About the Book

Book: Moments We Forget

Author: Beth Vogt

Genre: Contemporary fiction, woman’s fiction

Release Date: May 7, 2019

Jillian Thatcher has spent most of her life playing the family peacemaker, caught in the middle between her driven, talented older sister and her younger, spotlight-stealing twin sisters. Then on the night of her engagement party, a cancer diagnosis threatens to once again steal her chance to shine. Now, Jillian’s on the road to recovery after finally finishing chemo and radiation, but residual effects of the treatment keep her from reclaiming her life as she’d hoped. And just when her dreams might be falling into place, a life-altering revelation from her husband sends her reeling again. Will Jillian ever achieve her own dreams, or will she always be “just Jillian,” the less-than Thatcher sister? Can she count on her sisters as she tries to step into a stronger place, or are they stuck in their childhood roles forever?

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My Review

Last year I read and reviewed the first book in this series called Things I Never Told You (You can see my review here). Since then I’ve been anxiously awaiting the next in the series to release. Many of my thoughts towards this book are similar in nature to the first. This book turns it’s main focus to Jillian, the middle sister, but all three sisters are present throughout. It’s told in first person through Jillian, and third person through Johanna.

Families are complicated, and can have their ugly and beautiful moments even within a 10 minute span. There is a rawness that people that have that is often only released when they are with their family or those who are the closest to them. The Thatcher sisters have a whole lot of obstacles in their lives individually, and their relationships may suffer from frequent tension, but at the end of the day they realize that they are sisters and nothing will change that.

What I loved most about this book was how personal Payton had made her journey to faith. She wasn’t sure what she believed, but she knew she believed in God and was hungry to know more. What she didn’t want, was to become a Christian for the wrong reasons. She didn’t want to decide she was a Christian so she could wear her deceased sister’s necklace, and she didn’t want to do it so she could have a relationship with Zach. She recognized the enormity of the decision on a personal level and wanted it to be a direct relationship between her and her Heavenly Father alone before anyone else was included in the picture. I absolutely loved how this worked itself out throughout the novel.

There is no denying that Jillian seems to be struck with obstacle after obstacle in her life. She has a whole heap of emotions that she struggles to work through to just to feel like she’s keeping her head above water. I would have liked to see her faith journey start a bit earlier so that it could have been a larger part of her story in this one, but I have hope that a third book will be released that can show her walking through more of that. Being a middle child myself, I can relate to a lot of the “middle-child-itis” she deals with. I hope that her future is brighter for her.

I thoroughly loved this story and highly recommend it. I would keep in mind that this is the second book in a series, and this is one that I wouldn’t recommend reading out of order. There is too much backstory in the first book that is necessary to fully appreciate and understand this one.

*I received a copy of this book through CelebrateLit and NetGalley. Thoughts and opinions expressed are mine alone.

Rating:

About the Author

Beth K. Vogt is a nonfiction author and editor who said she’d never write fiction. She’s the wife of an Air Force family physician (now in solo practice) who said she’d never marry a doctor—or anyone in the military. She’s a mom of four who said she’d never have kids. Now Beth believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” A women’s fiction novelist, Beth’s first novel for Tyndale House Publishers, Things I Never Told You, released May 2018.

Beth is a 2016 Christy Award winner, a 2016 ACFW Carol Award winner, and a 2015 RITA® finalist. Her 2014 novel, Somebody Like You, was one of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2014. A November Bride was part of the Year of Wedding series by Zondervan. Having authored nine contemporary romance novels or novellas, Beth believes there’s more to happily-ever-after than the fairy tales tell us.

An established magazine writer and former editor of the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth blogs for Novel Rocket and also enjoys speaking to writers’ groups and mentoring other writers. She lives in Colorado with her husband, Rob, who has adjusted to discussing the lives of imaginary people, and their youngest daughter, Christa, who loves to play volleyball and enjoys writing her own stories. Connect with Beth at bethvogt.com.

More from Beth

“A sister is like yourself in a different movie, a movie that stars you in a different life.”

Deborah Tannen (1945-), sociologist

I’m launching Moments We Forget, book two in the Thatcher Sisters series, and I’ve just turned in the final book in the series. I’d love to share book three’s title with you, but I don’t know what it is. (Of course, book three might have a final title by the time you read this—that’s part of the fun of prerelease deadlines.)

One thing I do know: the theme of “Little Women gone wrong” is woven through all of the books . . . thanks to the Thatcher sisters: Payton, Pepper, Jillian, and Johanna.

Sisters, be they real or imaginary, can be complicated.

Of course, there are sisters who have close relationships. They “get” each other and love doing life together.

But then there are the sister relationships that are like mismatched socks. Or those expensive jeans you loved in the store, but when you bring them home, they never quite live up to those moments in the dressing room.

Such are the Thatcher sisters. Johanna, Jillian, Payton, and Pepper grew up in the same family. They’re all tall. They love Broncos football and board games. But in so many ways their lives are like different movies because they each made different choices. Choices that changed and separated them. Moments We Forget continues to explore whether the Thatcher sisters can find a way to understand each other enough to bridge the distance between them.

Blog Stops

Livin’ Lit, May 7

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, May 7

The Power of Words, May 7

Among the Reads, May 8

Carpe Diem, May 8

Quiet Quilter, May 8

Wishful Endings, May 9

Christian Chick’s Thoughts, May 9

Simple Harvest Reads, May 10 (Guest post from Mindy Houng)

Remembrancy, May 10

God’s Little Bookworm, May 11

Just the Write Escape, May 11

Spoken from the Heart, May 12

Splashes of Joy, May 12

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, May 12

Through the Fire Blogs, May 13

Genesis 5020, May 13

By The Book, May 13

Bigreadersite, May 14

A Baker’s Perspective, May 14

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, May 14

Pause for Tales, May 15

Moments, May 15

Stephanie’s Life of Determination, May 15

All-of-a-kind Mom, May 16

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, May 16

Texas Book-aholic, May 16

janicesbookreviews, May 17

Living Life Free in Christ, May 17

To Everything A Season, May 17

Real World Bible Study, May 18

Older & Smarter?, May 18

A Reader’s Brain, May 18

Inklings and notions, May 19

Hallie Reads, May 19

Locks, Hooks and Books, May 19

Godly Book Reviews, May 20

The Becca Files, May 20

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, May 20

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Beth is giving away a grand prize of a $25 Amazon gift card plus a softcover copy of Moments We Forget!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/e26d/moments-we-forget-celebration-tour-giveaway