3.5 rounded to 4
Thank you to Bethany House for the free review copy. All opinions are my own. 

I was so excited for this new series by Becky Wade, and this one has definitely left me excited for the books to come in this series. I really enjoyed Sam and Gen's story. It was complex and realistic. Both had huge issues to overcome, and they had to learn to trust and rely on each other. I appreciated how Wade decided to tackle the topic of opiate addiction in this book. She showed how hard addiction is and that treatment is not easy. I liked how both characters had been impacted by this disease in different ways. She also used this scenario to help illustrate different attributes of God and showed His grace wonderfully throughout the book. 

My one issue with the book was not even with the story line it was with the use of quite a few (in my opinions) exclamation points. I am not a big fan of them because it can make things seem exaggerated, and I found this to be true with Gen's character. She felt fake to me at times because of so many exclamatory statements, which made it hard for me to connect with her at times. This was definitely a personal preference issue.

I honestly never thought that any of Becky Wade's new books would end up replacing Undeniably Yours as my favorite by her. However, I was not prepared for the amazing story that is Stay With Me, and it has without a doubt become my new favorite. This beautiful story about the importance of truth, healing and redemption tugged at my heartstrings right from the opening paragraph and left me with a huge book hangover when I finished reading it.

It takes an insanely talented author to be able to weave together a story with many different story lines occurring throughout, and still keep the reader interested in each and every one. Stay With Me is part romance, part mystery, and a story about both main characters growing closer to God by learning to let go of the things they truly cannot control. Rounding out the story is chapters that provide a look back to the traumatic experience that the main female character Genevieve experienced as a teenager with her older sister and three other youth. I couldn't wait to find out how everything was going to tie together, and I had a hard time putting this once down once I picked it up.

Genevieve is a different protagonist than is often featured in Christian fiction, and I liked her right from the start. I appreciate the fact that Becky Wade always writes her characters as flawed, and never represents Christianity as meaning perfection. Genevieve is struggling, and trying to maintain a facade of being the perfect Christian that she comes across as in her Bible studies that thousands of women all over the world have found hope and understanding from. However, she's losing a little bit more of herself everyday she continues the charade, and she's turned to prescription pain killers to make her life more manageable. A chance encounter with local Misty River restaurant owner, Sam, has her yearning for things she's never found herself wanting before. Sam has dark secrets in his past, and he's dealt with them by shutting himself off from the rest of the world. As he tries to help Genevieve overcome her addiction, he realizes that he wants more than the small life he's carved out for himself. As Genevieve stumbles upon tragic secrets her family has tried to keep hidden, her and Sam will truly learn the importance of coming clean with our Heavenly Father, and that the only way to truly move on is to embrace the healing and grace that He always is there to offer.

While this book ended up being a lot more raw and realistic than I'd originally expected, it also gives the primary messages of hope and redemption, and had me both laughing and tearing up throughout. Becky Wade truly shines at weaving together complex story lines that always feature a swoon worthy romance, Christians who aren't perfect, and a focus on the importance of a true relationship with Jesus. I really loved both the characters of Genevieve and Sam, and the fact that their romance starts out as a reluctant friendship. A lot of my favorite book couples have been written by Becky Wade, and Genevieve and Sam are now officially on this list as well. Becky continues to be one of my all time favorite authors, and I can't wait to read more of the Misty River Romance series in the future. After all the set up in this book for introducing the Miracle Five, I really can't wait to hear more of their stories in upcoming books.

I can't possibly recommend this enough, and it's one of my favorite reads of the year so far.

Final Rating 5/5


Thanks so much to Bethany House and NetGalley for allowing me to advance read this!

I received a complimentary advance copy of this novel to voluntarily read and review. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I just finished reading the final words of the beautifully written, heart-wrenching, romantic story of Genevieve and Sam. Becky Wade should win awards for this one. It’s a story filled with betrayal, addiction, heartache, and ultimately God’s grace and protection. This is one that will stay with me for while, I'm sure. A must-read.

