Uninvited Review and Giveaway!

Every girl has a secret she hopes the light will never find—But the demons already have.

Battles between unseen forces of good and evil have made unlikely friends out of high school juniors Krystal, Mackenzie, Tammi, and Sadie, who share similar secrets from their traumatic pasts.

Will the relationships survive the epic spiritual battles raging around them? Or will the demons keep them chained to their secrets?

My thoughts: After reading the first book in this series, I was anxious to find out what happened to the girls in the story who are fighting their personal battles and are embroiled in a spiritual battle. This book was a great follow up, though it leaves off with a cliff hanger (though there is a small excerpt at the end to give the reader a taste of what will happen in the next book).
While this book is well written and hard to put down, I feel like it needs to come with a caution too, since it deals with a lot of triggers. Rape, incest, abortion, suicide, and eating disorders are some of the triggers involved in the story. It shows some of the battles that teenagers have, and shows the spiritual side of some of those battles. This is a good reminder of the spiritual battles we all face. It also goes well with the sermon I heard today, which talked about how confessing our sins to one another, in a safe place, takes the power away from Satan to use those against us.
I received this book from Celebrate Lit. This is my honest review and is in no way influenced by receiving a complimentary copy.

About the Author:
Beckie Lindsey is an award-winning author, poet, blogger, and the editor of Southern California Christian Voice, a division of One Christian Voice, a national news syndicating agency. She is a major coffeeholic and enjoys a good book with a cat on her lap. She also loves to hike and hang out with family and friends. Beckie and her husband, Scott have three adult children, two adorable cats and live in California.

Guest Post by the Author:
Why I write YA and the BFA series

I believe a teenager still exists inside each of us.

We hear a familiar tune from our “glory days” and are instantly tapping our toes. Mentally, we’re back in high school —poofy bangs, scrunchie, neon off-the-shoulder sweatshirt — and all. Oh, wait. That’s me back in the ‘80s!

Ah, yes. There is something wonderfully awful about those coming-of-age years.

From the first kiss to the first breakup, there are memories we cherish and some we don’t care to ever revisit. Being a teen can be exciting, confusing, painful, joyous, or even all of those things at once!

No matter how different your teenage experience was from mine, one thing is true for us all: these years have an enormous impact on who we become as adults. We can all sympathize with the plight of puberty and the longing for independence and acceptance. Yeah, there’s still a teenager in all of us!

These are the reasons I write YA.

My hope is to use the power of storytelling to move past barriers and open hearts to accept how much God loves and desires a personal relationship with us.

At every age, we all need the grace and love of Jesus.

In the Beauties from Ashes (BFA) series, I write about relatable characters with difficult issues and traumatic pasts to enlighten readers about the unseen spiritual battle referred to in Scripture. Each character has a secret that has left them vulnerable to the battle in an invisible realm where demonic creatures fight to keep them chained to their pasts and angels of light work to free them.

The characters and their issues are complex, just like real life. In fact, some of the topics are often considered too taboo to talk about openly. But what is left in the dark, festers and grows. It is only in the light that we can be free. In the BFA series, readers experience the character’s quest for truth, love, grace, and freedom while hopefully finding the same for themselves.

For a complete list of blog stops, go here.

Giveaway!
To celebrate her tour, Beckie is giving away a grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Go here to enter.