A good Christian romance with a completely predictable corny ending :)

Picked this up because I liked the cover, ended up being a good read. I didn't realize it is going to be a series, so was a little disappointed when it ended abruptly and in a somewhat shocking way.

I enjoyed the book. I want so crazy about some of the flashbacks because I felt like they went complete. The faith of Steven and Patsy was inspiring and just what Kimberly needed. She needed someone to live their faith out loud. Sometimes the best example of Christianity is to experience it not just hear it.

Still reeling from a divorce, Kimberly struggles when her ex-husband manipulates a judge into allowing him a longer summer vacation with their boys. At a loss for what to do, Kim finds herself back in Cedar Key, Florida at her family's vacation home. Yearning to recover from the emotional upheavals in her life, she also learns secrets about her own family and finds herself reacquainted with an old friend and an old flame. As she rediscovers past memories and experiences, she also reacquaints herself with God and his role in her life.

Chasing Sunsets deals with serious topics of divorce and alcoholism, but it's not a heavy book. It's also not a light-hearted beach read, but a terrific combination of both. Eva Marie Everson tackles these topics well and her characters are likeable, real people with strengths and weaknesses. I liked Kimberly and Steve. I can't wait for more of Patsy's story to be revealed in the next book.

This is the first in a new series and I look forward to more Cedar Key novels.

Though I don't read a lot of Christian fiction/romance novels these days I used to back when I was in college. I liked reading chaste romance novels since sometimes all I would read would be sex scene after sex scene with very little plot left over. A friend recommended this book to me since she thought I may enjoy since she reads nothing but Christian fiction books. However, this book was a struggle to get through from beginning to end and I really didn't enjoy it.

The main character Kimberly worked my nerves from beginning to end. Kimberly is still reeling from her divorce and trying to understand why her husband left her to apparently go off and "be with" other women. Kimberly is upset about her young son's seeing their father with so many other women. At first you think that Kimberly is jealous and there are shades of that. However, it was also because she doesn't believe in having sex if she's not married to the person which no problem if that's her belief. Her trying to enforce that behavior on her ex though was wrong and ends up making her look vindictive. Due to Kimberly not being able to see her sons for most of the summer goes down to her father's old vacation home in Cedar Key Island and runs into her long-lost love.

Kimberly just seems really naive about life in general. She apparently had a number of years teaching so she had to be around younger people and know all about addictions and other things that occur in others lives. She just appeared to have blinders on at all times about everything around here whether it was her ex, family, sister, ex-boyfriend, etc. And at times Kimberly was just thoughtless about what she said and even did when it came to a plot point involving her sister and brother-in-law.

I found myself more interested in Kimberly's sister's story-line than Kimberly forgiving her teenage boyfriend for going to college, falling for someone else, and breaking up with her. And yes that is the main plot. Kimberly forgiving her ex for breaking up with her almost 20 years ago and getting over her resentment of his now teenage daughter (I wish I was kidding).

We also had several shifts of points of view through the story and I found myself growing more and more disinterested as the story went on. One of the points of view was Kimberly's ex, Steven who we get to see through flashback how he came to meet and marry his first wife. It just didn't mesh very well with the overall story I think. Maybe this could have been a prequel to the series since it took away from the main plot of this book. We also have an ex-friend of Kimberly's who I thought was acting the way she was because of a potential story-line, but actually just acted horribly, because, reasons.

The writing was not that great in places and the pacing was off. I think that it dragged a bit because I think with so many plot elements Ms. Everson didn't know exactly what she should do with everything. I would also say that for a Christian novel there really didn't seem to be much information about Christianity besides people talking about it is Christian to forgive and some characters going to Church.

The setting of Cedar Key could have been anyplace in the world since it didn't really sound distinctive at all. If there are going to be future books in the series, Ms. Everson may want to include the local townspeople a bit more so that the reader can get a sense of the place.

