Revell (January 1, 2010)
I’d heard of Virginia as an author before I actually read any of her books but when this series started out a couple years ago I had the pleasure of discovering a new author and series to love. I also quickly realized why others spoke so highly of Virginia’s work. Her writing deserves all the praise it receives. The Sanderson sisters found a place in my heart as I started reading Stuck In the Middle and although I knew there were a finite number of stories to be harvested from their lives, I still couldn’t put the books down until I’d devoured each one cover to cover. Although I never had sisters of my own, I could to some degree experience what it might be like to have sisters who are also my best friends through Allie, Joan and Tori’s sharing of their lives through Smith’s pen. I realize this is fiction but all stories have some kernel of reality upon which they are built. Even better when I immerse myself in Smith’s narratives and meet her characters I am also given the chance to follow along with their faith journeys as well as their daily lives. Third Time’s A Charm lived up to all I expected of this author and more. While I am sad to say goodbye to characters that wove their personalities and experiences deep into my imagination, I know that like most of the authors I read there is probably already a new book or perhaps a new series already percolating it’s way onto paper via Virginia’s pen and while I will miss these characters and hate to see the series end there is that bittersweet period of waiting to see what will be next from an author I can count on for not only engrossing stories and characters but also for those nuggets of truth we all need to hear every so often. Learning to let God be my loving, protective father whether or not there is a human father taking responsibility for my earthly days and looking to our heavenly father in order to do the best job possible towards the children the Lord has given him, has been a long journey and is still in process just as it is for Tori who held on to the feelings of loneliness and abandonment that an earthly father’s disappearance from her life early on during childhood left behind. (ISBN#9780800732349, 327pp, $14.99)

Codicil:
Visit the author’s website to see more books and more info. Use the bookcover above for more info on this book or to purchase a copy. Thanks to Kathy Carlton Willis Communication for a review copy.

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