The Christy Miller Collection, Vol. 4: A Time to Cherish / Sweet Dreams / A Promise Is Forever (Books 10-12) [Hardcover]

Robin Jones Gunn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2006

Get in on Christy’s Senior Year

The last three books, collected in one page-turning volume, conclude the bestselling Christy Miller series with hope and promise! At the start of her senior year, Christy looks forward to growing closer to Todd, but her friendship with Katie is on the rocks, threatening the year she was certain would be a time to cherish. With Sweet Dreams comes the start of a romantic summer. She’d be entirely swept off her feet if it wasn’t for the most difficult decision she’s ever had to make. And in A Promise Is Forever, Christy discovers foreign adventure is just her cup of tea. Follow Christy Miller as she stays true to her identity in Christ, drawing closer to God for help in realizing her dreams and dealing with her disappointments.

Whether you’re meeting her for the first time or have known her for years—

Christy Is a Forever Friend

A Time to Cherish

For Labor Day weekend, Christy Miller is on a houseboat at Lake Shasta. What could be better? She’s about to find out! Before they know it, both Christy and her best friend, Katie, are receiving some unexpected male attention. But somehow these best friends are at odds just when they should be having the most fun together. Christy soon realizes that sometimes you have to stand back and let people make their own decisions, even when they’re headed for a fall. And although life is never perfect, this is definitely a time to cherish.

Sweet Dreams

Christy Miller’s senior year is delicious, especially the time she spends with Todd. But her best friend, Katie, is struggling—she’s realized she needs to break up with Michael. It’s not easy! Fortunately both Doug and Disneyland help Katie to cheer up. Christy is learning to let go and get out of the way so that her friends can become who they’re meant to be...even when it jeopardizes her own sweet dreams.

A Promise Is Forever

Christy Miller’s going to Europe! It’s a three-week missions trip with Doug, Katie, and Tracy. First stop: London for some sightseeing, and then a castle in the English countryside for group training. Christy is so excited to be headed for Belfast with her friends—despite some tension among them. But when plans go topsy-turvy at the last minute, Christy must face her fears and realize that some things are more important than her own comfort...and that even when she can’t foresee the end result, a promise truly is forever.

Story Behind the Book

“The Christy Miller series was actually born when a group of thirteen-year-olds challenged me to write a novel. I’d been questioning the content of their favorite books when they said, ‘Why don’t you write a book for us?’ I told them no, I only wrote picture books. But they persisted: ‘How hard could it be? We’ll even tell you what to write! We want a love story with teenagers at the beach.’ And there you go. Summer Promise first released seventeen years ago and is now translated into five languages. I continue to hear from readers all over the world, many girls saying that they gave their life to Christ after reading Summer Promise . I love that!” —Robin Jones Gunn

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robin Jones Gunn is the bestselling, award-winning author of sixty books with 2.75 million copies sold worldwide. She began writing novels for teens, including the Christy Miller series, after serving in full-time youth ministry for more than twenty years with her husband, Ross. She has taught at writers’ conferences and been a guest speaker for a variety of groups in settings from Hawaii to Helsinki. Robin and Ross have been married for twenty-eight years and have a grown son and daughter. They live near Portland, Oregon.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

1

Christy Miller suddenly woke up. She kicked the heavy sleeping bag off her sweaty legs and squinted her eyes in the darkness, trying to remember where she was. Her bed seemed to tilt back and forth with a gentle roll.

Then Christy remembered. She was on a houseboat–Aunt Marti’s idea of a “Farewell to Summer” party over the Labor Day weekend.

She could hear her best friend, Katie, gently snoring across the cabin. Christy pulled on her sweats and placed her bare feet on the cool floor. Padding her way to the boat’s front deck, she closed the sliding glass door behind her and drew in a deep breath of fresh morning air.

The sky had not quite awakened but seemed to be slowly rising, rubbing the thin pink cloud “sleepers” from its eyes and checking its reflection in the still lake-mirror.

The day promised to be perfect. She could smell it in the sweet breeze rising off the water. Just then something splashed in the water. She quickly figured out it must be either Todd or Doug. The two of them had slept under the stars on the houseboat’s roof.

Soon Todd’s white-blond head popped up out of the water. He didn’t notice Christy watching him and kept swimming with quiet, easy strokes. Turning to float on his
back, he spoke into the dawn.

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens!” Christy couldn’t help but smile. That was so like Todd.

She moved closer to the railing, wondering if she should interrupt Todd’s conversation with God. On her last step, her foot tagged the corner of a folded-up beach chair, causing it to tip over and clatter loudly. Todd spun around in the water and began to swim back toward the houseboat.