In Stay with Me by Becky Wade, tackles a tough topic of opioid addiction. Genevieve is a Bible study writer and speaker. I kept imagining Beth Moore as Genevieve.
I enjoyed the relationship between Genevieve and her sister, Natasha. Once you understand about the Miracle Five you understand her relationship with her mother.

Sam recognizes immediately Genevieve’s option addiction because he had already lost someone to it. I found it interesting how he helped her through the withdrawal. He had an interesting occupation as he had his own store and cook farm to table.

Genevieve and Natasha are also researching a mystery surrounding their parents.

We have another story line of the Miracle Five. The Miracle Five is the story of Genevieve, her sister and three other kids when they were on a mission trip and an earthquake happened. The children were trapped for several days. This was a touching story from each of the kids perspectives. Most of them keep in touch after surviving such an ordeal.

I received this book from Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review.
You can see my full review at More Than a Review dot com where I rate the level of sex, violence, language and drug/alcohol use in books.

Stay with Me by Becky Wade will go down as one of my all-time favorites of 2020. It's been a while since I've read one of her books but this one blew me away! Becky tackles hard subjects (not feeling worthy, addiction to prescription drugs, relationship issues) in such a transparent way, I loved the realness of Gen and Sam's relationship, the struggles they faced that we also face at times. I loved reading about Gen's family and the mystery that surrounds her parents. In fact, I just love this one so much I might just go read it again while I wait for the next book in the series! This book is definitely a gem!

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review.

"Fine" and "normal" are two heavy words we like to toss around. Mostly because we don't admit how much weight they carry. The weight of expectations, of perfection, and morale. How those two simple words can cramp our lives and take away our breathing room.

In this fallen world they are not attainable and Becky Wade explores this in her newest release.
Genevieve Woodward is an accomplished Bible teacher. People gather around her wherever she goes because of her wisdom, kindness, and beauty. Though Sam Turner only sees these attributes bringing the end of his peace, especially the last one ;-)

But Genevieve has a secret she keeps tight. A secret that can ruin her career and the pedestal she has been put. However, when "fine" and "normal" prove to not be the strongest foundation, she will have to be brave to face her deepest and darkest parts, because some parts of our stories can come again to haunt us no matter how many years have passed. This book is about recognizing the broken but finding steadfastness, honor, and healing through the vulnerability of admitting you are far, so far from being well.

“It didn’t feel like he was coming in from the cold of one autumn night. It felt like he was coming in from seven years of cold.”

Oh how I love Becky Wade! Stay with Me made me laugh and cry. She is gifted and I love the dialogues. The storyline is great. Gen’s secret, Sam’s past, their budding romance, family drama and the mystery letter to Gen about her parents make this book compelling.

God indeed brought them together to help each other out. I like the comparison about the caravan that rescued Joseph from the pit. I believe it to be true. Sometimes we don’t even realize that God has sent a caravan to liberate us. We just have to trust Him.

I look forward to the next book and I guess it will be about Sebastian? I highly recommend this book. You will be amazed by the story and how God’s truth and grace helped them.

*Thank you netgalley and bethany house for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.*

Becky Wade starts a new series centered in Misty River.

The series begins with Genevieve and Sam. After God has saved Genevieve’s life, she grew up to become a Bible study author and speaker. To say she was good at her job was an understatement as she had an anointing and a gift to teach the Word of God.

But Genevieve has a secret. And it’s a secret that can ruin her reputation and the career she has sacrificed so hard to build. She’s not quite the polished Christian she appears to be. Her secret has her doing things she wouldn’t normally have done…which is how she ended up letting herself into the cottage on Sam’s property and falling asleep in the bed.

Know God--Stay With Me is a commentary on how we sometimes feel as Christians. We know we are saved by grace but still act as though our actions can save us. We know that God never leaves us but we wonder why he’s absent when we’re going through difficult times.

Know yourself--Sam and Genevieve had to really look into themselves to see their own flaws in order for them to appreciate the tasks God had given them.

