Review (and a Giveaway!): Breaking Free by Jennifer Slattery

Sometimes it takes losing everything to grab hold of what really matters.

Women’s ministry leader and Seattle housewife, Alice Goddard, and her successful graphic-designer husband appear to have it all together. Until their credit and debit cards are denied, launching Alice into an investigation that only leads to the discovery of secrets. Meanwhile, her husband is trapped in a downward spiral of lies, shame, and self-destruction.

Can they break free from their deception and turn to the only One who can save them? And will it be in time to save their marriage?

Read a free, 33-page excerpt here

GENRE: Contemporary Fiction, Christian
PUBLISHER: New Hope Publishers
RELEASE DATE: March 7, 2016
PAGES: 320

Jennifer Slattery writes fiction that talks about real issues. The kind of issues we sometimes try to partition off into a “no admittance” zone, far from our pink study Bibles and our “As for me and my house” wall plaques and our playlists conspicuously set to praise music.  And certainly there’s nothing wrong with pink study Bibles or those wall plaques or praise music… I’m seeing all of the above as I look around my living room. But “church girls” and Christian fiction in particular are notorious for using those things to cover up the ugly realities of life. Of heartbreaks. Of sin. That’s why I’m so grateful for Jennifer Slattery and her books, such as her latest Breaking Free. She tackles those issues with honesty but also with HOPE.

In Breaking Free, we meet Alice Goddard. Wife. Mom. Women’s Ministry Leader. Her marriage seems happy. Her kids seem happy. Her bank account seems happy. Her life seems happy.  But when Alice’s credit and debit cards are denied, she finds out what’s been going on behind the mask. The perfect image is shattered, and it’s not long before everyone else sees through the cracked facade too.  Her husband Trent has some serious issues, and they’ve finally caught up with him. With them. No longer able to maintain the illusion, Trent begins to crumble beneath the weight of his bad decisions.  Their marriage crumbles. Their kids crumble. Their bank account crumbles. Their life crumbles.

At least at first.

Because sometimes it takes owning up to your captivity before you’re able to break free.

And sometimes it takes finding yourself in rock bottom darkness before you’re able to see the light.

And sometimes … oh, sometimes it takes stripping away the makeup to see what you’re really made of.

Bottom Line: Breaking Free will seize you by the heart and refuse to let go. Author Jennifer Slattery handles the themes of addiction and marriage – and how the two concepts struggle to coexist – with realism and emotion but offers grace and hope for readers who might find it hitting close to home. Her smooth writing voice immediately engages, and the threads of suspense hovering at the edges of the plot – not to mention the high character investment – make the book difficult to put down until the end. Even then, I kept trying to turn nonexistent pages, hoping for more of the story, but alas, I may just have to resort to begging Jennifer for a sequel instead. 🙂

(I received a copy of this book in exchange for only my honest review.)

My Rating: 4.5 stars / A must-read!

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Jennifer Slattery writes soul-stirring fiction for New Hope Publishers, Christian living articles for Crosswalk.com, and devotions for Internet Café Devotions, the group blog, Faith-filled Friends, and her personal blog. She also does content editing for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas’ Firefly imprint, and loves working with authors who are serious about pursuing their calling. When not writing, reading, or editing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband.

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