Softly and Tenderly by Sara Evans

Softly and Tenderly by Sara Evans (with Rachel Hauck) is a story about an average woman whose average life is thrown into turmoil with a single piece of information. Jade Benson is the proud owner of two successful shops, happily married to a successful lawyer, and has finally moved beyond her past into a promising future. So she thinks. However, in one fell swoop her life is turned upside down when she learns that her husband has an illegitimate son conceived one week before their wedding. Jade is thrown into an adventure that has her questioning very aspect of her life, past and present, including her relationship with God.

When reading this book I was moved and responded to the character of Jade Benson in many of her struggles. She is a real character with real struggles that are similar to those of many women. She deals with these struggles in a way that is true to life and they come to resolution in a way that leaves the reader satisfied and not skeptical. One of the few complaints that I had about this book was that it refers to events in the previous book too often. As a reader who had not read the first book in the series, it was hard at times to understand what was being referred to because I did not have background information discussed in the first book. However, I still enjoyed the book and it actually made me want to read the first book in order to understand more fully the second. So I suppose that would be a positive affirmation for the author!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”