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Grace Unexpected [Kindle Edition]

Gale Martin
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)

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Print List Price: $14.95
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Book Description

This contemporary romantic comedy features thirty-something Grace Savage, who has slogged through crummy jobs and dead-end relationships with men who would rather go bald than say "I do". In search of respite from her job, her mother, her humdrum life, she visits Shaker Village in New Hampshire. Instead of renewal, she's unnerved to learn that Shaker men and women lived and worked side by side in complete celibacy.

When her longtime boyfriend dumps her instead of proposing, Grace avows the sexless Shaker ways. Resolved to stick to her new plan - dubbed the Shaker Plan - despite ovaries ticking like time bombs, she returns to her life in Pennsylvania. Almost immediately, she's juggling two eligible bachelors: Addison, a young beat reporter; and True, a venerable anthropology professor. Both men have ample charms and soul mate potential to test her newfound Shaker-style self-control, and Grace appears to be on the fast track to a marriage proposal... until secrets revealed deliver a death rattle to the Shaker Plan.


Editorial Reviews

Review

"Martin delivers an engaging plot, with witty banter, comedic elements that border on farce and cleverly titled chapters . . . its ending contains a welcome twist. An entertaining light read." -- Kirkus Reviews

"This is Gale Martin's second novel and I can't wait to see what she does next. Not many authors can be intelligent, witty and funny with such ease. Five and of five huge stars." -- Book Evolution

"I absolutely LOVED Gale Martin's 'Grace Unexpected' and recommend it to anyone who loves chick lit." -- Endless Days of Literary Ecstacy

"GRACE UNEXPECTED is chick-lit at its finest. Wit, drama and surprise fill every page. A 5-star read. 273 pages of fun!" -- Literary R&R

From the Author

"I like characters who aren't perfect, who are flawed. They don't all have to be uncommonly quirky, though selected ones are in each book I write because most people have no idea how funny and quirky they are in real life. But if my characters are smart or intellectual, then they have to lack common sense or be dorky in some other way. If they are beautiful, they have to be clumsy, that sort of thing. Subconsciously, I always feel in competition with characters I read in fiction and I'm a sore loser. I guess I just figured my readers don't want to stack up against a character and measure themselves sorely lacking either." -- Gale Martin

Product Details

  • File Size: 626 KB
  • Print Length: 273 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1935961616
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
  • Publisher: Booktrope Editions (July 13, 2012)
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B008LE4CMY
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Lending: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #150,675 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

It's very interesting and witty with well developed characters. MH Johnston  |  13 reviewers made a similar statement
This book is an easy read. D L Skampers  |  6 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Fiesty Female Heorine August 12, 2012
Format:Paperback
If you've ever been let down by modern love, then you will relate to the sardonic protagonist of this novel, Grace. She's caught in the age old dilemma of a boyfriend who doesn't appreciate her and several strangers who might have lots of potential. Does she choose the good guy or the one who makes her goods melt? You will be turning the pages to find out the answer. A nice cast of supporting characters, and the unexpected details of the Shaker community add extra color to this romantic comedy.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing September 9, 2012
By SusanCH
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Disappointed, it was easy to guess the plot. The writing seemed to get lost in places and just pick up the story any where. It was listed under christian fiction, but I would say that is incorrect.
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
If you've read Gale Martin's debut novel Don Juan in Hankey, PA then you know that Gale knows how to bring well drawn characters to life who are fun, funny, and feisty and she's done it again with her newest novel, Grace Unexpected. Grace Savage, the book's title character, bears a lot of similarities to Don Juan's main female character - Deanna Lundquist - in that they both face the challenge of being strong and independent single women (Deanna is divorced whereas Grace has never married but that matters not) who are very capable of standing on their own two feet without needing any male support but who would love to have the right male support come along.

When Grace gets dumped on her birthday through a shower curtain in her own home by Christian, the guy she thought for sure would be giving her an engagement ring instead, the fun really begins in a book that starts out in one of the most unlikely places for a romance - the Shaker Village in Canterbury, New Hampshire. On a short vacation, Grace and her very-pregnant sister-in-law Rae Ann take a tour of the former home of a religious group that lived separate but equal lives and performed wonders through the joys of celibacy - an idea that Grace totally scoffs at but soon finds herself adopting as "The Shaker Plan" while she attempts to embrace her own life of celibacy leading to all sorts of unexpected and madcap escapades.

