Shannon Ethridge

4.5 stars.

In To Know You by Shannon Ethridge & Kathryn Mackel, Julia Whittaker is forced to revisit her painful past in order to save her thirteen year old son Dillon's life.

In an effort to give her daughters a better life, Julia gave both of her babies up for adoption. The adoptions were closed and she has had no contact with her daughters or their adoptive families. When their last hope for a donor for Dillon falls through, Julia reluctantly seeks out her now adult daughters to see if show more they are a match for the life-saving transplant Dillon so desperately needs. Her oldest daughter, Destiny, is brash, outspoken and at first, she flatly rejects Julia request. But her curiosity about her half-sister Chloe leads Destiny to make an outrageous proposal. If Julia will introduce her to Chloe, Destiny will consider getting tested to see if she is a match for Dillon's transplant. What follows is an unforgettable journey of hope, faith and healing for Julia, Destiny and Chloe.

To Know You is full of surprises and interesting twists and turns and that includes Julia's past. The circumstances surrounding both of her pregnancies are very different and not at all what I was expecting. The relationships are revealed through flashbacks when Chloe and Destiny decide they want to meet their fathers. The two men are very different and their reactions to meeting their daughters reflect not only the unique circumstances of their previous relationships with Julia but their current lives as well.

Chloe and Destiny could not be more different. Destiny is strong-willed and as a teenager, she was rebellious and headstrong. As an adult, she has forged her own path, successfully creating a lucrative career as a make-up artist. With the help of her longtime boyfriend, Luke, Destiny's wild partying days are a thing of the past but their relationship is currently on shaky ground.

Chloe is the complete opposite of Destiny. She is married to her childhood sweetheart Jack and her life is well-ordered and predictable. Jack has their future mapped out and they both adhere to his strict schedule for their education and their professional life. Chloe is growing frustrated with both her marriage and career choice, but she is unable to voice her dissatisfaction to Jack. Julia and Destiny provide her the perfect excuse to escape her confining marriage for a brief period of time.

Dillon's health is quite precarious and there is are tremendous sense of urgency throughout the entire novel. Julia's interactions with Destiny and Chloe are fraught with tension and she is always careful not to pressure them into a quick decision. Her worry for Dillon is tempered by her growing concerns for her daughters and the situations they are facing. She often turns to her husband, Matt, not only for support but for spiritual guidance as well. Their strong faith sustains them when their fears threaten to overwhelm them.

While there is a strong element of faith in To Know You, it is never preachy. Instead, Shannon Ethridge & Kathryn Mackel gently demonstrate that God is there to help shoulder our burdens and that while His forgiveness is absolute, forgiving ourselves is often the most difficult obstacle to overcome. show less

Take a large cast of characters including: Dave Dawson, senator; Will Connors his friend and backroom organizer; Melanie Connors, Will’s frigid wife; Sophie, their 16-year-old hungry-for-life daughter; Caroline Connors, Will’s sharp, attractive, single sister; Tucker Keyes, Carrie’s old drinking buddy from Princeton, now a wanna-be-journalist; a tent city of MoveIn protestors; and a series of frightening cyber attacks that for brief periods commandeer all electronic devices. show more Superimpose the above on the November to December months of Dave Dawson’s run for president—the season of presidential primaries in New Hampshire—and you have Veil of Secrets, a contemporary story about politics, relationships, and morality in America by Shannon Ethridge and Kathy Mackel.

Lots of action, complications, and trouble in the characters’ lives drew me into the story from the opening chapter. These people are complex and well-developed with detailed pasts. The plot develops naturally as the veils covering those pasts keep getting torn away by events of the present.

The writing style is smart, punchy, and perfect for this fast-paced tale. Take, for example, this description of Tucker Keyes:

“He had tried veganism and Catholicism, yoga and Pilates, Madison Avenue and Wall Street, faith and cynicism, fine arts and day trades. And still the emptiness echoed inside him like an existential tinnitus” – KL 538.

The story deals with themes of marriage, sexual abuse, the impact of one’s sexual history on the rest of life, abortion, life in politics, and the place faith in God has in all the above. I found the counseling sessions, where Will and Melanie are forced to face the dynamics of their relationship, interesting and informative in the way they show readers strategies for uncovering roots of marital dysfunction and dealing with the exposed issues.

I really wanted to give this book five stars, I enjoyed it that much. But as the story progressed, the antics of Carrie put me off. The cavalier manner her trampy ways are portrayed (keeping two guys on the hook while she’s pregnant by a third) and then everything working out just fine for her, gave me pause. I felt that the authors’ depiction of her gives a sanitized version of sin and its consequences, thus the four stars.

I received Veil of Secrets as a gift from the publisher, Thomas Nelson, for the purpose of writing a review. show less

I just finished reading To Know You....and my emotions went all over the board with this one, and now I feel wrung out. Phenomenal writing. Guilt. Forgiveness. Unconditional Love, That is what the book is about, in just a nutshell. Forgiving each other, oneself. Loving enough to be willing to be hurt. Following my dream even when it is different from what others think it should be. Understanding their protectiveness as love. What can I do that an all seeing, all knowing, forgiving God will show more not love me anymore? Is there anything too great for God, to deep? Does a mother's love expand and work across extreme incidents?
Written with a deep love and understanding of relationships, the authors explore almost every type, from birth mother to adoptive mother, husband and wife to man and woman, siblings and non-siblings and almost siblings, health, sickness, death, the whole gamut. Written with talent and intense imagery, I felt I was walking along with Julie as she left her fourteen year old and flew across the country, almost forgetting the breath at some of the situations the characters found themselves in.

I received this book free from Litfuse Publicity Group and Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review. A positive critique was not required. The opinions are my own. show less

Considering the topics reviewed (porn, BDSM, alternative lifestyles), I really wasn't sure if I would get a real benefit out of reading this book. However, the topics covered, including sexual fantasy, were very educational. It wasn't just about what those things entailed, or how people incorporated them in their lives, but the book also explored the "whys" people are driven to do what they do. The book was able to explain effectively the difference between normal sexual fantasy versus show more crossing the line. The book does not condemn those who are struggling, and yet it does not cross the line to stimulate the mind to want to act on those hardcore fantasies. I would definitely recommend it to any adult. show less