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    Stuck in the Middle (Sister-to-Sister Book #1): A Novel
    Unavailable
    Stuck in the Middle (Sister-to-Sister Book #1): A Novel
    Unavailable
    Stuck in the Middle (Sister-to-Sister Book #1): A Novel
    Ebook370 pages5 hours

    Stuck in the Middle (Sister-to-Sister Book #1): A Novel

    By Virginia Smith

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Joan Sanderson's life is stuck. Her older sister, Allie, is starting a family and her younger sister, Tori, has a budding career. Meanwhile, Joan is living at home with Mom and looking after her aging grandmother. Not exactly a recipe for excitement. That is, until a hunky young doctor moves in next door. Suddenly Joan has a goal--to get a date. But it won't be easy. Pretty Tori flirts relentlessly with him and Joan is sure that she can't compete. But with a little help from God, Allie, and an enormous mutt with bad manners, maybe Joan can find her way out of this rut.
    Book 1 of the Sister-to-Sister series, Stuck in the Middle combines budding romance, spiritual searching, and a healthy dose of sibling rivalry.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBaker Publishing Group
    Release dateFeb 1, 2008
    ISBN9781585585441
    Unavailable
    Stuck in the Middle (Sister-to-Sister Book #1): A Novel
    Author

    Virginia Smith

    Virginia Smith is the author of more than a dozen Christian novels. Her books have been named finalists in the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence in Mystery/Suspense, the American Christian Fiction Writer's Book of the Year Award, and ACFW's Carol Award. When she isn't writing or speaking, Ginny and her husband, Ted, enjoy exploring the extremes of nature. They live in Salt Lake City, UT.

    Read more from Virginia Smith

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    Reviews for Stuck in the Middle (Sister-to-Sister Book #1)

