A Cedar Key Novel’ by Eva Marie Everson – Book Review

Summer is coming soon, and with it comes perfect beach reads. Some even take place in a beach setting! Such is the case with ‘Chasing Sunsets: A Cedar Key Novel’ by Eva Marie Everson.

Here is the synopsis of this novel:

Kimberly Tucker’s Life Hasn’t Turned Out the Way She Thought It Would. While her ex is living it up, she struggles to understand what went wrong. When her two sons end up spending five weeks of summer vacation with her father, Kim plans a respite at the family vacation home on tiny Cedar Key. As she revisits the long-forgotten past, she discovers that treasures in life are often buried, and sometimes you do get a second chance at love.

Let yourself get swept away to an island retreat of warm tropical breezes, sandy beaches, and the most glorious sunsets you can imagine.

Here is the biography of this author:

Eva Marie Everson is the author of over twenty-five titles and is the Southern fiction author for Revell. These titles include Things Left Unspoken and This Fine Life. She is the coauthor of the multiple-award-winning Reflections of God’s Holy Land: A Personal Journey Through Israel (with Miriam Feinberg Vamosh) and, of course, the Potluck Club series (Potluck Club, Potluck Club Takes the Cake, and Trouble's Brewing) and Potluck Catering Club series (A Taste of Fame, The Secret's in the Sauce, Bake Until Golden, and Potluck Club Cookbook) with Linda Evans Shepherd.

Eva Marie taught Old Testament theology for six years at Life Training Center and continues to teach in a home group setting. She speaks to women’s groups and at churches across the nation and internationally. In 2009 she joined forces with Israel Ministry of Tourism to help organize and lead a group of journalists on a unique travel experience through the Holy Land. She is a mentor with Christian Writers Guild and the first president of Word Weavers, a successful writers critique group that began in Orlando and has since become the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Word Weavers. She serves on its national leadership team.

Eva Marie lives with her husband, Dennis, and their fourth (and final) child, Jordynn. Eva Marie and Dennis are parents to three incredible adult children and the grandparents of the five best grandkids in the world.

Eva Marie considers a trip to Cedar Key the perfect respite.

Here is the trailer for this insightful book:

This book skips back and forth between the current day and the late 1980s, when the main character, Kimberly Tucker, was seventeen and in love. The book is told from the perspective of Kim. She is a little younger than me - but not by too much! – so I was able to relate to her based on living close to the same era. I never had a summer romance in an exotic locale, but found it fun to live it vicariously through her!  

I appreciated the fact that Kimberly was such a Godly woman, and relied on her Heavenly Father to help guide her through her day:

I sucked in my breath as I always did in these moments, then reached for my files and purse I’d placed on the bench beside me. Father, be with me, I prayed. But no matter what happens, I trust you. (p. 25)

It was interesting to see what Kimberly learned about herself throughout the course of the book. I found this particular thought of hers to be very insightful:

I spotted a bench shaded by a shiny tin roof where A Street curved at the harbor. Wanting time to just sit and absorb, I walked past the tour boat docks – all three of them – and forced myself not to look at the one owned by Steven’s father. Too many memories…most of them good.

Too good.

Each one leaving me remarkably sad and unsatisfied. How was it, I wondered, that the moments of our youth could affect the emotions of our adulthood. (p. 86)

One thing I like about Eva Marie’s writing is that she doesn’t shy away from showing the flaws of her characters, even though they are Christian. Some authors seem to not like to show that Christians have issues – but we all know from experience (and from looking in our mirror) that that is not true!

It was terrific for Kimberly that she was able to go to her father’s neighbor, Patsy, for Godly wisdom and insight from an older lady’s point of view. Here is one piece of advice from this sweet lady:

Saturday afternoon with Patsy was spent in lament over my phone call the night before. Patsy said exactly what I expected her to say. “Pray about it,” she said, “and God will take care of it in his time and in his way.” (p. 341)

Another Godly person in this storyline is Steven Granger, the first love of her life who crossed her path again in the current day. Here is Steven explaining what he thinks a blue heron in their line of sight is thinking, and how that is a good example for us to follow:

“He knows who is in control, Kimberly, and it’s not him.” He squeezed my hand again. “And it’s not you and it’s not me. If God can take care of the sun and the moon and the waters and the Leviathan, if he can bring about salvation to the earth…if this day is his and this night as well, then so is tomorrow and the next day and the next.” (p. 356)

I’ve had the pleasure of reading one other book by Mrs. Everson – ‘This Fine Life’ (you can read my review here). Just as in that book, Mrs. Everson is very adept at character development and is very detailed in the descriptions of the settings. I enjoyed both books very much, and will definitely keep my eyes open for more books by Eva Marie Everson! I give this book my highest recommendation.

You can order this book here.

