Million Dollar Dilemma: Love Me, Love My Dog #1 (Life, Faith & Getting It Right #7) (Steeple Hill Cafe) [Paperback]

Judy Baer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2005

- Judy Baer is the launch author of Steeple Hill Cafe.
- Judy is a two-time Rita Award finalist and winner of the Angel Award.
- Judy's sassy style of writing keeps the reader engaged to the last page.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When Cassia Carr's office mates take up a collection to buy a joint lottery ticket, Cassia, a Scripture-spouting pastor's daughter who hates gambling and would never dream of playing Lotto, ponies up five bucks, mistakenly thinking she is contributing to a present for a colleague's baby shower. When she and her co-workers actually win, our leading lady determines to give away her share—a staggering $20 million. Charitable organizations, and a few hucksters posing as such, queue up for her handouts, and Cassia must figure out where God would have her donate her ill-gotten gains. Meanwhile, there's the matter of Cassia's heart, as a trio of suitors vie for her affections. This subplot yields no surprises: Cassia falls for Adam, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who just happens to have fallen away from Christianity. Predictably, Adam finds his way back to the faith, and the two pair off happily. Although this is standard-formula Christian chick lit, Baer's reputation—bolstered by the popular novel The Whitney Chronicles—means that this new novel is likely to sell briskly, especially since the eponymous Whitney makes an appearance among its cast of supporting characters. (Sept.)
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Review

"The Whitney Chronicles is chick-lit fun for the Christian set -- and anyone else looking for a breezy, heartfelt read!" -- Kristin Billerbeck, bestselling author of What a Girl Wants

"Chick-lit readers will appreciate . . . a girl-friendly fantasy read . . . Quirky characters enliven the story . . . the results are genuinely enjoyable." -- Publishers Weekly on The Whitney Chronicles

"In The Whitney Chronicles, Judy Baer nailed the chick-lit voice and created a delightful, quirky cast of characters." -- Colleen Coble, bestselling author of the Rocky Harbor mystery series

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Steeple Hill (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373785488
• ISBN-13: 978-0373785483
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #484,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Judy was born and grew up on a farm on the prairies of North Dakota. An only child, she spent most of her days with imaginary people--either those she read about or those she made up in her head. Her most ambitious conjuring did not succeed, however. She kept a clean stall with fresh hay and oats for the horse she imagined would arrive. Unfortunately it didn't come, at least not until she was an adult. After she was unexpectedly given three horses, she bought even more and began raising foundation quarter horses.

She graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota with majors in English and education and a minor in religion. At the time, she was simply studying what interested her, but now realizes that she was educating herself for her future career as a Christian writer. Her first book was written with a toddler on her lap. Judy would type a few words and say "Now, Jennifer." He two year old daughter would hit the space bar so Judy could continue writing. It was't the fastest way to work but it was a very cozy time.

In 2001 Judy became a certified professional life coach. In 2008 Judy completed her Master's program. She studied in the areas of writing and coaching. Now certified in three coaching disciplines, Judy coaches primarily professional and aspiring writers. She is also a faculty advisor in the Department of Human Development at St. Mary's University in Minneapolis, MN. She is married, lives in Minnesota, has two daughters and three step children.

She is the author of more than 75 books. She grew up in rural North Dakota and has done many of the things her Hilltop characters experience.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Million Dollar Treasure!, September 8, 2005

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Million Dollar Dilemma: Love Me, Love My Dog #1 (Life, Faith & Getting It Right #7) (Steeple Hill Cafe) (Paperback)

Like most co-workers do when a collection is taken up for a baby shower, wedding, promotion or perhaps a birthday, Cassia Carr kicks in her obligatory five dollars and then goes back to what she was doing. But one collection Cassia donates to is different -- and she doesn't realize it. She's not contributing to just any cause; she's contributing to the lottery. And she and her colleagues win. Her portion of the windfall comes to just over $20 million. Not a bad day's work, you think?