Run your race--Genevieve and Sam each ad to make the choice to steward the gifts God had given them.

Be prepared to have your emotions tugged all over the place with this one. Genevieve is a very relatable character. She wrestles with her identity in Christ and the sense that it feels like when you need him, God is absent as we sometimes do.

I liked how the two were a perfect foil for each other. They completed each other even when they were unwilling to accept how much they needed each other.

I love how Becky Wade uses flawed characters to showcase the love of God, His grace and all the ways he uses our messy brokenness to share a message of hope to others.

I received an advanced reader’s copy of Stay With Me from the publishers through NetGalley; a positive review was not required.

i was given this book from publisher and netgalley for an honest review and opinion
i have never read anything by this author but it was such a cute romance that i will have to look at her other books.
this story was about love, trust, relationship, and family secrets. Genevieve is brought home after her parents receive a letter accusing them of a crime. while she is at home, she rents a cottage from Sam, who tells her she can stay as long as she never falls in love with him. while at home she also battles with an addiction that others do not know about

Oh my word! I would give a thousand ❤️s to this book because 5 stars and a 👍🏻 like won’t do it justice. I LOVED the Bradford sisters series, but wow, I have a new favorite already. This book is powerful. The Holy Spirit is all over this message, and I love it! The writing here is simply beautiful. So much depth to these words. (I also already devoured Take A Chance On Me and loved it!)

Favorite lines: “Relationships were painful and messy and beautiful and important. The mess came with the beauty. The pain came with the importance. That was life. And God was calling him to live it.”

“Sam was a gift that God had dropped in her lap at one of the lowest moments of her life, right when she’d deserved a gift the least. She was grateful, simply and deeply grateful, for the gift.”

Stay With Me by Becky Wade is a cute romance. This is the third book I'm reading written by Becky Wade. After reading Falling For You and Sweet On You by this Christy Award Wimming author, I couldn't wait to read Stay With me.

Genevieve Woodword who is a Christian author and motivational speaker inspiring thousands of women with her writings and speeches, one day receives a letter from a mysterious sender blaming her parents of some crime. Gen immediately comes to her hometown to find out about the facts behind the letter. She also needs a get away from her tight schedule and time to recover from a dangerous addiction no one knows about.
She meets Sam Turner in strange circumstances. Sam who is a loner by choice doesn't receive Gen immediately but eventually caves in and rents her his cottage on a condition that she never falls for him. Gen finds strength and support in Sam during her recovery. 

The story is about unraveling family secrets, finding strength in love and the importance  of trust in relationships. The book is releasing on 5th May, 2020. I received the advance reviewers copy for an honest review. There is an ease in the writing style if Becky Wade. A tender and beautiful story totally engaging the reader. A cool read for the quarantine summer.

In Stay with Me, Becky Wade has crafted a beautiful story of grace, redemption, and the courage needed to be honest with others, with ourselves, and with God. Realistically drawn characters grapple with real-life problems—and find that the answers lie not within themselves, but in accepting the grace of the One who loves them most.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

There’s a reason I read every Becky Wade book as soon as possible … LOL! She’s such an incredible author; I feel every new release is better than the last, and my next favorite.

Stay With Me has a different feel to it than other Wade books; at times it read almost more like Beth Vogt’s. (Not a bad thing, because, well, have you read Vogt’s Thatcher Sisters series? Incredible!)

The mystery of Genevieve’s parents’ past plays a larger role in Stay With Me than I expected — and I loved it. Wade could easily write a solely mystery book/series and be very successful!

