Fiction: Sweet On You Review
It's pushing it, but I saved my review for Becky Wade's last installment of her Bradford Sister series, Sweet On You for today. What's special about today you ask? It's the eighth anniversary of my life changing brain surgery. It is a little weird that I am combining these two things together, but I related deeply with this story, so the review will be a bit more personal as well.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
What's the Skinny: I actually don't really know what to put here. It's clean but it is a Sweet Romance so there is kissing and spiritual matters-wrestling with God.
What's the Deets: This last installment follows the youngest Bradford sister, Britt and her best friend Zander. If you read the previous two novels, you know that Britt and Zander have been best friends since high school. It's also no secret that Zander is head over heels for Britt, but she does not return the same feelings. At the end of the second novel, Falling For You Zander announces that he is going to take an overseas trip after his writing deal. Sweet On You picks up with Zander returning home to find that his Uncle has had a heart attack but the details surrounding his death don't match up, throwing Britt and Zander on a mission to find out exactly what his Uncle had been up to. During this chase, we follow Zanders struggle to keep his emotions under tight lock and seal and Britt's potentially changing emotions toward Zander.
Honestly, I loved this story, so much so, I've reread it at least twice more. If you know my husband and I personally, you know that we were best friends (as much as you could be in conservative Christian base) throughout high school. People were like ticking clocks waiting to see when and if we would get together. I was the Zander in this situation, but thankfully my husband didn't make me wait as long as Britt did for Zander to clue in on how much I liked him. We dated throughout college and he proposed eight years ago May 21st-in the hospital-committing himself to his best friend and her journey in the soon to be diagnosed cancer. Usually fiction doesn't make me sob or turn my heart into a pile of putty, but this one did.
Throughout the story, we as readers see the Lord allow Britt and Zander to undergo a series of trials that really put her faith and dependence on God to the test, whether that be as individuals or together as a couple. There is a theme of Britt revealing to herself and to Zander that she does not want to depend on anyone but herself and her own strength. She forces herself to be the strong one in situations that would cause anyone else to mourn. This revelation throughout the novel struck a nerve in me-okay Lord this is me. Eight years ago I had emergency brain surgery due to a mass in the center of brain which was causing hydrocephalus. The doctors told my parents that if I hadn't come to the ER any sooner, it would have been a less than ideal situation (AKA Id be sitting with Lewis and Tolkien right now having a discussion with I am sure a rather large group). Over the years I've unconsciously forced down this traumatic experience. I don't talk about the side effects often because I want people to know that I am a normal person. When I was diagnosed with stage I brain cancer two months later, I did the same thing. I put my warrior shield on and buckled down for the fight for my life. I rarely let the people closest to me know how I truly felt. My husband, My parents, and My Best Friends watched and monitored me closesly, taking their cues from me, while I was struggling to keep it put together. After all, isn't that what Christians are supposed to do? Keep it pulled together, with joy oozing from them like an annoying bright colored balloon, and make you go "Yup that girl loves Jesus?"
We as readers see Britt eventually release and mourn quite a bit. Obviously, mourning looks/acts differently in everyone, but this release then causes Britt to focus her dependence on God, and begin to rely on others, namely our main man, who I adore as a fictional character. As I am reading this story, my heart turns to putty. I realize in a lot of ways I had not mourned this life altering event that took place in my life. There were areas of my life where it was easy for me to say, "Yes, my dependence is on the Lord" but with my health, the future of that health, and the repercussions of what has happened, I had not mourned. And for the last month, I started to talk to God and my husband more and more about this event, slowly peeling back the layers or hurt and maybe even anger. I started to notice as Facebook reminded me of the events leading up to me being admitted to the hospital how much anxiety I have surrounding my surgery and cancer treatment. And those realizations turned into actually communicating them to my husband so that he became aware of how I was feeling. The trauma is being healed and I finally feel a bit more free of cancer and its ugly snares.
I honestly love Britt and Zanders story. I love the Romance and I love how real life they seem to me personally. But I especially love the healing that occurs in the novel and how the Lord used that to speak to my heart to help me heal. While, for the past year I have been telling people I am moving on from this event by not speaking about it, that didn't mean I was healed from it.