    3.5/5

    84 ratings12 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Joan has felt overshadowed by her two sisters for quite some time. She longs to have a relationship. Her gets her hopes up when a handsome single young doctor moves in next door. After a few bumps in the road they find their way to each other.Other themes include: Keeping an elderly family member at home vs. an assisted living facilitySibling rivalrySelf EsteemComparing different types of church worshipFinding peace with God and past life struggles.The main thing I had trouble with in this book was the treatment of a more traditional church in comparison with a more contemporary one. The traditional church was portrayed as stodgy and something that is out of touch with the times. While I don't deny that some may be this way, I didn't like the generalization implied here. I probably will not continue with this trilogy.
    • 3/5
      I really enjoyed the book until the end. I feel like the ending is missing.
    • 4/5
      This was a really cute comic little love story. I love Ken and Joan and Joans sisters Tori and Allie and Grandma, you just got to love. A cute read.
    • 2/5
      Joan is the middle (and boring) sister. She manages a furniture store and worries about her sisters and her grandmother. She seems only to be in her early 20s but acts and dresses like she is about 50. When a "hunky" new doctor moves in next door she becomes transformed to a man-eater. She seems to be completely desperate for a man, any man. When her sister also shows an interest she becomes even more competitive.The second theme of the book is that Joan has a Christian life which is about church attendance rather than showing the power of God in her life. She finds herself challenged about this by some visiting missionaries but also by Ken, the doctor next door, who has a different view of these things than Joan has. She becomes involved in doing good deeds in the community.The first problem with this book is that the two themes outlined above don't seem to mesh well. Joan behaves very badly in pursuit of a man and also very thoughtfully in looking to have a more challenging Christian life. Is this a romance or a spiritual book ? My answer would be that it isn't either - it is a bit of a mess.I also found the good works done by the church group to be patronising in the extreme (doing good TO people, rather than talking to them about what they want and doing it WITH them). This part of the book made me cringe. The doctor was too handsome and spiritual to be true - and certainly too perfect to be attractive. Joan's spiritual crisis exposed how shallow she was but didn't really seem to change her at all. I really do not want to comment about God being asked to prove his existence by providing chocolate ice-cream !I thought this book had a few good/funny moments but they were obliterated by the Christian preaching, the over-perfect hero and Joan's appalling behaviour when attracted by a man. I will not bother seeking out the sequels.
    • 4/5
      Stuck in the Middle is a quick, light read - the story line tries to get a little deep, but isn't really successful in the small amount of time. Joan feels stuck in her life as a furniture store manager, living at home with her mom and grandma. She is 25 but the way her character is displayed you would think she is 35 or 40. Ken, the new neighbor, is a single doctor. Joan and Ken begin a friendship.The other underlying issue through this story is Joan's faith in God. She attends church, but doesn't really live out her faith or let God lead her steps. A good reminder to us all about if we are living our faith or just doing the motions.
    • 3/5
      Too much religion for me. Surely you can write a christian romance without preaching. However, I did like family dynamics in Stuck in the Middle (being a middle child myself I could relate). That part of the story kept me reading. It's not a bad book, just PLEASE in the next one spare us the sermons!
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed the story line for Stuck in the Middle. I have read a few Christian Fiction books and I have enjoyed I believe one of them. The story line for Stuck in the Middle is 3 sisters all with very different beliefs about Christianity.Allie is the oldest, Jane is the middle one and Tara is the youngest. Allie is married and her husband is not religious and has been known to speak this. I didn't really feel Allie was the same way. I think she has more belief than her husband knows. Tara is one that just goes to church because she feels that she must. Jane is the one who is trying to figure out her beliefs.A doctor moves in next door to Jane, her mom and grand mom. Jane meets him (Ken) and feels he is very handsome, nice and seems to be a religious freak. This is the part of the story I found the most interesting. Jane is afraid to admit that she has a stronger urge about her religion then her sisters and yet she is drawn to the possibility. I didn't feel like I was being preached to while reading Stuck in the Middle. I felt this story was very similar to real life as to how every one believes differently.
    • 3/5
      Christian fiction isn't really my thing. Free books are though, so I read it. It was ok. Nothing to write home about. The siblings in the book kinda reminded me of me and my sisters. Three very different girls, but underneath it all, they're very close with each other. I wouldn't pay for the next book in the series, but I'm sure I'd read it, just to find out what happens with the sisters.
    • 2/5
      Why does Christian fiction have to be so poorly written? The plot for this book could have been nicely written as a short story. I forced myself to finish it!Smith did get it right about retirement communities, and about the need for older persons to have a social life.My main objection to the "Christian"ity of the book was the derogatory way in which Baptism in the non-mega church was handled. "Dribbled?" River immersion, full immersion in the Baptismal font, or sprinkling are all terms used with respect by a variety of denominations.I rather use the Netflix model in my star ratings. 1=Hated It2=Disliked It3=Liked It4=Liked It a Lot5=Fabulous!
    • 4/5
      I quite enjoyed the way that Ms. Smith combined an interesting story of sisters with an exploration of faith and how coming to know God better can heal relationships and hurts. The romance was nice too - I found it quite realistic.
    • 4/5
      The bonds of sisterhood are celebrated in this feel good start to a new series by Virginia Smith. As the title hints, this installment stars the middle sister Joan as she deals with job, faith, romance and of course family issues. Joan is the 'quiet sister' who feels overshadowed by her successful older sister and her perky and beautiful younger sister. Family conflict abounds, as a handsome doctor who moves in next door attracts the attention of Joan--and her younger sister, creating quite the competions between them. Joan is also determined to keep her elderly grandmother living at home with her--but the rest of the family thinks a retirement home might be a better option. Will the rest of the family listen to Joan and her opinions, or will she be overshadowed and shut out like usual?The family dynamics going on in this book are certainly easy to relate to, as both me and my sister found. Certain elements were pretty predictable, but it is still a fun, lighthearted read with a positive message about letting go of your fears and embracing faith. I recommend it for fans of contemporary Christian fiction, and if you have sisters like I do, definitely pass it around the family circle for a fun sister-bonding experience of your own.
    • 2/5
      I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what turned me off of this book. I got maybe a 1/4 of the way through and the characters did not grab me. They seemed very generic and I didn’t really see why Joan and Ken , the handsome new neighbor, fell in love. Joan kind of irritated me because she sounded like a spoiled brat being 25 years old, living at home not paying rent and then constantly accusing her mother of wanting to put her grandmother away in a home without even checking out the assisted living home in town. I would not want to put my parents into a home if they wanted to stay home but Joan’s grandmother seemed lonely and enjoyed visiting her friend at this assisted living home. Everything in this book was just too pat for me. There was no real struggle for the two of them to end up together.It actually took me almost half the book to realize this was Christian fiction. I first thought Ken was some sort of weird religious fanatic being so focus on mainly a girl’s religious beliefs and not much else. I have to say the only thing I did like about this book was when Joan’s church group started their community services. I think it’s great when people make the effort to really get out into the community and help others.I know this review isn’t the greatest but like I said I couldn’t exactly put my finger on what I didn’t like about this book.