Anchored: Finding Hope in the Unexpected {Blog Tour & Giveaway} @BHPub @KaylaAimee @PRIconMedia

**I received a copy of this book from Icon Media Group in exchange for participation in this blog tour. All thoughts are 100% my own.


From the moment we discover we are expecting, we start making plans. We see the perfect pregnancy ahead of us. The perfect labor after nine long months. The perfect child at the end of it all. But it doesn't usually take long for us to realize that when it comes to motherhood, even our best laid plans fly right out the window. Try as we might, our bodies and our babies will surprise us.

In all of our reading, our research, our planning- nothing can prepare us for what to expect when labor occurs too soon. This is exactly what happened to Kayla Aimee when the baby she hoped and prayed for decided to make her early entry at just 25 weeks. This is the story she shares in her amazing new book, Anchored:

Kayla Aimee had only ticked off 24 of the 40 expected weeks of pregnancy when she unexpectedly went into labor. She thought her church upbringing had prepared her for every circumstance, but when tragedy struck and threatened to take the life of her newborn daughter, it felt as though the once solid ground beneath her feet had turned to glass, destined to shatter everything she held sacred. 

Both poignant and humorous, Anchored recounts Kayla’s gripping story of learning to navigate her newfound motherhood in the most unexpected of ways, from holidays in the hospital and middle-of-the-night phone calls to the joy of coming home. With vulnerability and plenty of wit, Kayla lays bare her struggle to redefine her faith, her marriage, and herself within the context of a tragedy she never saw coming. 

For anyone who has felt their faith in God falter, Anchored extends a gentle invitation to join her as she uncovers a hope that holds.

As I write this review, I look down upon my nursing toddler and think back upon my own labor and delivery with her. A pretty routine delivery, born at 39 weeks. She recently found the sweater in which we brought her home and I could not help but think about how not long ago she was that small. So tiny and seemingly fragile. She was 7 pounds 10 ounces... a fairly typical newborn size.

Kayla's daughter Scarlette weighed just over a pound.

Take a moment to think about that. If we see a typical newborn and are in awe of that tiny size, how tiny must a baby born at just over halfway through a pregnancy be? How amazing that a baby can fight and survive. How tragic, how scary...and how very moving. Being a mother, it's hard not to put yourself in her shoes and think about how heartbreaking it must have been to watch the child you longed for and prayed for fight for her life. To never knowing which breath might be her very last. I cannot even begin to imagine.

But she did survive. They both did. This is not just a story of tragedy, it is a story of hope. It is a story of faith. It's a story of kindness. And it is a story of strength. It is truly both heartbreaking and uplifting all in one. It's also a story with a lot of humor. Perhaps that is unexpected in a story as serious as this, but Kayla Aimee keeps us smiling through it all with her raw, honest look at the story surrounding her daughter's unexpected birth. She beautifully weaves humor into tragedy, engaging the reader to keep reading.

If you are already a fan of Kayla Aimee's blog and are familiar with her life and her family, this is going to be a great read for you. But if you've never heard of her until now, this is still going to be a great read for you. This is truly one of the best books I've read this summer, and I highly encourage you all to check it out...but be prepared with a box of tissues. You very well may need it.

Anchored is available to purchase now at your favorite Christian book retailers.

And one very lucky reader is going to win a copy for themselves! Enter using the Rafflecopter form below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Winner will be contacted via e-mail after giveaway ends, and will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. One entry per household, winning entry will be verified. Odds of winning depend on valid entries received. A Modern Day Fairy Tale is not responsible for prize delivery