The ending when it came just kind of happens. I think readers are supposed to think there was this great outcome, but the way I read it, is that things are sort of up in the air.

evastated by a divorce, Kimberly Tucker is searching for answers. How could a marriage that seemed to be so perfect have fallen apart? What had she done to cause her husband to turn to some one else? Kimberly had been a people-pleaser and problem fixer since she was a child. She depended on others approval of her and was determined to fix all things around her.

Will a trip to the family vacation home at Cedar Key force Kimberly to come face to face with truths that she had buried deep in her heart?

This book starts out in the court room as Kimberly and Charlie Tucker are meeting before the General Magistrate to determine the summer arrangements for their two boys Cody and Chase. There Kimberly is told that the boys would be with their father for 5 weeks of the summer. Absolutely devastated at this announcement Kimberly is left feeling as if her heart is shattered. To distract her from the heartbreak her father sends her on a job to the family vacation retreat - a place she had not returned to since her mother's death.

In this place Kimberly is forced to look at the past and face the ugly secrets of life that were locked up there. She must decide if she will allow God to rekindle and old flame and redeem the things she thought were lost. But this will mean that Kimberly must also admit some truths about herself and her family that will forever change her - and will set her free.

I could not put this novel down. The author has carefully developed each character in such a way that the reader feels as if they know them personally. I enjoyed the fact that there were chapters that were flashback style - so that the reader could gain more knowledge about the past of each character so that the current choices, actions and feelings make more since.

I could not put this book down. I can't wait for the second book!! I will be anxiously awaiting it's print date to see how this story unfolds more - to see what happens to the others in this book.

Available June 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group

Thank you Revel publishing for this free review copy.

I liked this book well enough to devour it in one day. And while I was entertained and interested enough to devour the book, the love story was far too much for me. I bristle greatly with instaLove kind of stuff. And even though there was a past history, the speed for which the love relationship took off did not work for me. I am not a fan at all of "instaLove-lets get married" style of relationships. Most times, that is based on lust, and idealistic relationship wants. With that said, I did I like the characters and their struggles were real and believable. I just wish, on many levels, that the romance aspect went slower and matured into a love relationship instead of moving at the speed of light.

Good book a quick read for me but I felt like some of the plots and characters were very underdeveloped. From the looks of the long title, I think this may be first in a new series, so that might explain it.

“Do you remember those things we used to play with as kids? You’d draw on them and then shake them and everything would disappear?”

“An Etch A Sketch?”

“Yes. An Etch A Sketch. Sometimes I wish life were like one of those.”

“Just shake and start over . . .”

This conversation from Eva Marie Everson’s latest novel, Chasing Sunsets, illustrates what many of us experience in real life: reaching a point in our personal histories where we’re longing for a do-over. This is the central desire of the main character, heart-broken divorcee Kimberly Tucker, and many of the secondary characters she encounters when she spends the summer on idyllic Cedar Key Island.

Happily, some of those desires are realized as Eva Marie Everson reminds us that Christ is still in the business of making all things—and people—new. Characters receive forgiveness, new beginnings, and second chances at love as they draw closer to the Lord and allow Him to work in their hearts and lives. There’s lots of family drama, a sweet romance, poignant flashbacks, and great descriptions of the sea, the beach, and the sunsets.

My favorite character in the book was Patsy, the seventy-eight year old woman who is computer savvy enough to facebook with her grandson and yet has My Utmost for His Highest, a Daily Guideposts devotional, and a well-used Bible piled up on her nightstand. The intriguing glimpse into her past made me eager for the second book in the Cedar Key series, which will reveal Patsy’s life story.

Chasing Sunsets is not a light read, but to me, it’s a true beach read. Perhaps because I teach and our school year ends in June, I find this slower-paced time of year more conducive to making resolutions than January 1st. So I can totally relate to characters who find that a beach in the Gulf is the perfect place to re-examine their lives, allow God to point out the areas that need to change, and then use the rest of the summer days to gear up for a new year and a changed life.

A new to me author and I really enjoyed this book. Looking for more of hers.