Her Good Girl by Elaine Stock

About the Book

Title: Her Good Girl  
Author: Elaine Stock  
Genre: Family Life, Contemporary fiction, Coming-of-age story of a whole family  
Release Date: January 22, 2018
Sometimes digging deep frees you to bloom. Sadie Tremont’s will to survive is killing her. Almost 18, she’s battled one mysterious illness after another. Tara-Lynn, her mom, insists she’s the only one with the ultimate cure. Sadie can’t depend on her dad to help when his only interest is underground caving. Her grandmother too easily counts on God to help, but Sadie has stopped waiting for miracles. Callie, a café owner and new friend, might help but can she be trusted? Then there’s Sky, Sadie’s new boyfriend who offers a sliver of joy, peace, and self-respect. When he schemes that the only way for Sadie to be happy is to escape with him from her native West Virginia hills by killing Tara-Lynn, she’s trapped. She can’t partner with Sky to hurt the mom who has hurt her for years . . . or can she? When tragedy strikes and threaten Sadie’s dad’s life and the shaky ground the Tremont family stands on, will they pull together or give in to the weakened earth beneath their feet?

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My Review

This book really challenged me to see a world and reality outside of myself that I had never experienced really except maybe in an indirect way hearing of a family dealing with a certain member having a mental illness, or hearing that a parent abused their child on the news. I'm so glad our author brought light to the topic because it's one that's devastating, and yet is reality for people who need the Lord just like you and me. Whether the family dynamic includes mental illness, abuse, or both, the Lord's love through His sheep is what a family going through this needs to be reconciled and healed. We can be so quick to judge when we don't understand how people could get into unhealthy relationship after unhealthy relationship when they've had abuse in their past, when in reality we should be asking how we can help fill the need for true love by showing them Christ. Only He can fill that void for love and acceptance that one longs for.  I was challenged to be more aware of those who may be in these situations, to empathize more, and to not question them, but help lead them to Christ who is what they really need. Our author made the book very clear with the character descriptions, the way Sadie thought out her inner monologue, the way the adults outside and inside her family didn't see the real issue. I was blown away by how well the author helped us to understand the plight of the abused child, and also the mind suffering from mental illness which a lot of times is a result of personal trauma as well. With a difficult topic at hand, our author really opens our eyes to a reality we should all be concerned about, and, as Christians, should seek to shine the light of Jesus into. Don't miss this emotional, realistic, truly thought-provoking read!

I received a complimentary copy of this book, and all opinions given are my own. 

About the Author

Elaine Stock is the author of Always With You, which released in January 2016 and has won the 2017 Christian Small Publishers Association Book of the Year Award in fiction. And You Came Along, a novella, released in December 2017. Her novels fuse romance, family drama and faith in a clean fiction style. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, and Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and contributes to the international “Happy Sis Magazine” and “InD’tale Magazine.” In addition to Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads, she hangs out on her active six-year-old blog, Everyone’s Story, dedicated to uplifting and encouraging all readers through the power of story and hope. Born in Brooklyn, NY, Elaine has now been living in upstate, rural New York with her husband for more years than her stint as a NYC gal. She enjoys long walks down country roads, visiting New England towns, and of course, a good book.

Guest Post from Elaine Stock

How to Bloom Against the Odds by Elaine Stock Show tunes warm my heart and create a happy buzz in my mind. Ever since I can recall, I adored musicals, whether live performances or movies. Throw in amazing choreography and I’m definitely a happy camper! Hmm. I’m thinking you’re probably wondering why I’m kicking off a blog tour about my novel, Her Good Girl, a coming-of-age story about a whole family against the odds, chatting about actors belting out foot-tapping songs?  

Here’s another favorite of mine: Liza Minnelli. Remember her from the movie Cabaret? A few months back I ran across this quote from her: Reality is something you rise above. These words hit home, zinged my soul. Life is not about what you’re dished out, but what you do with it instead. See, I was born into a troubled family. My mother slipped deep into the prison of mental illness; my father worked 8 days a week. Throw in a few other dysfunctional barbs and… well… that was my beginning. Is it my present? Will it be my future? In Her Good Girl, centers on Sadie, a girl on the cusp of becoming a woman. Her life revolves around her mother’s abusive Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MBP) until Sadie discovers a way out… or is it an escape to something deeper and worse by the hands of someone else? This is what I wrote in the “Author’s Note” section of Her Good Girl: I first became aware of Munchausen By Proxy (MBP) several years ago when I read an article about what I thought was an emotional disturbance. Research shows that this is maltreatment (abuse and/or neglect) when a person—usually a parent—seeks emotional fulfillment by inflicting an illness on another, often one’s child, and often resulting in death. Recent cases such as the 1996 arrest of Kathy Bush for making her then nine-year-old daughter, Jennifer sick; the 2014 death of five-year-old Garnett by his mother Lacy Spears, and the recent Baby Jax case of a woman, Jessica Valik, who tampered with her son’s feeding tube, are one too many. Yet, I have not written about this type of tragedy and sadness to become a sensationalist. Stories about the complexities of families draw my attention. I strive to tell stories that inspire others that, through the love and grace of God, one can move forward, families can heal, that there is hope, and that there is no reason to go back. Goodness can, and does, happen to troubled families. While my mother didn’t suffer from MBP, she was controlled by the terrors of paranoid schizophrenia (I touched upon this as well in Her Good Girl, although, again, it was not autobiographical). I didn’t know about my mother’s condition until I turned 18 and she was first diagnosed at that time. However, what I did know during my childhood was that this was my family’s “normal.” Yet, it still didn’t feel right. I wanted to rise above this emotional feeling that felt like a trap. Enter God. Actually, God and I clicked when I was six (that’s as far back as I can remember His grasp on me). But, it wasn’t until I was baptized into the Christian faith in my early 20s did I start feeling as if I was indeed beginning to rise above my circumstances. Without Him, my life would be empty and meaningless. Now, I feel as if I have a future to look forward to. All my novels will not necessarily be reflective of mental illness, but I hope my readers will see in Her Good Girl that by holding God’s hands tightly a family can heal and one can move forward, can live. Or, as one of the major themes of the novel emphasizes: Sometimes digging deep frees you to bloom.  

Blog Stops

Reading Is My SuperPower, February 1

Mary Hake, February 1

Bibliophile Reviews, February 2

Inklings and notions, February 2

Blogging With Carol, February 3

proud to be an autism mom, February 4

A Reader’s Brain, February 5

Texas Book-aholic, February 6

Carpe Diem, February 7

A Baker’s Perspective, February 8

Multifarious, February 9

A Greater Yes, February 10

Avid Reader Book Reviews, February 10

Power of Words, February 11 (spotlight)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 11

Janices book reviews, February 12

Jeanette’s Thoughts, February 12

margaret kazmierczak, February 13 (Interview)

Simple Harvest Reads, February 13 (Guest post from Mindy)

Pursuing Stacie, February 14

Bigreadersite, February 14

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Elaine is giving away a grand prize of 1 Tote + 1 print (US only) or eBook of Her Good Girl, Always With You, and And You Came Along.

Three others will win 1 eBook of Her Good Girl each!!!

Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries! https://promosimple.com/ps/c6d0