Sam and Genevieve are both very relatable characters. Sam maintains Wade’s swoonworthy-hero norm (yay), and shows excellent character development, as does Genevieve. Stay With Me deals with some challenging topics, and invites the reader to ask questions about truth, forgiveness, and going public with weakness (and, frankly, sizable failure). While I’ve not gone through similar situations myself, I felt both Genevieve’s and her parents’ struggles were dealt with authentically, graciously, and tastefully. Same with Sam’s past and the Miracle 5 stories interspersed between chapters.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Becky wade is the contemporary author that I keep on coming back to for stories that are romantic, characters that are realistic and relatable and a message that is seamlessly woven into the story.
Stay with me is definitely one of those stories.
Becky wade has once again crafted a beautiful story around some thought topics without becoming too heavy.
Sam and Genevieve's story is just so touching, so well written and brings you through the range of emotions.
My one tiny complaint.
I am disheartened to see so many Christians participating in Halloween. I understand that some don't hold the same view. It didn't detract that much from the story.
I can't say too much without wandering into spoiler territory, but I truly hope that this book reaches out to many who have the same struggles as these characters, and I hope that it starts some conversations that need to happen.
That is one of the reasons I love Becky wade books, there is always something that goes beyond the surface, something that stays with you.
And there are heroes like Sam............enough said!
I recieved a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, all the opinions in this review are my own.

Becky Wade's Misty River Romance series starts off with this amazing book. You know those books that you can't put down, yet you don't want it to end? Yeah, this is one of those.

Genevieve is a Bible study author who receives an anonymous letter suggesting her family has a terrible secret. She goes home to uncover the truth but didn't expect to come clean about secrets of her own. Sam is a farmer and coffee shop owner who is also forced to work through issues he has kept hidden for years.

The author did a wonderful job weaving in difficult topics and struggles throughout this emotional love story. I laughed. I cried. I felt the Spirit in the words about forgiveness and redemption. This will definitely be one of my top five books of the year. I highly recommend it!

*I received a free advanced copy from the author. All opinions expressed were my own.

Stunningly beautiful. Heartwarming. Romantic. Richly inspired with God’s grace, love, and forgiveness.

Stay With Me was so beautifully written and the characters were deep and inspiring. The issues were very real and even heart wrenching at times, and yet so filled with God’s redeeming love and hope. There were multiple storylines that might seem distracting at times, but this really set up the series. Wade shines with this contemporary romance in the midst of real life struggles and a great mystery, too.

“The woman who’d slept in his guesthouse like Goldilocks had frightening power over him.” I love Sam and his view of Genevieve. He’s this strong, quiet, and yet determined man with a heart of gold. He has held his heart close, not allowing anyone in. However, Genevieve just seems to be crumbling his reserves. She brings a color and vitality to a world he didn’t realize lacked luster. I think he may have just knocked out the Porter boys as my favorite hero in a Wade story, and that’s tough competition. Of course, his Aussie bearing and accent may have had a little to do with that.

“The kiss tasted like destiny . . . as if she’d been waiting, without knowing she’d been waiting. For him. For this. It felt more right than anything had felt in forever and a day.” Genevieve has been so busy and stressed for so long that she doesn’t know how to deal with it. She doesn’t understand why she can’t hear God’s voice, which is so important as a Bible teacher and leader. However, as her own secrets and family mysteries are revealed, she has tough choices to make. In the midst of it all, Sam becomes a lifeline for her.

“Why was it so hard for Christians to come clean to one another about the sins that had them by their throats? Because of pride? Because every Christian wanted every other Christian to think they were doing it right? That they were strong and good? If so, that was idiotic.”

Honestly, I wish I could shout this message from the roof tops! Our world would be such a better place if we as Christians truly accepted and gave forgiveness. Showing compassion and love is key to our faith, and yet we struggle with true authenticity. This is often because of our own fear of acceptance and judgement from others. I thought Wade did an amazing job sharing this authenticity and compassion through others in the midst of hardships. In a nutshell, that is the crux of the message of “Stay With Me.” Accepting one another with all our faults, sins, and frailties. Loving one another through the good and bad. Focusing on one another’s positives and gifts and truly seeing one another as Jesus sees us.

