Redemption

I've read several reviews of this book that expressed the disappointment and disapproval of Karen Kingsbury promoting women staying with cheating husbands. I do not believe the author was saying that you have a Biblical responsibility to stay with a spouse who has cheated - because you don't. Adultery is a biblically justified reason for divorce. The main character in this story, Kari, deeply believed that God wanted her to stay with her husband and resolve the problems they had, and there is ab [...]

I beyond hated this book. I felt like the author was pushing her beliefs. Specifically, I felt like, thru her character, she was saying that God wanted women to stay with their cheating husbands. Even after getting caught the husband couldn't commit to ending the affair. And the wife stayed with him, not because she felt it was where God was leading HER, but because that is what christian women should do. Let me say I have no personal experience with being cheated on, so it's not for that reason [...]

Karen Kingsbury writes books that deal with issues all christians face at some time or anothere characters are flawed and human yet God is present in all their lives.

he best TV shows are the ones that end with you wanting to know what happens next. The ones that you season pass on your TiVo because you don't want to miss any part of the storyline. The ones where each episode leads into the next and is connected to all of the ones that came before it. Those are my favorite kind of shows.So it's no surprise, I'm a sucker for any books that are part of a series. I love that by the end of a good series each of the characters is developed so thoroughly that I fee [...]

This is not my first time reading REDEMPTION from the Karen Kingsbury Redemption series. I had read the first three books in the series when they first came out, but then I got out of step. I continued to purchase all the books in the set and the series’ that followed, but always felt I needed to go back to the beginning and re-read before I continued on into the other series that dovetail off of this one. So, between my other scheduled readings, I have committed to get up to speed on the mult [...]

I'm giving it 50 pages which corresponds exactly to the first four chapters. If I don't like it by then, I will abandon yet another book and add to my arsenal of thoughts about why I don't like fiction.Wish me luck.UPDATE: I'm 140 pages into this book which was described to me as "life-changing." So far, I give it an emphatic "eh." I've already read phrases like "hit him like a Mack truck," and "deeper than a canyon." I've already read through scenes containing the exaggerated speech of a drunke [...]

I think a lot of people rate this book for the message it gives: Love is a DecisionIf my opinion would have been based solely on this I would also give it five stars, Karen truly brought the theme through beautifully.But I don't just read for a theme or a messages, I want an intriguing plot and full well developed characters. I want a clear line between whose point of view I'm reading.For me this was the biggest issue, there were so many characters that sounded the same, that felt the exact same [...]

I can honestly say, I am not someone who pushes faith on anyone - I know I am a Christian; however I don't read the Bible religiously; I don't attend church faithfully and I don't pray on a daily basis. With that being said - anyone who is familir with the works of Karen Kingsbury knows she is a Christian writer and her writing incorporates versus from the Bible and includes a deep faith in Family, Love, Prayer and most importantly - God. I belive in all of that - however I don't act on it openl [...]

The First book of an entire three set series called the Redemption series, the forgiven series and the sunrise series. All following the life of the Baxter family. 6 children, multiple grandchildren, a husband and a wife and the story of their lives and their children. This book in specific begins with the struggles of one of the eldest daughters, Kari and her cheating husband. We get a sense of the entire family and how much they love one another through the love of Christ. The focus, redemptio [...]

I'm really surprised at how much I enjoyed this, as I'm very skeptical of Christian fiction books that either depict characters through rose-colored glasses or employ conversion as a plot device or major moral turning point for wayward characters. Refreshingly, this had neither. The story involves Kari, a young wife; her husband Tim; Kari's family, the Baxters; and Kari's former (and still current) love, Ryan. Tim is a journalism professor and begins a very passionate affair with a student that [...]

SERIES:

I reviewed this book several years ago, so this is a reread review.  I can tell you that my thoughts then were high on this book and not much has changed through the years. Mrs. Kingsbury's books were introduced to me by my mother many years ago, and I was hooked. Redemption was one of the first Kingsbury books that I read, and it is one of my favorites. I was instantly hooked on it the first time I read it, and the reread was no different. Whenever I find myself in a book funk, or I suffer a t [...]

I kept having to force myself to keep reading. It is a story that was obviously hung upon the co-authors' idea of Biblical marriage which is shaky at best. I can put up with a half-hearted, unbelievable story with flat characters, but completely ignoring advice from the apostle Paul about marriage (he said if your unbelieving spouse wants a divorce you should let them in 1 Cor 7:15) and not even addressing the issue of the Baxter family's underlying dysfunctional relationships was too much for m [...]

Karen Kingsbury's books are fun and easy to read. It's easy to get drawn into the Baxter family and all that is going on with them and want to keep reading each book in the series to find out what will happen next. It's encouraging to learn from how they do or don't put their faith into action when tough times happen in their lives.Kari Baxter Jacobs discovers her husband, Tim, is cheating on her. He is a college professor. He moves in with one of his students and tells Keri he wants a divorce. [...]

