Age Before Beauty

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series, Stuck in the Middle (Sister-to-Sister, Book 1), and have been patiently (ok, not so patiently) awaiting the release of book two, Age Before Beauty. It was definitely worth the wait. It follows the oldest sister in the Sanderson family, Allie Harrod. She's desperate to stay home with her new baby - so desperate, in fact, that she's willing to become a work-at-home mom (WAHM) if that's what it takes. It's not often I find a great WAHM character, so I was especially excited about Allie. She's smart, spunky and hilarious. She goes through so many of the same feelings I've felt along the way to becoming a work-at-home mom and it was fun to follow along on her journey. She knows it can be done and goes for it with her whole heart. What a fun read! Jill Hart RadiantLit.com

Age before Beauty is an entertaining novel that once you start it, you cannot put it down until you've completed the book. The main character, Allie, has just had her first child and realizes how much she would love to be a stay-at-home mom. Finding what she considers to be the perfect home business, she starts her new career only to realize she is in debt and not making the money she had expected. As growing finances are causing stress, her mother in-law shows up at their door unannounced. Come to find out, her in-laws are having marital problems and the mother in-law decides to stay with Allie and her husband for an undisclosed time. Allie is faced with many decisions: Should she tell her husband her business is failing? How should she handle the mother in-law she never liked? Why was her husband spending so much time helping another woman repair her home? And most important, what was her relationship with God. I highly recommend this book as you walk with Allie as she tries to struggle to be the perfect wife, mother, sister, and daughter.

I found this book an excellent read. Allie is now a mother and suddenly she is thrown back to the time in her life when her father leaves her and her family to fend for themselves. Will her husband, the love or her life, do the same now that he is a father? Allie wants so much to stay at home with her daughter but she needs be able to support herself just in case, so she starts a home business and her mother-in-law runs away from home and moves in with them. Talk about stress! The characters are believable. I can see exactly how Allie thinks and why she jumps to conclusions and why she believes that she has to do it all herself. Fortunately help comes from her sister Joanie who has developed a strong relationship with God. 5 stars, can't wait for the 3rd book in the series.

In my humble opinion, every woman that is pregnant should read this book. It will prepare you for many of the feelings you will feel after that little one is born. Every woman who has just had a baby should read this book. It will remind you that you're not the only one calling the doctor every other day because you think your baby has some strange disease. All women should really read this book. It will bring back bittersweet memories of those early baby days. Virginia Smith did an excellent job of weaving fundamental truths about motherhood, marriage, and what it means to be a godly woman and wife into a very entertaining story. This story provided chuckles, tears, and food for thought. Since this is really the first book I've read of this genre I really can't compare Virginia Smith to another author. I will say that her writing style is easy to read and she moves the story along at a good pace. This is a book two of a series, but I didn't feel lost having not read book one. Excellent story and I look forward to reading more by Virginia Smith.