Book Review: The Baker's Wife by Erin Healy

The Baker's Wife by Erin Healy

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publish Date: October 4, 2011

Paperback, 320 pages 
Fiction, Christian, Suspense
 ISBN: 978-1595547521

My Review:
This is my third Erin Healy book and though I loved the first two I feel that she gets better with each book.  The Baker's Wife blends the supernatural with suspense and interesting characters that make you want to keep reading the book and not put it down until you reach the last page.

The Baker's Wife uses a wonderful blend of plot and characterization to move the novel along.  It does not move at breakneck speed, but at that just right speed where you feel the plot building and building until the final climax comes and you just feel like wow - did I just read 300 pages because it didn't feel like it.  The pace feels leisurely but the book is anything but boring.  The book grabs you from the first page and will not let you go.  I became very involved with the characters especially the Bofinger family who have been through so much yet each one still has strong faith.  Despite their strong faith each one still has obstacles they need to overcome as each one of us do.  I like that the characters were down to earth.  The Christians that you like in the novel were not "holier than thou", even the former pastor.  They were loving and caring and cared more about others than themselves.  However, the bad guy in the book, was holier than thou and so wrapped up in himself that he couldn't see clearly.  But I liked that Ms. Healy doesn't make just the bad Christians as selfish there are others who are not Christian that are truly selfish as well.

The suspense plot is very intriguing.  It had me turning the pages and trying to figure out what was going on.  Ms. Healy did a great job with the suspense plot, creating doubt about what was going on so I never was truly sure if what I believed was the truth or not.  I like being surprised in books and The Baker's Wife kept surprising me.

Strong characters and a strong plot make this another winner in my eyes.  Ms. Healy has batted 3 for 3 with her books (the ones that she has written alone) and I will eagerly await her new book that will come out next year (House of Mercy, July 2012).  She has a way with crafting a story that is hard to explain but wonderful to read.  I am now a devoted fan.


My Rating: 4.75/5.0


About the Book:

To save her husband and son, Audrey Bofinger must rescue her enemy.

The Bofinger family has lost their church ministry in a scandal exposed by Officer Jack Mansfield. Hoping to heal and to restore their reputation, Audrey, Geoff, and their son Ed take over a failing bakery in the small community.

Driving to the bakery one morning, blinded by fog, Audrey hits a motor scooter owned by Jack’s wife, Julie. The mangled scooter is crushed and bloody. But Julie is nowhere to be found. Her disappearance coincides with a sudden illness that nearly cripples Audrey.

Jack believes the Bofingers have hurt Julie to take revenge on him, but the evidence dries up and her trail goes cold. At a breaking point, Jack takes the tiny bakery and its patrons hostage, issuing only one demand: Audrey has six hours to return Julie to him, or lose Geoff and Ed forever.

With only an excruciating and intuitive gift, an ex-con, and Julie’s estranged daughter to help search for clues, Audrey starts the search of her life for a woman who has vanished like the fog.

Read an excerpt here.

About the Author: 

Well-known to critics and reviewers, Erin Healy has established herself as an award-winning editor and a best-selling co-author with Ted Dekker. Healy received wide acclaim for her two debut novels Never Let You Go and The Promises She Keeps. Her work focuses on the psychological and spiritual, driven by high moral stakes. She lives and writes in Colorado with her family.

For more information please visit www.erinhealy.com. 

Link to buy the book:

http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=1595547525&title=The_Baker's_Wife&author=Erin_Healy

 





Let the flour fly! Beginning October 24th, Erin's celebrating the release of her latest page turner, The Baker's Wife, with an outstanding KitchenAid baking prize package giveaway that includes a brand new KitchenAid Mixer, cook books, and all you need to whip up some fabulous bread or sweets! Then and on November 10th she'll be wrapping up the release of The Baker's Wife with an Author Book Chat Party on Facebook! Don't miss a minute of the fun!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• Empire Red 4.5 QT Ultra Power KitchenAid Stand Mixer
• Black & White Kitschy Apron
• Black Silicone Oven Mitt
• Black OXO Rolling Pin
• Wilton 9X5 loaf pan
• At My Grandmother's Knee Cookbook by Faye Porter
• Second Helpings with Johnnie Gabriel Cookbook
• The Baker's Wife by Erin Healy

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on November 9th. Winner will be announced at The Baker's Wife Author Book Chat Facebok Party. Erin will be wrapping up the The Baker's Wife celebration with a book club chat and giving away a bunch of "sweet treats"! So grab your copy of The Baker's Wife (it's okay if you don't have one yet- you might win one!) and join Erin on the evening of November 10th for a book chat, some "baking" trivia and lots of "sweet" giveaways (books, and Amazon, iTunes & Starbucks gift certificates)!