If you want divinely inspired, the love story between Sam and Genevieve made it truly captivating. There was such depth and devotion in their growing love. And wow, Sam, what an amazing leading hero to Gen’s bubbly, outgoing personality. He is a true heartthrob and I loved all the references to him being an Australia-American. A big heart, but caution in showing it. He’s very authentic down to earth and yearning for something he doesn’t yet realize. He would give the shirt off his back and yet, has a hard time with relationships. Gen is like color and sunshine wrapping around him and yet letting his fears go is difficult. Gen has so much to give, but is burning out, stressed and making choices that just make it worse. The romance and electricity between them will have you begging for their happy ending. Another contemporary romance must read from Becky Wade.

I was provided an advanced reader copy of this book through NetGalley by the publisher. All opinions in this review are given honestly.

As we’ve come to love Becky Wade as a leading author of inspirational contemporary fiction, Stay with Me, her soon to be released novel, pulls no punches when it comes to the delivery of a relevant and moving tale. Permeated with real-life struggles, family secrets, and a scintillating romance, this newest title conveys all you would expect and more.

Tackling tricky issues like the balance of public image and faith, addiction, family secrets, and old wounds, Stay with Me is a poignant and compelling work of contemporary fiction. Well-developed characters, strong emotional ties, dynamic chemistry, and threads of intrigue furnish a well-written novel in a beautiful setting. Sam and Genevieve are soulful and real as the hero and heroine struggling with facades. Both must fight their own demons while learning to heal and trust in this touching gem of inspiration.

Stay with Me will be released on May 5th and is the keystone to what should be an engaging new series (Misty River.) Wade delivers hope and redemption wrapped in a charming and artful package you won’t want to put down. Elements of humour (hello, nod to Goldilocks), a lively romance, and tugs to the heartstrings make this title work for me!

My thanks to the publisher for the complimentary copy of this title via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own. Full review scheduled to publish April 16/20 at https://lifelovelaughterlinds.ca/?p=1071

Good gracious. This book was PHENOMENAL. Gen and Sam’s story is one that has left me with the biggest book hangover I’ve ever experienced. Becky Wade doesn’t shy away from tackling real issues prevalent in these times. But she handles them with care and honesty. And she always finds the perfect way to knit in hilarity and chemistry-packed romance. This is a novel that transcends genres. I can’t wait to read it again.

I don’t want to spoil Genevieve’s secret for you. But let me say, her struggle is something we can all relate with. Trying to act perfect is exhausting, and sometimes we need to be reminded that we are human and make mistakes. That’s what makes God’s grace so amazing. Most of all, it’s what makes His grace so freeing.

Wade weaves this lesson through both Genevieve and Sam’s struggles. And those struggles made me identify with the characters and root for them even more. I didn’t always agree with the decisions the characters made, or even their conclusions, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this novel.

Now let me talk about the setting for a moment. I have been so excited about Becky Wade’s newest release ever since I heard it would be based in the North Georgia Mountains. As a North Georgia native, seeing my home mentioned in a book is always exciting. Stay with Me is set in Rabun County, which is right next to my county, Habersham. And the mention of Habersham, seeing it in print, may have made me a little too giddy. But I think Wade did a great job of highlighting the beauty of the mountains and the charm of small-town life.

I also love how she incorporated the story of the Miracle Five throughout the novel. Wade intersperses bits and pieces of flashbacks from the perspective of all five children, and she does this in a way that it highlights the main story. I don’t even know how to explain the way she does it and the impact it has on the story as a whole. All I can say is that it’s phenomenal and you’d have to read the novel and see for yourself.

Overall, Stay with Me provides a heartwarming romance mixed in with a timeless spiritual lesson. The perfect read for a cozy afternoon, this novel will keep you engaged as you experience the ups and downs with the main characters.

(Review will go on the blog on April 17 at 5 PM)

Transparency. Learning to be transparent is hard, that is what Genevieve Woodward and Sam Turner discover when Genevieve shows up unexpectedly on Sam's doorstep and he agrees to rent her his cottage for the summer. They help each other deal with past and present wounds and work together to find the secret that Gen's parents have been hiding for generations. A beautiful story of God's love, forgiveness, renewal, and redemption. I am anxiously awaiting the second book in the series.