Welcome to the Loving Grace by April Smith blog & review tour plus giveaway, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: Loving Grace
Author: April Smith
Publisher: Ambassador International
Release Date: March 20, 2018
Genre: Christian Fiction, Young Adult Romance
Grace Summer lands herself in a melon load of trouble when she becomes torn between the boy of her dreams and the boy almost next door.
As the newly crowned Watermelon Queen, she is thrust into the spotlight, meets the dreamy Warren Hartley, and continues trying to get over an accident that rocked her world. Mix in working with Beau Baron who Grace happens to fight with just about as much as breathing and the metaphorical sparks fly.
Like most things in life, Grace must learn to take the good with the bad. While the good is the handsome and fun Warren Hartley, the bad is Beau Baron—or at least being around his annoying and rude self way more than she would like. For Beau, Grace is nothing more than aggravating and an irritating reminder from the night of the accident.
Tensions soar as Grace and Beau fight to love themselves and maybe, just maybe, each other.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
April Smith grew up spending summers working on her best friend’s family watermelon farm and she was one of those watermelon queens she writes about. She has her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s Degree in the Art of Teaching.
CONNECT WITH APRIL: website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest
My Review: I thought Loving Grace was a sweet Christian YA novel and I enjoyed the plot line and interactions between the characters, especially the boys : Beau and Bennett. The author brought Christian aspects into this book without it being overbearing or taking over the entire plot of the book. The writing was well organized and well thought out. I honestly had no idea that there were such things as Watermelon Queens or pageants in the farming world. The only thing that truly bugged me about this book was the fact that the main character Grace, was so naive and so painfully fit the stereotype of a pageant queen. She was oblivious to the fact that her best friend was in love with her and oblivious to the fact that the guy she liked was an outstanding jerk. She seemed to be flighty with her own emotions and was more focused on her outfits and hair style and impressing boys than she was with dealing with her emotions, caring about the people that loved her (she was more annoyed with them than anything), and being a successful business woman. I don’t need to love the main character in the books I read, and Beau’s character made up for Grace’s in my opinion, so I ended up giving this 3.5/5 stars. I would recommend this to young Christian teens because I do remember feeling like Grace at that point in my teen years, maybe I am just too old now to appreciate her character. I would also recommend this to anyone who enjoys Christian YA contemporaries, especially those who can appreciate a rural setting.
TOUR GIVEAWAY
Ambassador International is giving away:
(1) JustRead Summer Fun Book Box, which features Loving Grace as well as at least 4 quality items which complement the story. Find out more here.
Enter via the Rafflecopter giveaway below. Giveaway will begin at midnight July 16, 2018 and last through 11:59pm July 23, 2018. US only. Winners will be notified within a week of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.
Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.
Check out the tour landing page at JustRead for the full schedule!
