Amy Inspired by Bethany Pierce

Amy Gallagher is an aspiring writer who, after countless rejections, has settled for a career as an English professor in small-town Ohio just to pay the bills. All her dreams suddenly start to unravel as rejections pile up--both from publishers and her boyfriend.

But just as Amy fears her life is stuck in a holding pattern, she meets the mysterious, attractive, and unavailable Eli. She struggles to walk the fine line between friendship and something more with Eli, even as staying true to her faith becomes unexpectedly complicated.

When secrets, tragedy, and poor decisions cause rifts in Amy's relationships, she must come to terms with who she's become, her unrealized aspirations for her life, and the state of her faith.

Can she dare to hope that she will find love and fulfillment despite it all?

My Review:
As the story begins, the reader thinks, "poor Amy." Another rejection notice for this wanna-be author. To make matters worse, Amy's boyfriend clumsily dumps her by telling her that he doesn't want to "settle." What a slam to her ego! She teaches college English and Creative Writing as an adjunct in order to earn enough money to get by while she waits to have a work published. Therefore, she forever wrestles with a mountain of papers to grade.

I grew to like hanging around the characters of Amy, Zoe,and Eli. Together, they experience life: a wedding, a birth, and a funeral. (Hm, sounds like a good title.)

Pastor Maddock's thought-provoking message about the desire to be known, to be affirmed, to be valued, became a good bone for me to chew on. What a message! I'd go to that church if I could!

I enjoyed this contemporary work about life as a frustrated writer/English teacher all the way through until the end--which I read twice. It's one of those books that when the final page is turned and the cover is closed, the reader contently sighs.

Thank you to Bonnie at Christian Fiction Blog Alliance and Jim Hart at Bethany House for my copy.

If you would like to read the first chapter, click here.

If you would like to buy a copy, click here.