Christy quickly smoothed back her nutmeg-brown hair and tried to tuck the wild ends into her loose braid. I probably look awful! Groggy, to say the least.

Then she realized that this was Todd, and he had never been the kind of guy to judge anyone by outward appearances. Hopefully he would keep that in mind when he saw her fresh from her sleeping bag.

Todd grabbed on to one of the ropes hanging from the front of the houseboat and pulled himself up the steps onto the deck.

“Hi,” Christy whispered shyly. “How’s the water?”

Todd smiled and reached for a beach towel on the railing. His silver-blue eyes met Christy’s, and he whispered back, “You want to find out?”

“Not really.”

“Not even a little cold shower?” Todd shook his hair in front of her like a dog.

“Okay, okay.” Christy giggled, holding up her hands in defense. “You convinced me; it’s cold!”

“Refreshing,” Todd corrected her, slipping a navy blue hooded sweatshirt over his head and sticking his hands in the front pocket. “You the only one up?”

Christy nodded. “I think so.”

“It was a long ride here yesterday,” Todd said. “They’ll probably all sleep in. What got you up this early?”

“I was burning up in my sleeping bag. It must be designed for subzero temperatures.”

“I know the perfect way to cool you off. Let’s go for a spin around the lake.”

“In what?” Christy asked. “If we start up the ski boat, we’ll wake everyone.”

“Then we’ll take the raft.” Todd pulled the big, yellow inflated monster from the side of the houseboat and dropped it into the water. “Ladies first.”

Christy went through all her mental resistance in record time. Would they get in trouble for going out like this without telling anyone? No, Bob and Marti trusted Todd. What if she got her sweats wet? So what? She could change into something dry when they came back. Unable to think of a reason why she shouldn’t go, Christy lowered herself into the wobbly raft.

Todd grabbed two paddles, put up the hood on his sweatshirt, and with the beach towel wrapped around his wet swim trunks, joined Christy. They silently paddled away from the cove and headed for the open part of the lake.

One look at Todd’s face and Christy knew he thought this was an adventure. Todd thrived on adventure. His lifelong ambition was to become a missionary and live in the jungle. Christy liked adventure too. At least the little bit she had experienced in her seventeen years. But she wasn’t sure how she felt about spending the rest of her life in the jungle. Maybe if she had one of those butane curling irons that didn’t need to be plugged in.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Todd looked up at the awakening sky. He pointed to a trail of puffy white clouds stomping across the seamless blue. “The clouds are the dust beneath His feet.”

Christy smiled at Todd’s poetic flair. He looked like a monk with the hood covering his head. “Did you just make that up?”

“No,” Todd confessed. “An Old Testament prophet did. Nahum, to be exact. I always think of that verse when I see clouds that look like God just went for a morning stroll across the face of the earth.”

Christy knew the look in Todd’s eyes. She had seen it many times during the two years she had known him. Two years filled with more ups and downs than an elevator. Yet one thing had never changed: Todd’s love for God. More than once Christy had wished Todd would become even one-tenth as committed to her as he was to God.

It wasn’t that she didn’t love God too. She did. She had promised her heart to the Lord more than two years ago and had grown a lot as a Christian since then. But all Todd had ever promised her was that they would be friends forever. What did that mean?

Next week she would begin her senior year of high school, and Todd was now a sophomore in college. How old did a guy have to be before he made a substantial promise to a girl?

“You know what this reminds me of?” Todd asked. “That morning on the beach.”

“You mean Christmas morning a couple of years ago when we made breakfast and the seagulls scarfed it all?” Christy said.

Todd smiled. “I almost forgot about that. No, I mean that morning last year. Remember? We just happened to meet on the beach in the fog.”

A knot tightened in Christy’s stomach. That was not a morning she liked to remember. “And here we are,” she said, ignoring the knot, “out together again at the break of day. Only this time you’re not telling me you’re going off to Hawaii indefinitely to surf.” Christy hesitated. “Or are you?”

“Nope.” Todd put down his paddle and let the raft float. He propped his hands behind his head and leaned back against the pudgy side of the raft. “And you’re not trying to give me back your ID bracelet either.”

Christy glanced down at the gold bracelet on her right wrist. The engraved word “Forever” glinted in the rising sun. “I wanted you to be free to go to Hawaii and not feel obligated to me.”

“And I wanted you to be free to date Rick and not feel like I was holding you back,” Todd countered.

Christy sighed. “I wish now that you had held me back.I don’t have pleasant memories of dating Rick.”

“Had to be your own choice,” Todd said. “No one else could make that decision for you. That would be robbing you of who you are. There’s great value in everything that happened. You just have to look for it.”