Don't miss a moment of the fun. RSVP today and tell your friends. Hope to see you on the 10th!

FTC Information: I received this book through Litfuse Publicity for an honest review. 

The Iron Elves Trilogy Winner

The Winner of the Iron Elves Trilogy by Chris Evans is:

SarahSparrow

Sarah has been notified and has 48 hours to reply (crystalfulcher(at)ec.rr.com) or another winner will be drawn.  Congratulations to Sarah and thanks to all who entered.  Thank you to Melissa Gramstad at Simon and Schuster for sponsoring this wonderful giveaway.



 

Winner: The Comforts of Home by Jodi Thomas

Winner The Comforts of Home by Jodi Thomas:  

Lori T. (email starts with cty...)

Lori has been notified by email and has 48 hours to contact me (crystalfulcher(at)ec.rr.com) to claim her prize.  Thanks to all who entered and thank you to Jodi and her publicist for letting me be a part of the tour and for the extra copy for the giveaway!

Watch for a review of the next book, Just Down the Road in March 2012.

Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge 2012

 

It's getting that time of year again - time to enter challenges and plan for next year.  I love planning, I'm just not so great on following through :)

But this is a great challenge for me - it's simply to outdo myself next year and read a selected # of books more than I read this year.  I am hopefully on track to read my goal of 220 books this year (I'm at 172 today), so I think I will join at the "Out of Breath" Level which is 6-10 more books than this year.

I'll use this post to track the books.  Right now I have no specific plans on the books, though I already have January booked for reviews, I still won't plan out the books until closer to time, but I'll keep track of the books read and hopefully reviewed here.

So are you going to join?  Head over to The Book Vixen and sign up.  

Any other book challenges out there I need to know about - let me know in the comments.

I finished up last year at 214 books, so that makes my goal for this year 220-224 books, I think I can do that.

1. A Whisper to a Scream by Karen Wojcik Berner - 1/1/2012
2. Cinder by Marissa Meyer - 1/5/2012
3. Everneath by Brodi Ashton - 1/7/2012

Teaser Tuesday (7)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

"It's complicated," Audrey murmured.

"You only think ees complicated.  Really bread is simple--water, flour, salt, yeast.  But you say,  'How many ways can four ingredients go wrong?'  Too many!  Even so, we make them work and when we do, we see that nothing in life ees really so complicated after all.  Ees a matter of paying attention."

From The Baker's Wife by Erin Healy

About The Baker's Wife



What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, so why is Audrey weakening day by day?
 
It's been a tough year for Audrey's family. Her husband Geoff, a pastor, lost his job after a scandal rocked their congregation.

Audrey hasn't lost faith. She's held her family together. Their attempt to resurrect a failing bakery is an effort to heal the family wounds and restore their place in the community.

Late to the bakery one dim, foggy morning, Audrey turns into the intersection in front of the shop and strikes a vehicle that she can't see even after the collision settles. Emerging from her car into the fog, she discovers she's hit a motor scooter. There's no rider in sight. There's blood, though, so much that she slips in it, injuring her wrists.

The absence of the scooter driver is a mystery, especially to Sergeant Jack Mansfield, the detective and church member who drove Geoff from his pulpit. The scooter belongs to Jack's wife, Julie, a teacher at the local high school. She has vanished like morning fog.

Though there is no evidence to support Jack's growing suspicion that Audrey and Geoff were involved in Julie's disappearance, the detective is convinced of their guilt. Jack's ability to reason slips as the leads on his wife dry up.

When Jack takes the tiny bakery and its patrons hostage, Audrey must find Julie and unravel the secret of her own mysterious suffering before Jack comes undone.