I found this book to be refreshing and easy to follow, which is something I highly value in books. Throughout this story you’ll learn about the Baxter family and other’s in close relationship to them, though the main focus is on Kari Baxter and the struggles she encounters with her husband Tim.I personally like how prayer and scripture was added into this book. The characters I found believable and enjoyed getting to know bits and pieces of who they were. I defiantly will pick up the next fe [...]

one thing that I have often struggled with, in reading Christian fiction, is the way in which the authors portray the influence of the Lord in people's lives. Often times in Christian fiction it can come off as a bit shallow.But this book for me almost hit it directly on the head. I loved how the characters relationship with the Lord was part of their life. I love how the characters spoke words that seemed real instead of speaking words that were expected of them in terms of their religious beli [...]

Wonderful read!! So thought provoking and inspiring. I bawled my eyes out!

I guess this book rubbed me the wrong way, I don't know. The heroine's such a doormat but she disguised it with her religion. She's just stand there with heart ache, when her husband hurt her heart and her trust, she didn't get up and save herself. She's weak and I don't like my heroine's weak, so No. Not sure if I want to read the next installment of the series.

I love the Baxter series

I will confess that I don't actually like Christian fiction. It's often too formulaic, and the characters and situations are too contrived. Often, I feel like the faith statements are too shallow, and the whole thing just turns me off. However, my sister and mother have both been in love with a series from Karen Kingsbury for a while, and they kept recommending to me that I read the Baxter books. I would listen to them and find something else to read, but my mother bought me several series of th [...]

Unbelievable!!! The ending… WOW!!!!!! You'll never guessor see it coming and it had all the elements of an incredible novel without your ability to see the gears working. It deals with serious adultery, and other elements that are involved so if you or anyone else has ever suffered this horrific ordeal or know someone who has, I encourage you to pass this book along. ( for me, the only sad part is that there is a low amount of scripture used ). This is a "clear your calendar type of book" ,gra [...]

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book which a woman from church brought and told me I should read. The characterization was good enough that I feel like I know the adult Baxter siblings and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series to see what happens in their lives.This particular installment focused mostly on Kari who discovers her husband's infidelity. The way they deal with it was refreshing to me, even as it was painful. I have to admit I guessed how it wou [...]

My original review from 2 years ago: This is my favorite book of the series. I liked it. I admit, I wanted Kari to leave her husband and go with Ryan, but it all happened differently. It was good.My review now:I changed my mind. I still really like this book. (It was almost 4.5 stars for me.) It made me cry, and I thought it had funny moments, but most of all, the majority of it all felt real. I liked Kari. She was such a kind, yet flawed, individual. I find it sad to see how many Christians tha [...]

This was a book about Tim who was unhappy in his marriage and started having an affair. He finally moved out of his home with his wife and lived with his girlfriends. He started drinking and making very bad choices. His wife Kari realized she had a part to play in his being unhappy in the marriage. A tough pill to swallow or to even read. Kari would not grant Tim the divorce and said that she would fight for their marriage. She stayed with her parents and learned that she was pregnant with Tim's [...]

Redemption is the first book in the Baxter series. Kari thinks she is married to a wonderful, faithful man and one phone call changes all of that. Kari finds out that her husband is having an affair and now he wants a divorce. Kari wants to honor God and stay committed to her marriage, regardless of what her husband wants. Then Ryan Taylor walks into her life again after breaking her heart all those years ago. Kari wants to stay faithful to her husband, but she is struggling with the emotions th [...]

I'm guessing I had a good cry coming because that's exactly what happened in reading the last quarter of this book.Honestly, in the beginning I thought this was just an everyday novel with some scripture thrown in there every once in a while. I wasn't very impressed. However, what I didn't expect was the reminiscing and soul searching that this book caused. I really didn't have much in common with the story of the main character (marriage) but I could see myself in many of the other elements of [...]

This was the first book I read by Karen Kingsbury and I must say that she did a great job with this book. It kept me reading until the last page was turned.I really liked all of the character. They were very well developed. I enjoyed reading Kari's journey to healing after her husband was unfaithful to her. She truly did want to do what God wanted her to do, which was work at her marriage with her husband. She wasn't perfect and she did make mistakes, but this was truly a story of what love real [...]

I really loved this book. My heart broke about five times and I cried as many times too, if not more. This is a great read - it reminded me that there is so much pain and suffering in the world but that with God's love and grace he will give us strength and courage in the lowest times of our lives. And that everything in life happens for a reason - that God gives us trials to learn - that He will never give us trials that we cannot overcome if He is in the centre of our lives.I particularly like [...]

If you like bible verses mixed into a sappy romance novel, then this is the book for you. An acquaintance recommended it to me because it takes place in Bloomington, Ind where we both had lived, and she loved the book. Although it did hold my attention, I'm far too cynical to appreciate the goodness of the lead character, and I couldn't help rolling my eyes as scripture constantly popped into the characters' heads to motivate or justify their actions. I also had a hard time accepting that the hu [...]

First, I listened to the audio version of this novel. The reader was over-the-top annoying, so overly dramatic it reminded me of a teenage drama queen. Second, this author falls into the category of Christian writers who think they must infuse nearly every page with Christian beliefs. These authors, instead of writing a good story that has a Christian foundation seem to think they have to “hit you over the head with Jesus,” as a pastor so aptly said about over-zealous evangelists. The plot h [...]