Stuck in the Middle

I quite enjoyed the way that Ms. Smith combined an interesting story of sisters with an exploration of faith and how coming to know God better can heal relationships and hurts. The romance was nice too - I found it quite realistic.

Joan is the middle (and boring) sister. She manages a furniture store and worries about her sisters and her grandmother. She seems only to be in her early 20s but acts and dresses like she is about 50. When a "hunky" new doctor moves in next door she becomes transformed to a man-eater. She seems to be completely desperate for a man, any man. When her sister also shows an interest she becomes even more competitive.

The second theme of the book is that Joan has a Christian life which is about church attendance rather than showing the power of God in her life. She finds herself challenged about this by some visiting missionaries but also by Ken, the doctor next door, who has a different view of these things than Joan has. She becomes show more involved in doing good deeds in the community.

The first problem with this book is that the two themes outlined above don't seem to mesh well. Joan behaves very badly in pursuit of a man and also very thoughtfully in looking to have a more challenging Christian life. Is this a romance or a spiritual book ? My answer would be that it isn't either - it is a bit of a mess.

I also found the good works done by the church group to be patronising in the extreme (doing good TO people, rather than talking to them about what they want and doing it WITH them). This part of the book made me cringe. The doctor was too handsome and spiritual to be true - and certainly too perfect to be attractive. Joan's spiritual crisis exposed how shallow she was but didn't really seem to change her at all. I really do not want to comment about God being asked to prove his existence by providing chocolate ice-cream !

I thought this book had a few good/funny moments but they were obliterated by the Christian preaching, the over-perfect hero and Joan's appalling behaviour when attracted by a man. I will not bother seeking out the sequels. show less

Too much religion for me. Surely you can write a christian romance without preaching. However, I did like family dynamics in Stuck in the Middle (being a middle child myself I could relate). That part of the story kept me reading. It's not a bad book, just PLEASE in the next one spare us the sermons!

Joan has felt overshadowed by her two sisters for quite some time. She longs to have a relationship. Her gets her hopes up when a handsome single young doctor moves in next door. After a few bumps in the road they find their way to each other.
Other themes include:
Keeping an elderly family member at home vs. an assisted living facility
Sibling rivalry
Self Esteem
Comparing different types of church worship
Finding peace with God and past life struggles.

The main thing I had trouble with in this book was the treatment of a more traditional church in comparison with a more contemporary one. The traditional church was portrayed as stodgy and something that is out of touch with the times. While I don't deny that some may be this way, I didn't show more like the generalization implied here.

I probably will not continue with this trilogy. show less

The bonds of sisterhood are celebrated in this feel good start to a new series by Virginia Smith. As the title hints, this installment stars the middle sister Joan as she deals with job, faith, romance and of course family issues. Joan is the 'quiet sister' who feels overshadowed by her successful older sister and her perky and beautiful younger sister. Family conflict abounds, as a handsome doctor who moves in next door attracts the attention of Joan--and her younger sister, creating quite the competions between them. Joan is also determined to keep her elderly grandmother living at home with her--but the rest of the family thinks a retirement home might be a better option. Will the rest of the family listen to Joan and her opinions, show more or will she be overshadowed and shut out like usual?
The family dynamics going on in this book are certainly easy to relate to, as both me and my sister found. Certain elements were pretty predictable, but it is still a fun, lighthearted read with a positive message about letting go of your fears and embracing faith. I recommend it for fans of contemporary Christian fiction, and if you have sisters like I do, definitely pass it around the family circle for a fun sister-bonding experience of your own. show less

I like to see inspirational stories where people are led to examine their faith and their walk. I was also pleased to see nods to mentoring and outreach as a method of demonstrating Christ's love for us. Good book. I only did a couple of oops type notes.

I really enjoyed the story line for Stuck in the Middle. I have read a few Christian Fiction books and I have enjoyed I believe one of them. The story line for Stuck in the Middle is 3 sisters all with very different beliefs about Christianity.

Allie is the oldest, Jane is the middle one and Tara is the youngest. Allie is married and her husband is not religious and has been known to speak this. I didn't really feel Allie was the same way. I think she has more belief than her husband knows. Tara is one that just goes to church because she feels that she must. Jane is the one who is trying to figure out her beliefs.

A doctor moves in next door to Jane, her mom and grand mom. Jane meets him (Ken) and feels he is very handsome, nice and show more seems to be a religious freak. This is the part of the story I found the most interesting. Jane is afraid to admit that she has a stronger urge about her religion then her sisters and yet she is drawn to the possibility.

I didn't feel like I was being preached to while reading Stuck in the Middle. I felt this story was very similar to real life as to how every one believes differently. show less