Problem is Cassia is a P.K. (preacher's kid) who speaks in scripture verses and doesn't believe in gambling. She is horrified to think that she has $20 million in ill-gotten gains -- so she decides to give it away. The problem is, it's more difficult than one would think to give large amounts of lottery gains away.

But wait! One man (in a trio of would-be suitors) is more than willing to relieve Cassia of those disgusting greenbacks. Adam, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, has recently returned from a ravaged land and that fact, and Cassia, is preventing him from getting on with his life. He's interested in Cassia but doesn't want her to know that he's also interested in her money and the story of her money.

Adam has fallen away from his faith and just might find his way back if he opens his heart and listens to it and God.

For fans of the Whitney Chronicles there is a couple of interesting cameo appearances in Million Dollar Dilemma.

I so enjoy Judy Baer's 'chick-lit' Christian fiction. It's a fun romp through life that provides each of us with thought-provoking situations. I giggled my way through The Whitney Chronicles. In this book I started laughing on page 24 and didn't ever quit.

Armchair Interviews says: Million Dollar Dilemma is a million-dollar treasure you must read! And give a wonderful gift to a friend.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Money (That's NOT what i want), April 4, 2007

By 

Deborah "Books, Movies and Chinese Food" (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Million Dollar Dilemma: Love Me, Love My Dog #1 (Life, Faith & Getting It Right #7) (Steeple Hill Cafe) (Paperback)

Cassia has always lived a life of frugality. She's learned to live cheaply and not worldly. In fact, money is the last thing on her mind. So it's a shock for her when she finds out that what she thought was a $5 donation for an office present is really her share in a multimillion dollar jackpot lottery ticket. Now she's being bombarded by everyone, those who want her money, to give her advice, even those she barely knows. Plus now she has 2 guys are who are vying for her attention. Cassia wants nothing to do with the money, but it's everywhere she goes. Money's not just the root of all evil, it also makes a normal life practically impossible!

Ok, who hasn't dreamed about winning the lottery? Everyone, no matter what they believe in, has had thoughts about what they would do if they were given a million dollars. How they spend the money may differ, but I'm sure that even the most practical person has some plans for its use. And that is why I found Cassia to be a very unreal character. Frankly she annoyed me quite a bit. I don't mind that she didn't want the money. I just found it annoying the way she kept complaining that she didn't want anything to do with the money, and then she's worried about having to pay rent. She brought up wanting to go back to college but not being able to because she didn't have money. Ok, now she has money but she won't do it because she doesn't want to touch the money. I don't understand why Cassia couldn't save just a little for her future and then give the rest away. She kept acting like it was tainted and evil. I also didn't really like that she kept throwing around Bible verses in normal conversation. If she was my coworker, I would have thought she was either showing off. There's nothing wrong with studying Scripture, but when it's quoted out of context, it's weird. I didn't really feel her relationship with Adam had much chemistry. I liked him, he was a good guy, I just didn't feel that they clicked. I did like Cassia's final decision about what to do with her winnings.

I personally enjoyed The Whitney Chronicles a lot more than this book. Maybe it's because I could relate to the main character in that book as opposed to this one. This book was a light read, but I would recommended TWC or Norah's Ark to a first time Judy Baer reader.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Could have been better, May 15, 2009

By 

Jennifer Dieleman "book worm" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Million Dollar Dilemma (Love, Faith & Getting It Right #7) (Steeple Hill Cafe) (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a HUGE fan of Judy Bear. I find her books encouraging and enjoyable. But, this story fell short of her normal storyline. This books starts out well enough, it starts with Cassia a young woman who is trying to find her way in life. When she accidently wins the lottery she is completely shocked. Thus begins a different kind of story with a weird twist. I was surprised at how quickly the story picked up its pace. A quarter into the book she had already won the lottery. The scenes with Adam are quite funny and managed to crack me up several times while reading the story. The part that I didn't like was the fact that Cassia and Adam had almost zero chemistry. They spent time at each others houses but that's about it. Then when Cassia gets angry with Adam, she is able to replace him in her own mind quite quickly. I found that rather odd. Overall this story did not live up to my expectations at all. I am hoping the next story I read by this amazing author will be better then this one was.