Review: Loving by Karen Kingsbury

I knew it was in route to me through the postal service.  But I didn’t know exactly when it would come.  Couldn’t have been a better time.  Nap time for my kiddos had just started and I needed a break.  A break from reality.  A little “candy,” as my friend calls it. 

That is exactly what the ever so popular Baxter Family series has been to me for the last several years.  Little snicker candy bars sprinkled through my life.  Yesterday my “snickers” arrived in the form of the book Loving and I was happy to indulge.

For those of you who are not familiar with Karen Kingsbury’s Baxter Series, you are missing out.  Each book is packed with wholesome goodness, a tad bit of suspience, and living life through fictional characters (though sometimes I forget that they are fictional!!!). 

Loving is the finale to the Baily Flanigan Series which in reality is the fifth series of one big series about the Baxter Family. Even though the author does a wonderful job explaining the past in each book, I encourage you to not start with this book. Go back to the beginning with Redemption and get to know the characters. Understand their stories and the valleys that God has brought them through. I promise that you will find one character to relate to.

Because each series builds on the lives of the Baxter family and their friends, it would be rude of me to give a sneak peak into the plot of this one. Major spoiler. So without giving any details away…this book continues the lives of Bailey, Cody, and Brandon all ending with a beautiful wedding.  

Since this is a book review, I need to do my job and review this book. 

Sadly, this wasn’t my favorite book from the series.  As the conclusion to this fifth series, I was expecting more.  Maybe I had my expectations too high.  I don’t know. 

In some ways, I believe the author put too much of personal her life into the book and it overtook some of the characters and the plot.  Some of the chapters got a little long.  But if you are a fan of the Baxter and Flanigan families, this is a book not to miss. 

Update:
I just learned that there is one more book to finish the Baxter series.  Coming Home: A Story of Unending Love and Eternal Promise (The Baxter Family) is a stand-alone book that reunites the Baxter Family. 

Here is the book description:

Coming Home is a novel about tremendous victory and unprecedented loss, a story of faith and a forever kind of love, love that will stay with you long after the last page. This stand-alone novel will serve as either a grand introduction or a beautiful conclusion in the saga of the Baxter Family. The Baxters make plans to come together for a summer lakeside reunion, a celebration like they haven’t had in years. But before the big day, the unthinkable happens. As the Baxter Family rallies together, memories come to light in the grief-stricken hours of waiting and praying, memories that bring healing and hope during a time when otherwise darkness might have the final word. In a season that changes all of them, the brilliance of family love overshadows even the valley of heartache as the Baxters draw closer to God and each other. Along the way, secrets are revealed and the truth about the Baxter Family history is finally made known. Ultimately, in this portrait of family love, the Baxters cling to each other and to God’s promise of forever.

Available to preorder now or purchase June 26th.

Thank you to Zondervan for allowing me to review this product.