Beyond Orange County

When Lydia McLaughlin made the controversial choice to walk away from her popular role on The Real Housewives of Orange County, she had two good reasons: faith and family

In Beyond Orange County, Lydia writes about the strength and grace it takes for each of us to choose a life of purpose. She also shares behind-the-scenes insights from Hollywood, lessons she has learned both on and off the screen, and what her life looks like now that she’s following God on His next adventure for her. Most importantly, she inspires us to examine our own lives and live out boldly the unique calling God has for each of us.

“I can guarantee you that God wants to use you,” Lydia encourages. “He has a plan for you and desires to take you on a great adventure with Him. He loves you and knows you. We must be courageous and rooted and established in His love to live boldly for Christ!”

Includes questions after each chapter for individual reflection or group discussion.

My thoughts: I was rather surprised by this book! Lydia's writing is like sitting down with a girlfriend to talk, it was very refreshing. I loved how she wove scriptures and Bible stories into her own life story. Her book does a nice job of giving an overview of her life and then her role in the reality TV show, Orange County Housewives. The only thing I would of liked better would of been if she gave a bit more details about some things like her courtship with her husband (since I'm a hopeless romantic and she basically just said that she knew he was the man for her and he couldn't even remember her name, at first!).;) I did think that she had some wonderful thoughts on her college days, about how hard it is (as a Christian) to leave the community you established as a high school student. How it can be easy to not keep up with your relationship with the Lord when you take away your support group. I think it would be great to encourage Christian kids who go off to college to find a support group.
Anyway, I thought this book was wonderful, and liked that it isn't so much about her time on reality TV as it is about her relationship with the Lord.
I received this book from First Look in exchange for my honest review.