Review: Desert Gift by Sally John

From the publisher:
What does a nationally known marriage expert do when her own marriage falls apart? Just as Jillian Galloway sets out for a publicity tour to promote her new book, her husband drops a bombshell: He wants a divorce. Jill flees to her parents’ home in the California desert, wondering whether everything she’s built her career on—indeed, everything she’s built her life around—is a sham. Navigating this “side road” of life is an uphill climb that leads to new understandings about herself, her marriage, and her relationship with the One who created marriage.

My thoughts:
As a marriage expert, sharing advice and recipes to make marriage work, Jill saw her relationship with her husband as the model of how married life should be. So, it came as a shock to Jill and everyone around her when out of the blue, her model husband declares he wants a divorce. Jill is left to wonder what went wrong and if everything she worked for and the advice she had been giving for years had meant anything at all. Through this journey, she rediscovers herself, God and what relationships were really all about.
Throughout reading, I was torn back and forth several times on rather or not I liked the book. I think the biggest issue for me was that I was anxious to find out if they got their happy ending (perhaps that's the fairy tale lover in me). So, when things seemed like they were going downhill for the relationship, I found myself wanting to skip ahead to the next uphill spot and it seemed to take forever to get there. There were certainly a lot of emotional ups and downs to be had too! The characters were real, and believable and naturally drew me in to their lives. After finishing I was happy with the story, because it wasn't your every day love story where everything is perfect. A real marriage is never 'model'. Every couple has their issues that they will need to work through-be it financial troubles, jealousy, whatever- sometime in the span of years together. This story served as a great reminder that marriage takes work, and in the end, the most important advice that can be given is to never lose your friendship.

You can purchase this book here!

*I received a copy of this book from Tyndale Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.