Available June 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. This book was provided by Revell Books for review purposes.

‘This Fine Life’ by Eva Marie Everson – Book Review

The latest book I have read, ‘This Fine Life’ by Eva Marie Everson, is written in the first person voice of the main character, Mariette Puttnam, who lived in small town Georgia.

Here is the synopsis of the book from the back cover:

It is the summer of 1959 and Mariette Puttnam has just graduated from boarding school.  When she returns to her privileged life at home, she isn't sure where life will take her.  More schooling?  A job?  Marriage?  Nothing feels right.  How could she know that the answer is waiting for her within the narrow stairwell of her father's apparel factory, exactly between the third and fourth floors?

In this unique and tender story of an unlikely romance, popular author Eva Marie Everson takes you on a journey through the heart of a young woman bound for the unknown.  Discover the joys of new love, the perseverance of true friendship, and the gift of forgiveness that comes from a truly fine life.

In the Acknowledgements, Ms. Everson shares her purpose for this story:

Still, when we do what God calls us to do and go where God calls us to go, we are blessed with a fine life.  A very fine life indeed.  That’s what this story is designed to do, to share with you, the reader, that our steps are ordered by God, but, in the end, we have to take those steps.  And if we just trust him during the journey, we are blessed. (p. 8)

The story is told from the point of view of Mariette, who is returning home to her parents’ home.  When she visits her father’s company to accompany him to lunch one day, she happens upon a handsome young man named Thayne Scott.  Sparks fly, but their future is in doubt, as her parents have certain expectations for how her life will turn out.  Her father wants her to graduate from college, and come work at his company, The Fox and Hound Manufacturing Company; her mother expects her to marry a gentleman who would come from the small social strata as herself.  Handsome Thayne was the son of a farmer.

Here is how Mariette describes Thayne upon first meeting him:

I took in his eyes, then, nearly drowning in them.  Dark blue.  So dark they could pass as black in the right light, or lack thereof.  His hair was a mass of soft blond curls he tried to tame, combed back in the style of Robert Wagner.  But it was his smile that made her heart flip.  Broad, white teeth showing, dimple digging into his right cheek. (p. 32)

Sounds irresistible to me!

Thayne had a strong personal relationship with Jesus Christ; Mariette could not relate to people who held those views.  She had attended a Lutheran church with her family her whole life; she thought that was all that was required to be a Christian.  Here she explains her mindset:

The real question for me wasn’t where I stood with God.  It was why I couldn’t seem to grasp what [Thayne] and best friends – Missy and Ward – had… I lay awake, staring at the tiles in the ceiling, tracing lines between their swirling patterns with my eyes, feeling pretty much the way I had at Saint Margaret Mary’s [her boarding school].  The outsider looking in.  The one who, though she went through all the motions – saying and doing the right things at all the suitable times – was in fact six steps behind, always trying to catch up but never quite making it. (p. 122)

Missy provides her interpretation of Mariette’s issue with God:

“See, Mariette, God has a family.  Yahweh is our Father.  Jesus is our Brother.  And we’re all brothers and sisters in him. But you don’t think you belong.  You somehow believe that you should be on the outside looking in, rather than inside the family home, enjoying the party.”  She took a breath.  “Do you want to know what else I think?”

I wasn’t sure, but I nodded anyway.  “I think you know all that; you just don’t know how much God loves you and wants you inside the house.”  Her face was as serious as I’d ever seen her.  “But one day you’re going to see a door swing open and God standing there, and you’re going to run to him, Mariette.  You’re going to run into the house.” (pp. 315-316)

As this book is set in the early 1960s, one of the seminal events of this period of history – the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 – is mentioned.  Here is how Mariette describes life at that time:

In the days following President Kennedy’s assassination and the murder of his accused killer, the country reeled as I’d never witnessed.  Logan’s Creek was no exception.  Although fully Republican and Protestant, the citizens there were first and foremost Americans.  As I passed by their clusters, either along Main Street or at the church…., I often heard, “I didn’t vote for him, but I didn’t want him dead.” Or, “I didn’t care for him much, but he was still the president.” (p. 246)

I really was absorbed by this tender and sweet novel.  For one thing, it’s set in small town Georgia – I love the South!  Another thing is that it was neat to read a book set during the early 1960s.  It was interesting to hear the characters talk about Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, and the aforementioned JFK, among others.  The USA still was in its period of innocence, and it was precious to see how these characters reacted to each other.  I thank Ms. Everson for bringing this era and these wonderful characters to vibrant life!

Here is the biography of the author:

Eva Marie Everson is a successful speaker, a popular radio personality, and the award-winning author of Things Left Unspoken. She is coauthor of The Potluck Club series and The Potluck Catering Club series. She lives in Florida.

You can order this book here.

Available May 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.  This book was provided by Revell for review purposes.