Christy leaned back and felt the sun warming the left side of her face. She thought hard about Rick and his overpowering ways, wondering what possible great value had come out of their relationship. Maybe going out with Rick had taught her more about the kind of guy she did want to be with. Now, more than ever, Todd was definitely that guy.

“What would you like from me, Christy?” Todd suddenly asked, as if he had been reading her thoughts.

“What do you mean?”

“You want more of a commitment than what we have now, don’t you?”

Christy felt her cheeks turn red–and not because of the sun. “Why do you say that?”

“Your aunt had a little talk with me on the way up yesterday when you were in the truck with Katie and Doug. She told me that if I didn’t stake my claim soon, you’d take off with some other guy. She thinks it’s time we officially start going out, let people know we’re a couple.”

Now Christy felt really embarrassed. Aunt Marti was always speaking her mind, but Todd never seemed to pay much attention to her. Why was he bringing all of this up
now?

“Todd, you know my aunt. That’s her idea, not mine.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s what she said.”

Christy shook her head. “Todd, I apologize–”

“No need. I would have let it go, except Doug has been asking me about our relationship. I guess you know he’s wanted to go out with you for a long time.”

“Doug?”

Todd nodded. “You mean you didn’t know?”

“No. I was hoping he and Katie would get together.”

Todd shrugged. For several long minutes it was quiet.

“So,” Todd said, leaning forward and looking Christy in the eye, “I guess I’m feeling like we have to start making some decisions about us. What do you really think, Kilikina? Do you want more of a commitment from me?”

Christy always melted inside when Todd called her by her Hawaiian name. For a long time she had wished he would ask her this kind of question. But she hadn’t expected it. Not here. ...

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Multnomah Publishers (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590525876
• ISBN-13: 978-1590525876
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 1.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,380 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

You are warmly invited to visit Robin's website at www.robingunn.com. Be sure to sign up for the Robin's Nest Newsletter and have a browse in the Online Shop.

Over the past 25 years Robin has written 70 books with over 4 million copies sold.

She started writing for teens when the girls in her church youth group challenged her to write stories for them. It took 2 years and 10 rejections before the first Christy Miller novel was published in 1988. Since then the tales of these Forever Friends have continued. The Christy Miller series was followed by the Sierra Jensen series, Christy and Todd the College Years and the Katie Weldon series.

As Robin's readers grew older they asked for more stories about characters their age. The 8 book Glenbrooke series was launched followed by the Sisterchicks(R) series and a variety of standalone destination novels including "Under a Maui Moon" and "Canary Island Song".

Join Robin Jones Gunn on her facebook public figure page where she frequently posts updates on her latest travel or writing adventure.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best volume yet!, March 27, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Christy Miller Collection, Vol. 4: A Time to Cherish / Sweet Dreams / A Promise Is Forever (Books 10-12) (Hardcover)

This is my favorite volume of the young Christy Miller books. I cried over the last two so much. I love when Christy and Todd are together, they're so perfect for each other! I've read all of the Christy books, and all of them made me want a hero like Todd.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Christy Miller Collection, vol. 4, June 26, 2006

By 

J. Clements - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Christy Miller Collection, Vol. 4: A Time to Cherish / Sweet Dreams / A Promise Is Forever (Books 10-12) (Hardcover)

I love this series. Robin Jones Gunn fills each book with drama, adventure, romance, and mystery. Every time I get one of Gunn's books, I can't put it down. I would definitely reccomend this book and all her other books to any teen girl.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this! <3, May 17, 2011

By 

Sandi - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Christy Miller Collection, Vol. 4: A Time to Cherish / Sweet Dreams / A Promise Is Forever (Books 10-12) (Hardcover)

I have to say Robin Jones Gunn is probably one of my all-time favorite authors, her stories just capture my heart and I have to literally force myself to put the book down, I actually started out with the Sierra Jensen series and fell in love, it took me a little while to first get into the Christy Miller series because Christy annoyed me, but ah, pure delight!

I actually waited over a year for this book, and I FINALLY got it last weekend as a birthday gift, I had to force myself to make it last the three days that it did, this is probably one of the best books I have EVER read, all of the sweet moments with Todd, ah, it seriously made me want to cry! :)

Now I can't wait to get my hands on the Christy & Todd: The College Years collection!

Trust me, you'll LOVE this series, it's filled love, laughter, God, and it's pure delight.
The Sierra Jensen series is good too, and I highly recommend it as well! :)

These books have really helped me grow with Christ, and I'm very thankful to Robin Jones Gunn for publishing these books!