Winter Pearl, Roxie-Star, and Crystal Fall: The Celebrate Lit Blog Tour and Giveaway of Borrowed Lives

September 10, 2021

About the Book

Book: Borrowed Lives

Author: Carol McClain

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Release date: March 2021

God Only Lends Us Those We Love for a Season

Distraught from recent tragedy, Meredith Jaynes takes pity on a young girl who steals from her. Meredith discovers “Bean” lives in a hovel mothering her two younger sisters. The three appear to have been abandoned. With no other homes available, Social Services will separate the siblings. To keep them together, Meredith agrees to foster them on a temporary basis.

Balancing life as a soap maker raising goats in rural Tennessee proved difficult enough before the siblings came into her care. Without Bean’s help, she’d never be able to nurture these children warped by drugs and neglect—let alone manage her goats that possess the talents of Houdini. Harder still is keeping her eccentric family at bay.

Social worker Parker Snow struggles to overcome the breakup with his fiancée. Burdened by his inability to find stable homes for so many children who need love, he believes placing the abandoned girls with Meredith Jaynes is the right decision. Though his world doesn’t promise tomorrow, he hopes Meredith’s does.

But she knows she’s too broken.

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Book Review

After reading the first few chapters, I felt unsure of the book. The premise had been interesting, but I didn't know if I would end up liking it. But I continued reading...

...and it turns out I loved the book! It took me a minute, but I ended up getting attached to the characters and needing to know what happened next.

Meredith is such a sweet woman and learning about her past broke my heart. It could not have been easy going through what she had. And I hoped that she would be able to move on and let the little girls heal her.

Speaking of the little girls, I loved getting to know each and every one of them. Bean is the oldest and, while eight, had to grow up quickly to take care of her sisters after their parents abandoned them. She is strong and my heart broke for her, as well, as she struggled to understand that her parents might never come back. Roxie is sweet and has a love for cats and Olaf from Frozen. We don't get to see as much of her, but she is caring and strong. Crystal was my favorite--she was just so adorable. While too young to understand what was going on, she seemed to have a lot of determination. She also loved butterflies.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book. You will need to grab a box of tissues before diving in, though, as the novel is a roller coaster ride. But it's a wonderful book about faith, love, and healing.

I had received a copy of this book as part of the Celebrate Lit Blogging Team and was required to give an honest review.

About the Author

Carol McClain is the award-winning author of four novels dealing with real people facing real problems. She is a consummate encourager, and no matter what your faith might look like, you will find compassion, humor and wisdom in her complexly layered, but ultimately readable work.

Aside from writing, she’s a skilled stained-glass artist, an avid hiker and photographer. She lives in East Tennessee. Her most recent interests are her two baby goats Peanut & Buttercup. Like all babies, they love sitting on our laps and being bottle fed.

More from Carol

People.

Their lives are messy, destructive, full of mistakes.

Mostly, their lives are beautiful.

For years, I worked with recovering addicts. When I first heard their tales, shock and disbelief overwhelmed me. I couldn’t understand the pain inflicted upon them by addicted parents or what they did in their own lives.

Without Christ, no redemption could be found in their misery. Doesn’t sound like a fun read, huh? Many recover from their addictive patterns. In the interim, the foster care system serves their families wonderfully.

All these factors, coupled with the theme that lives are only leant to us for a season create a story of hope, humor and redemption.

Aside from seeing faith in Jesus change people’s lives—there are always goats.

I love goats, but my husband hesitated in including them in our lives. Seeing as I live the lives of my characters (I am daft), I gave my protagonist in Borrowed Lives Nubian goats. I raised them in my younger years, and by including them in my story, I could have goats vicariously.

Couple the above (redemption from addiction, foster care, and my obsession for goats) with my love of East Tennessee where the people are kind and friendly, and the scenery unparalleled, Borrowed Lives was born.