Thank you Becky Wade for writing such a beautiful story, and I am so excited to be celebrating my 8th year being alive from this event that has brought me closer to my God and my husband.
Buy Sweet On You HERE
What's the Skinny: I actually don't really know what to put here. It's clean but it is a Sweet Romance so there is kissing and spiritual matters-wrestling with God.
What's the Deets: This last installment follows the youngest Bradford sister, Britt and her best friend Zander. If you read the previous two novels, you know that Britt and Zander have been best friends since high school. It's also no secret that Zander is head over heels for Britt, but she does not return the same feelings. At the end of the second novel, Falling For You Zander announces that he is going to take an overseas trip after his writing deal. Sweet On You picks up with Zander returning home to find that his Uncle has had a heart attack but the details surrounding his death don't match up, throwing Britt and Zander on a mission to find out exactly what his Uncle had been up to. During this chase, we follow Zanders struggle to keep his emotions under tight lock and seal and Britt's potentially changing emotions toward Zander.
Honestly, I loved this story, so much so, I've reread it at least twice more. If you know my husband and I personally, you know that we were best friends (as much as you could be in conservative Christian base) throughout high school. People were like ticking clocks waiting to see when and if we would get together. I was the Zander in this situation, but thankfully my husband didn't make me wait as long as Britt did for Zander to clue in on how much I liked him. We dated throughout college and he proposed eight years ago May 21st-in the hospital-committing himself to his best friend and her journey in the soon to be diagnosed cancer. Usually fiction doesn't make me sob or turn my heart into a pile of putty, but this one did.
Throughout the story, we as readers see the Lord allow Britt and Zander to undergo a series of trials that really put her faith and dependence on God to the test, whether that be as individuals or together as a couple. There is a theme of Britt revealing to herself and to Zander that she does not want to depend on anyone but herself and her own strength. She forces herself to be the strong one in situations that would cause anyone else to mourn. This revelation throughout the novel struck a nerve in me-okay Lord this is me. Eight years ago I had emergency brain surgery due to a mass in the center of brain which was causing hydrocephalus. The doctors told my parents that if I hadn't come to the ER any sooner, it would have been a less than ideal situation (AKA Id be sitting with Lewis and Tolkien right now having a discussion with I am sure a rather large group). Over the years I've unconsciously forced down this traumatic experience. I don't talk about the side effects often because I want people to know that I am a normal person. When I was diagnosed with stage I brain cancer two months later, I did the same thing. I put my warrior shield on and buckled down for the fight for my life. I rarely let the people closest to me know how I truly felt. My husband, My parents, and My Best Friends watched and monitored me closesly, taking their cues from me, while I was struggling to keep it put together. After all, isn't that what Christians are supposed to do? Keep it pulled together, with joy oozing from them like an annoying bright colored balloon, and make you go "Yup that girl loves Jesus?"
We as readers see Britt eventually release and mourn quite a bit. Obviously, mourning looks/acts differently in everyone, but this release then causes Britt to focus her dependence on God, and begin to rely on others, namely our main man, who I adore as a fictional character. As I am reading this story, my heart turns to putty. I realize in a lot of ways I had not mourned this life altering event that took place in my life. There were areas of my life where it was easy for me to say, "Yes, my dependence is on the Lord" but with my health, the future of that health, and the repercussions of what has happened, I had not mourned. And for the last month, I started to talk to God and my husband more and more about this event, slowly peeling back the layers or hurt and maybe even anger. I started to notice as Facebook reminded me of the events leading up to me being admitted to the hospital how much anxiety I have surrounding my surgery and cancer treatment. And those realizations turned into actually communicating them to my husband so that he became aware of how I was feeling. The trauma is being healed and I finally feel a bit more free of cancer and its ugly snares.
I honestly love Britt and Zanders story. I love the Romance and I love how real life they seem to me personally. But I especially love the healing that occurs in the novel and how the Lord used that to speak to my heart to help me heal. While, for the past year I have been telling people I am moving on from this event by not speaking about it, that didn't mean I was healed from it.
Thank you Becky Wade for writing such a beautiful story, and I am so excited to be celebrating my 8th year being alive from this event that has brought me closer to my God and my husband.
Buy Sweet On You HERE
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