Never Without Hope by Michelle Sutton *GIVEAWAY* closed

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Penny for winning.

Never Without Hope

by Michelle Sutton

About the book:

Hope believes she is above sexual temptation; that she would never break that commandment like her husband's previous wives had done. After all, she is a good Christian and a loving mother. She has no reason to stray . . . until her husband starts neglecting her needs and things begin to look hopeless. Though she clearly communicates her pain to her husband, he refuses to get help. She starts to wonder…Will she never have sex with her husband again? She soon learns that she, too, is capable of such betrayal when she succumbs to the unthinkable.

But things that first seemed sweet and reasonable given her painful situation soon produce a bitter taste when combined with the overwhelming guilt. No substitute will ever replace her love and desire for her husband. If only he would touch her like he used to. If only they could make love again. She misses him so much and wants to tell him the truth hoping it will propel him to do something to fix their problem, but she fears his rejection. Yet, she can't continue living such a hypocritical life. She knows it's wrong even though she continues to crave physical intimacy. Steeped in the quagmire of adultery, Hope must find her way back to solid ground to save her marriage. But will she lose everyone she loves in the process?

About the Author:

Michelle is an edgy Christian fiction author who has written over a dozen novels that will be released through 2012. She is also a book reviewer, an avid blogger/alliance member, the mother of two teenagers who are soon to be college students, a wife of two decades, and follower of Jesus Christ.



MY REVIEW

I have read all of Michelle's published books to-date and I love her writing style. Never Without Hope is definitely her edgiest book. I thought it was fabulous. I think Michelle did an amazing job of portraying all the emotions and ramifications of an affair. She didn't shy away from telling it like it is- the good and the bad. I really appreciated the fact that the main character knew what she was doing was wrong but did it anyway- it is just so true to life.

Personally I did not find the more graphic details of the book offensive. The details were relevant and necessary to the storyline. By showing lust and sin and adultery in their true forms Michelle was also able to show just how amazing God's grace and mercy are and how you can never stray too far to receive His forgiveness.



Most inspirational novels that I read shy away from showing the true depths of sin- even in the lives of Christians- and I really respect Michelle's willingness to write TRUTH.  Never Without Hope addresses a "taboo" topic in most Christian circles but one that we all know happens and therefore really needs to be addressed.  I think this book has the potential to give a lot of women who are struggling in their marriages real hope.

Well done Michelle!


Interview with Michelle Sutton:

Thanks so much to Michelle for being willing to answer a few questions for me!

1. Why did you write this book?

I wrote this book because it seemed like in the last five years I've come across many marriages that have crumbled or nearly crumbled due to issues related to sex (usually the lack of it). There is a scripture about not depriving your spouse lest you tempt them to stray. So if it's mentioned in the Bible then why aren't there more books dealing with this subject? I don't know why people are scared of these issues. It's real life. My own marriage has had it's challenges, but thankfully things have been good for several years now. Every marriage has their occasional problems in this area, but I wanted to show how disastrous it can be to entertain thoughts of solving a problem on your own, or what can happen when you start thinking the grass is looking pretty good on the other side of the fence. I also wanted to show how easy it is for something to get out of hand that at one time may have seemed like a reasonable thing to do, and to show how potentially dangerous it is to have friendships with people who are of the opposite sex. I've met so many women who have suffered with a lack of regular physical affection that I know it's a prevalent issue that people don't like to talk about. Impotency has to be a problem or there wouldn't be viagra, eh? There is also the lack of interest that can be caused by pornography addiction, but that's a whole different topic. So what does a wife do if her husband refuses to deal with the issue? I wanted to show one scenario in all of it's thrill and horror to make people think long and hard before they do what Hope did to "solve" the problem.

2.  What were you like as a teenager?

As a teenager I was a complex character. Seriously. I was very smart despite my insistence on frying some of my brain cells because of experimental drug use. My mom had MS for two decades so my life wasn't typical and in many ways I grew up too fast. One way I coped with it was to escape through parties, boys, whatever. At the same time I graduated from high school a year early because I knew I didn't want to waste my life. I was very conflicted due to the pain from not having a normal family situation, and yet my family did the best they could to survive. My dad worked three jobs, and my mom couldn't help that she was sick. I was just angry that things were the way they were and I couldn't do anything about it. So I made some poor choices. That's why my fiction is so "real" because I want to reach people where the ugly truth is. We're not always what we pretend to be. Am I saved? I know that I know that I know that Jesus saved me and He lives in me. That's not an issue. Am I perfect? No way. He is always working on me. That's what I like to write about. 

3.  What superpower would you most like to have?

I would love to have a superpower that would allow me to eat what I want and not gain weight. Then I'd want to be strong without having to exercise. (Sheesh, that sounds like I'm lazy and a glutton, oy!) Most of all I'd love to be a physician who could heal myself. I'd start by making my stupid allergies go away. I hate them! No amount of medicine seems to fix them either. They aren't as severe with meds, but they are still there. Ugh.

Would you like to win a signed copy of Never Without Hope?

Just leave me a comment here telling me if you have ever read any of Michelle's books before. That's it!

* BONUS ENTRIES*

Whoever buys the kindle version now will get five entries into the contest for an autographed hard copy of this book and five bookmarks to share. All you  have to do to prove you bought it is put your  order # in a comment and then leave 4 more comments to make 5 total. Put whatever you want in the other 4 comments (ex. comment #2).

You can purchase the digital version of Never Without Hope HERE. 

For additional entries you can do any of the following- be sure to LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT for each thing that you do!

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This giveaway is open to readers in Canada & the USA. I will choose a winner on May 25, 2010.

Winner will be chosen with random.org and notified by email. Winner will have 48 hours to reply to my email or I will choose a new winner.