Clouds - A Review

Flight attendant Shelly Graham moves back to her childhood home because of downsizing at the LA offices of the airline she works for. Her move back home opens up a Pandora's box of memories of her first - and only - love Jonathan. When Shelly accompanies her sister Meredith onto a trip to Germany, she doesn't expect to run into Jonathan again. Yet she does. To her surprise, he's engaged. Lost and confused, Shelly reconnects with God in a way that she never had before. Shelly begins to wonder if there is someone out there for her. Can she trust that God can make even the impossible seem possible?

I've read this book several times. In the past, this has been my least favorite of the Glenbrooke books. Yet I read it with different eyes this time. Maybe because I'm older, I can appreciate Shelly's soul-searching more. There is a very nostalgic feel to this book that is different than the others in the Glenbrooke Series. I still love Robin Jones Gunn's books and am always thrilled to read - or reread - them! This time around though, I picked up on the dynamics between Shelly and Meredith. Meredith told Shelly how she felt that she pushed others away and Shelly took that to heart and tried to change. It's probably still my least favorite of the Glenbrooke books, but it is a relaxing read.

I received this book for free from Waterbrook/Multnomah's Blogging for Books program for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommend to fans of contemporary romance, Christy Miller, Robin Jones Gunn, Karen Kingsbury.

Rating - 4 stars

Please rank my review.

Quandary

Ok so I'm in the midst of a quandary. I'm reading several books right now, and one of the ones is one I'm reviewing. Doesn't sound like too much of a problem right? Well here's the problem. I'm not in the mood to read that particular genre right now. Obviously I will have to finish the book - especially since I've got a certain date to post the review by - but I'm going to have to try really hard to not let my mood affect my review. And that's my quandary.

What am I reading right now? Well there's one secular fantasy book, a Christian fantasy, a beach read, and a Biblical fiction one. Plus I'm about to start a contemporary romance to review. So which one is giving me trouble?

Secular Fantasy - A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson

I'm really enjoying this final volume in the Wheel of Time saga. I started reading that series 13 years ago and finally we're going to find out the answer to one of the most important questions - Will Rand be successful?

 Christian Fantasy - Judge by R.J. Larson

Book two in the Books of the Infinite Series, find Kien and Ela heading in opposite directions. It's fun to see the Old Testament prophets appear as some of the character traits of both Kien and Ela.

Beach Read - Getaway Girlz by Joan Rylen (Kindle book)

Four college friends take a trip to Mexico when the marriage of one of the four falls apart. The sister of one of my elementary/jr high/high school friends is the author. So I'd promised him ages ago that I'd read his sister's book and review it.

Biblical Fiction - Rebekah by Jill Eileen Smith

Book 2 in the Wives of the Patriarchs Series tells the story of Isaac and Rebekah. I'd just finished reading Sarai, the first book in this series. I'm not very far into it, but it is nice to see these Bible characters have more personality than what we get in Scripture.

Contemporary Romance - Clouds by Robin Jones Gunn

Ah Glenbrooke. I still plan on moving there someday. It's my favorite fictional town. This is Shelly and Jonathan's love story. It's been a while since I read this and I've not actually started it yet.

So do you think I'll be able to review the book, Rebekah, without letting my mood of being so done with that genre not get in my way? I hope so. I really do. Because it's not fair to the author for me to not attempt to give the book my total and complete honest opinion. But I can promise that it will be hard to do. I do know that I'll take a break from most historical fiction/Biblical fiction for a bit and maybe then I'll be back in the mood to read it. So how do you be fair in a review when you're not in the mood to read that genre anymore? That's my biggest quandary.