Stay with Me (2020) — A Prism Book Tour: My Thoughts and a Giveaway

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

Stay with Me
(A Misty River Romance #1)
By Becky Wade
Christian Contemporary Romance
Hardcover, Paperback & ebook, 368 Pages
May 5th 2020 by Bethany House Publishers

Loving her is a risk he can’t afford . . . and can’t resist.

When acclaimed Bible study author Genevieve Woodward receives an anonymous letter referencing her parents’ past, she returns to her hometown in the Blue Ridge mountains to chase down her family’s secret. However, it’s Genevieve’s own secret that catches up to her when Sam Turner, owner of a historic farm, uncovers the source of shame she’s worked so hard to hide.

Sam has embraced his sorrow, his isolation, and his identity as an outsider. He’s spent years carving out both career success and peace of mind. The last thing he wants is to rent the cottage on his property to a woman whose struggles stir his worst failure back to life. Yet, can he bear to turn her away right when she needs him most?

Other Books in the Series

Take a Chance on Me
(A Misty River Romance #0.5)
By Becky Wade
Christian Contemporary Romance, Novella
ebook, 97 Pages
February 25th 2020

When baker Penelope Quinn steps in to help her brother’s family through a medical crisis, she’s forced into close proximity with charming Air Force fighter pilot Eli Price.

Penelope has one iron-clad dating rule—she does not date airmen. Months ago, she relaxed her rule with Eli and immediately lived to regret it. After a long deployment, he’s now back in Misty River and, to her dismay, she finds him just as tempting as always.

Eli’s spent months thinking about funny, feisty, creative Penelope. He once leveraged his focus and drive to become a pilot, his childhood dream. Now he’s set on leveraging that same focus and drive in order to convince Penelope to give him one more chance.

This romantic prequel novella introduces readers to the quaint mountain town of Misty River and a brand-new series from Christy-winning author Becky Wade!

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About the Author

Becky Wade is the 2018 Christy Award Book of the Year winner for True to You. She is a native of California who attended Baylor University, met and married a Texan, and moved to Dallas. She published historical romances for the general market, then put her career on hold for several years to care for her children. When God called her back to writing, Becky knew He meant for her to turn her attention to Christian fiction. Her humorous, heart-pounding contemporary romance novels have won three Christy Awards, the Carol Award, the INSPY Award, and the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award for Romance. Becky lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband and three children.

My Thoughts

I absolutely, unequivocally, without a doubt adore Stay with Me by Becky Wade. This story walloped my heart. I chuckled. I cried. I got frustrated. I cheered. And I swooned! Stay with Me is jam-packed with so many inspirational moments I may have overwhelmed the highlight function on my Kindle. LOL! But in all seriousness, this book is gold. It’s well-written. It’s heartfelt. And, it illustrates well some of God’s truths and His grace. I met unique, damaged, endearing characters that I won’t soon forget. And, I learned a little bit more about who I am and who I want to be. Stay with Me by Becky Wade is a can’t-be-missed, must-read novel. I highly, highly recommend this story.

Stay with Me is a story about hiding our true selves from the world and sharing only that which makes us look “perfect.” Why do we hide? Because many people enjoy shaming and tearing down others. If we make a mistake, not only will we have to deal with our own feelings of shame and inadequacy, but we will have to deal with the meanness of others who revel in our failings. We care about what others think. We want people to think we are good, honorable women and men who live godly, respectful lives. So, we hide who we truly are. We put on a society-approved mask and hide everything “bad” about ourselves. We do this long enough and the society-approved mask becomes our identity. When we slip and show a moment of our true self, the world is left aghast and we are left ashamed and embarrassed. Everyone makes mistakes, but for some reason in our current day and age, we are not allowed to actually make mistakes. The world has lost sight of humility, grace, and forgiveness, and people are suffering because of it.

Inside all of us is a right vs. wrong meter. It’s different in everyone, but it’s there. It’s that feeling you get in the pit of your chest when you know with every fiber of your being that you are doing something wrong or something right. Some call it conscience. I call it the Holy Spirit. Genevieve, the heroine of Stay with Me, looks like the perfect Christian. She has written highly-acclaimed Bible studies, she has spoken at packed-out churches, she has millions of followers on all her social media platforms, and she’s even part of the Miracle 5 (read the book to find out what this means). Genevieve looks like she has it all: a supportive mother and father, an older sister who is also her best friend, the sweetest niece and nephew, tons of money, the latest fashions, and a super cute home. While the outside picture, for Genevieve, is true, it’s not a 100% accurate picture of who she is. Gen has some really scary issues she must deal with or she could end up hurt, dead, or the reason someone else is hurt or dead. But to deal with these issues means she will have to come clean to everyone — her bosses, her family, and her followers. Gen struggles with the idea of revealing her truth because she knows she’s going to be treated to a hefty dish of meanness, belittling, and emotional scourging by the world. So, she covers up her right vs. wrong meter and keeps being the “perfect” Christian. This lying, this Holy Spirit shut down, makes it impossible for Gen to hear God. And this is the great truth Stay with Me forces the reader to wrestle with: who are we living this life for?

1 John 2:15 states, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Genevieve’s number one conflict in this novel is that she cannot feel God’s presence in her life anymore. But she is unwilling to speak her truth, to show who she really is, to accept God’s grace in the truthtelling. She doesn’t want to lose her status as “Best Christian Woman Ever.” Because of this, because she is stuck in the world of her own making, she is no longer in the Father. This is why she cannot feel God’s presence. Yes, writing Bible studies is awesome. Talking to standing-room-only crowds about God is a great thing. Sharing God on social media platforms is exactly what is needed — social media is a DARK place and needs a lot of LIGHT. But to close off her right vs. wrong meter and choose all these worldly aspects of Christianity over being right and honest with God is to choose a secular world over a phenomenal Father, and we cannot kid ourselves into believing that our Christian actions are good enough when we are not right with God. I won’t share how Gen learns this lesson because the moment is stellar, but I will say its impact on me will be lifelong and one I won’t soon forget.

Stay with Me is an excellent story and it has affected me deeply. Yes, it is well-written and fast-paced and highly engaging. Yes, the characters are fantastic and the romance is perfect. But Stay with Me is a must-read novel because of the timely themes and their impact on the reader. This story is heart-changing and for that, I highly, highly recommend this beautiful novel.

I received a review copy of this novel in eBook form from the author via Prism Book Tours and NetGalley. In no way has this influenced my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Tour Schedule

There is also a bookstagram tour with its own giveaway. Follow on Instagram.

Tour Giveaway

One winner will receive:
– A $100 gift card
– A paperback copy of Stay with Me
– A hand-knit scarf
– A pair of earrings
– A package of “Georgia Blues” coffee
– A package of apple oatmeal muffin mix

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