Jessica Baker (A Baker's Perspective)'s Reviews > For the Love of Joy

Janet Ferguson knows how to tug on the heartstrings of her readers. For the Love of Joy is a book full of emotion, determination, sacrifice, love, faith, and second chances. The characters are realistic, welcoming, flawed, and at times even vulnerable. But they grow, and you as a reader grow right along with them. This story is a prime example of how we need to rely on God's timing, God's choices, and God's leading more than our own selfish desires. We may think we know what's best, but the truth is that sometimes we don't!

Joy and Davis were a great couple, and really they didn't even hit couple status until you were well into the book, but their dynamic from the very beginning put a smile on my face. Joy's son made for some laughable scenes, which you kind of needed with the somewhat heaviness reality that the characters were in themselves. Both Joy and David were characters that tried to just sort of push the past behind them, and Ferguson reminds readers that we shouldn't be doing that at all. We need to face our pasts, albeit in different ways, in order to move forward with our futures.

I always know that I'm in for an emotional ride (the good kind) when I read a story from Ferguson. She just has a way to get right into my heart when I'm reading her stories. They are full of emotion, lessons to be learned, and a reminder of how important our faith should be in our lives. I highly recommend this book. And although it could be read as a stand alone, I think you'll get so much more out of it if you start the series from the beginning!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.