About the Book
Book: Second HelpingsAuthor: Linda Wood Rondeau
Genre: Short, humorous contemporary women’s fiction
Release Date: April 19, 2020
Today is Jocelyn Johnson’s 45thbirthday. Unhappy with her marriage of 22 years, the parenting talk show host has planned a noonday tryst with her cohost. A phone call from her college daughter, a peek into her teenaged son’s journal, a sick preschooler, a Goth daughter’s identity crisis, a middle-school son’s prank, and her husband’s inflamed suspicions, not only interfere with her hopeful birthday plans but throw her family into more chaos than a circus on steroids.
In desperate need of counsel, Jocelyn invites a Christian to dinner, her guest from her morning talk show segment. However, the evening holds little promise of calm. In the midst of bedlam, a forgotten faith rekindles causing Jocelyn to rethink her life and her marriage.
You will laugh and you will cry from the first page to the last as you journey through the day’s events and Jocelyn’s search for Second Helpings.
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It is a story about a marriage in trouble. This story deals with not believing in God. Unhplanned pregnancies, whether a son is gay, thinking about having affairs, lots of issues, but please don't let all these deter you from reading this book. It does have truths we all can all learn about our own marriages. This book shows us that we need to accepts others as they are with love. Forgiveness is also a theme in this novel.
This book shows that even professions, don't have a perfect family. This book points out that our first impression about someone is not always right.
This book is another perfect example of "Fiction is real life". I recommend this book to everyone. I really recommend it you are thinking there is nothing good about your marriage. I am not saying this book will make every marriage the perfect one after reading it. But, I am saying, it might cause you to rethink why you got married in the first place and cause hope to rise up in you and thank God, He can turn our pasts and mistakes into our best future.
I am not saying that everything a person does is acceptance and I realize that some marriages are beyond repair but this story clearly shows that all marriages that seem doomed doesn't have to end that way.
I think this book should be read by you and I am sending you a personal invitation to read it now.
I received a contemporary copy from the author and Celebrate Lit and these opinions are my own.
About the Author
A veteran social worker, Linda Wood Rondeau is also a wife, mother, and grandmother. She is no stranger to family bedlam. Her stories of encouragement and hope come from the heart. She resides in Hagerstown, Maryland with her husband of over forty-years. When not writing, the author enjoys the occasional round of golf. She also enjoys theater and is actively involved with her local church. Find more encouraging words in her blog, Snark and Sensibility, found on her website, www.lindarondeau.com. Visit her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.More from Linda
When I first set out to write Second Helpings, I envisioned writing a story about a harried housewife with a passel of kids. I thought of my mother who went around the house with her hands outstretched toward heaven saying, “Lord, give me strength.” Words she uttered each time we kids did something wrong, which was quite often.And so I envisioned my own version of, Please Don’t Eat the Daises.
The movie came out in 1960 and starred Doris Day and David Niven, a comedy about a university professor who leaves his job to become a theater critic, creating problems with his family and friends. There’s an iconic scene where the harried housewife rescues her toddler who tries to climb out of the barred NYC windows. One wonders, can this marriage be saved?
As the story developed in my own addled brain, I saw a larger picture than a madcap comedy. I asked myself, what would happen if a woman who ran a radio show about parenting found herself in a marriage about to fall apart and anticipates an affair? Since the woman, at the outset of the story is not a Christian, what might cause the affair not to happen? What driving force might be greater than her unhappiness? And why was she so unhappy in her marriage in the first place?
The answer came. However unhappy she might be, she was first and foremost a mother. Though married to a psychiatrist, she was the fixer in the family. What problems might her children face to make Jocelyn think twice about an affair? Which of her children’s crises would be the first signal to abort her affair? The answer came.
When Jocelyn receives a phone call from her college-aged daughter, plans for a tryst suddenly change. Lisette announces she is coming home tonight. Jocelyn’s worst fears for her daughter are confirmed. Not only is Lisette pregnant, she wants to get married next month. History seems to be repeating itself. And Jocelyn does not want her daughter to make the same mistake she thought she made by marrying her baby’s father. Jocelyn sets out on an immediate campaign to convince her daughter she has other options than a hurried marriage. Jocelyn’s tryst will have to wait.
Lisette’s pregnancy revelation has set the stage for twelve hours of bedlam … all on Jocelyn’s 45thbirthday. These serious situations create a comedy of misunderstanding against the backdrop of a failing marriage and begs the question, “Can her marriage be saved?”
Blog Stops
Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, July 20
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, July 21
CarpeDiem, July 21
Texas Book-aholic, July 22
Inklings and notions, July 23
deb’s Book Review, July 24
For Him and My Family, July 25
Locks, Hooks and Books, July 26
Adventures of a Travelers Wife, July 27 (Author Interview)
As He Leads is Joy, July 27
Artistic Nobody, July 28 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)
Ashley’s Bookshelf, July 29
Tell Tale Book Reviews, July 31 (Author Interview)
Fiction Full of Faith, July 31
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, August 1
Godly Book Reviews, August 2
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Linda is giving away the grand prize of a Kindle Fire 7!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
I like books that deal with the messiness of life but offer hope God gives when we lean on him in those messes! Life is hard, marriage is work, but God is with us through it all and is a very present help in our time of need. I think this book is one I would read!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts on this story & participating in the blog tour!