This book will literally have you laughing out loud (and I don't mean that LOL computer-speak stuff but actual laughing out loud that makes the people around you wonder what is so funny) as Gale brings together a group of characters who could be people that you know in your own life from the sneaky Lacy who wants to submarine Grace and take over her job as well as her assistant Goody at the university where Grace works to Len, the university President with a penchant for quoting Shakespeare and asking, "Are we having fun yet?"

A wonderful rainy afternoon or sunny beach day book, if you read "Grace Unexpected" you'll soon find that the answer to Len's question will be "Yes, yes we are!"
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Story
I like the style of writing used and the characters involved. Easy to picture the events taking place in the chapters.
Published 24 days ago by dolly
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, fast-paced Chick Lit read
For readers who enjoy romance/chick lit with more than a dash of brains and humor, this book will be right up your alley. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Grace T. Downs
4.0 out of 5 stars fine for train ride
It held my attention for a cross country train ride, but I can't remember anything exceptional about it. It was fine, I guess.
Published 1 month ago by Encie
3.0 out of 5 stars Dull
Did not think anything about this book was very good. The characters had no depth, plot was boring, and lacked any redeeming qualities.
Published 1 month ago by Carolyn Jean Watson
5.0 out of 5 stars Such a great read!!!
I received a copy of GRACE UNEXPECTED by Gale Martin in exchange for an honest review.

In a cleverly plotted romantic comedy, GRACE UNEXPECTED features thirty-something... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Sara Palacios
1.0 out of 5 stars Didn't finish it
So bad at the start that I couldn't get past the first couple of chapters. Really, really sad and boring.
Published 3 months ago by Heather
3.0 out of 5 stars Snappy entertaining read
When I first started reading Grace Unexpected I have to admit I wasn't thrilled - religion and celibacy are not usually what readers look for in a book and it started kind of slow. Read more
Published 3 months ago by BestChickLit.com
4.0 out of 5 stars boy are YOU in for a surprise
After years of Grace being unhappy with her never ending jobs and boyfriends she has got a plan. Granted a stolen plan, but a plan never the less. She calls it the Shaker plan. Read more
Published 3 months ago by N. Whiffen
2.0 out of 5 stars Rushed
*Possible spoiler alerts* More like 2.5 stars...Not sure why this book got such high reviews. There's not much graceful about Grace, she comes across as brash a lot of the times,... Read more
Published 3 months ago by ips6298
4.0 out of 5 stars Fine!
Actually, I expected more from this book after reading "Don Juan in Hankey, PA" . So I was a bit disappointed at first. But then I liked it. The book is fun and it's funny. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Gina
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More About the Author

Website: http://galemartin.me
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Gale_Martin (@Gale_Martin)
Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/GaleMartinAuthor
Email: galemartin.writer@gmail.com

Gale Martin is an award-winning writer of contemporary fiction who plied her childhood penchant for telling tall tales into a legitimate literary pursuit once she hit midlife. She began writing her first novel at age eleven, finishing it three and a half decades later.

Her first novel, DON JUAN IN HANKEY, PA, is a humorous homage to Don Giovanni, Mozart's famous tragicomic opera about the last two days of Don Juan's life. It was named a Finalist in the 2012 National Indie Excellence Awards for New Fiction. Her second novel GRACE UNEXPECTED is wryly witty women's fiction featuring Grace Savage, a 30-something protagonist with a heart of gold, wrapped in lead.

Gale would commit a misdemeanor to score some Babybel cheese and goes weak-kneed for hummingbirds. She is a wife and mother of one and a communications director by profession.

She blogs about opera--the art form, not the platform and is an opera reviewer for Bachtrack, an online site featuring classical performance worldwide. She can name any aria in three notes. Okay, five notes, perfectly sung, with full orchestration.

She has a master of arts in creative writing from Wilkes University. She lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which serves as a rich source of inspiration for her writing.

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