A Time To Embrace by Karen Kingsbury

It was inevitable that I would read the sequel to Karen Kingsbury’s, A Time to Dance, having enjoyed the first book. In it she creates memorable, lovable, and fallible characters. John and Abby Reynolds are a married couple who struggle with their relationship while trying to put on a good face for their church, community, and family. This couple met in their teens and fell in love with each other at an early age. Somehow, they have wandered away from a love that once amazed all who know them.

Now Reynolds, a successful high school football coach, and his journalist wife, Abby, go through the motions publicly but battle each other and their own emotions privately. They deal with temptation to stray, and struggle with a love turned to loathing and faith that has wandered from God’s commands and promises. This novel will reward and affirm both the happily married reader and the one who stands on the brink of divorce. I initially encountered Kingsbury’s writing in A Time to Dance, and after reading both books in this series, I’m still hooked.

In A Time to Embrace, John, Abby, and their three children meet a new challenge – one that threatens to turn their lives upside down. I warn the reader that he must not read the summary inside the book’s back cover, because it gives away too much of the plot. If I am any indication of a normal reader, I want no more than vague, general hints as to what might happen to the characters.

Coach John Reynolds worries about several issues as the book opens: troubled teens he coaches and teaches, severe criticism of his coaching from parents of the players, pressure to win from fans and administrators, a serious problem with his own son. He prays for wisdom and talks with Abby about these new troubles.