Bittersweet Surrender

About the Book:  Carly Westlake is living the dream. She spends her days at a spa (okay, so she owns the place), she's dating a hunk, and she's surrounded by chocolate-milk chocolate, her favorite-that she uses for the chocolate facials that made her spa famous.
But when long buried secrets threaten Carley's business and her friendship with business-partner Tom, she fights like crazy to keep the dream-and the illusions-afloat.  It takes a miracle of grace to get Carley to finally make that bittersweet surrender to love and real life.

About the Author:  Since January 2010 her life has been in a state of turmoil, though nothing more than  God can handle. It was then she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. It’s been a roller-coaster ride to be sure, but she has been fighting with everything in her and hopes to get past this. Want to know more about Diann?  Check out her website:  http://www.diannhunt.com.

About The Disease:  Ovarian cancer is a silent killer. Symptoms don’t appear many times until it’s too late–or at least it makes for a much harder battle.  Ovarian cancer is something women thing will never  happen to us. We always think it’s someone else, but it isn’t. Take care of yourself. I care about you. Your family cares about you too....so get tested regularly.
My Thoughts:  I have to be honest and tell you that Bittersweet Surrender started out very slow for me. The key word there is started out.  Once the foundation for the story and the characters was laid the book became an very interesting read and the ending was worth the buildup.  This book is a story of a tangled web created by lies, and of grace that is God given. Carly, the main character feels broken because of breast cancer and rejected because her husband left her when she needed him most. When another character sees her inner and outer beauty he reminds her that she is a creation of God and that Jesus loves her just the way she is. I loved the fact that these characters were seasoned and more mature in age. not the traditional 20 something year old heroine. As a 50+ reader, veteran of divorce, who has lost many friends/family members to breast cancer the book really touched my life.  It is a definite must read.  I hope you will take a chance and pick it up at your local book store.  You won't regret it.  Warning:  This book will make you want to divulge in great amounts of chocolate.  
Disclaimer:  I received a copy of this book in ebook format from Thomas Nelson Publishing Company  in exchange for my review. No other compensation was received. All opinions are 100% my own and may differ from others.