Customer Reviews

Mirror, Mirror (Fairy-Tale Series #1) (Love Inspired #399)

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Judy Baer's "Mirror, Mirror" is a charming story of a woman's love of children and teaching, and her desire to be a good example to others. Quinn is a tutor to disabled children who works part time as a model to pay the bills. Her roommate is a full-time model, and her friend, Pete is a photographer. So, the reader is exposed to obsession about outward appearance from all angles. When Quinn takes a job tutoring Ben, a boy with juvenile arthritis whose Dad is still grieving his Mother's death, her fairly stable life turns upside down. Falling in love tends to do that to a girl - especially when the object of her affection can't return her feelings because he can't let go of the past. She is also struggling with the decision of whether or not to take a job hosting a television show that features inner and outer makeovers for the contestants. Is the show a sham? Or can Quinn creatively share her faith in Jesus to really make a difference in these people who want to change?

This book came at a time when I didn't feel so pretty, and helped open my eyes to what real beauty is. Thanks, Judy.

How many of us have really thought about reality television programs (especially the make-over ones) and considered how they can steal confidence, cloud perspective and send the message that if you're not perfect, you're not worthy.

Quinn Hunter is a beautiful woman who loves God. She's a part-time model and tutor to special needs children. Her dream is to be able to teach full time. If she accepts the position of Host on a new reality make-over television program, she just might be able to fund her teaching dream and help her dear friend Maggie (who is a model with some serious self-esteem issues) at the same time.

Jack Harmon is the (hunky) widowed father of Quinn's newest student, Ben. Ben needs tutoring because he's afflicted with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis and is not always well enough to be in school. Ben's a wise young man who mourns the loss of his mother and wants his father to be happy. But Jack is stuck in the past, unable and unwilling to move forward following the death of his beloved wife.

Quinn helps Jack and Ben step back into the real world, and they help her understand that all things are possible with God. The problem is that Quinn is falling for Jack. Can he overcome his loss and see the happiness God wants for him?

Mirror, Mirror is just what the doctor ordered. It's a fun, fast-paced novel with a subtle and important message. The characters are inviting, the plot is intriguing and timely and the animals (greyhounds in this novel) Judy incorporates into her stories are the 'added touch of comfort and cozy' in an already wonderful read.

Note: My beloved granddaughter, Caroline was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis before her second birthday. It's not a well-know childhood disease, but it is serious and debilitating. My appreciation to Judy for bringing this killer of dreams disease to the attention of her readers.

Armchair Interviews says: Highly recommended.

Mirror, Mirror, by Judy Baer (Available Now from Steeple Hill)
Reviewed by: Kelly Kirch

Mirror, Mirror is a powerful, faith affirming love-story about God's healing power. Ms. Baer weaves a charming tale of faith, hope, and love which encompasses not one but three lives and delivers the happily ever after her fans crave.

Quinn Hunter, has a gift for tutoring children with chronic illnesses. The catch is her modeling side-job which serves to pay the bills while allowing her to follow her chosen path with the children who need her most. Now trapped between her belief that all God's children are beautiful, she must decide if she should take a dream job on a makeover reality show or risk loosing the added income which would allow her to open a special school for the children she adores.

And who needs her more than her best friends Pete, who desperately tries to win back the love of his life, or Maggie another model crippled by her inability to see past the external beauty God has given her? Widower Jack Harmon.

Jack has dedicated his life to finding and supporting charitable causes for children. After his wife's death two years past, he has been unable to move on. The fact that his own ten year old son suffers from Juvenile Arthritis only makes Jack try harder to be both parents for the heroic child he loves. But will he make room for Quinn, the woman who not only reaches his son but touches his heart in a way he hadn't expected?

The metaphor for this book is truly a butterfly's chrysalis, offering up the perceived insurmountable stumbling blocks of each perfectly sculpted character. In turn the reader is rewarded with the symbolic struggle to break free under the tender hand of God's care only to emerge as beautiful successes of the Creator's hand.

Fans of Ms. Baer's inspirational romances will rejoice at the added bonus of three happy endings for the price of one. This is a must read.

My mom and I both thought this was one of the WORST books we have ever read.

I had previously posted a lengthy review on this book, but for some reason, it was deleted. Hmmm.

I like to refer to the Love Inpsired line as Love Insipid as most of the scores of books that are churned out each month are pure tripe. There have been few exceptions and this was definitely NOT one of them.

This book was three lousy romances rolled into one.

First, there is Quinn and Jack. Quinn Hunter (who looks like Heidi Klum and has the spirit of Mother Teresa) is just too perfect in every way, which is why a reality show about inner beauty with her as the hostess would never work. Yeah, it's easy for you to say inner beauty is all that really matters, even though you look like Heidi Klum.

As for Jack, he was just a colossal bore who all he did was deify his dead wife (doesn't it say in the Ten Commandments something about idolatry?). When he proposes to Quinn at the end (or was it his young son who did that, I can't remember--all I remember was that I expecting more, but that's when it ended and I was like, what the hel* just happened?). He and Quinn had absolutely NO chemistry whatsoever.

Then there's the character of Maggie, who I absolutely hated. She was a total self-absorbed pig. I think it's hilarious she was dating a man named Randy (of all names to choose for a Christian romance novel, Ms. Baer chose randy--if you're wondering what I mean, look it up in the dictionary. My bet is that Ms. Baer doesn't even know.)

When Maggie falls in love with a less than handsome man, she acts like she just can't believe it, I guess, because she's just so dam* beautiful.

So, you have Quinn, who is beautiful but is so humble about it, it makes you want to puke, and Maggie, who is also beautiful (so the book says), who is so obsessed with herself, always going on about how fat or unattractive she is, which also makes you want to puke. Too bad I can't upchuck this whole book right of my head.

There was another romance with Maggie and Quinn's friend Pete, but it sucked royally, just like all the others.

Ms. Baer had three main characters, but only wrote from Quinn's point-of-view. If she wanted to tell three different love stories to "pad out" the lackluster romance between the supposedly main characters, she should have told them from Quinn, Maggie and Pete's point-of-view. Perhaps if she had, then it wouldn't have been so goshawful.

I thought Jillian Hart's books were bad, but at least they had a plot.

I have found many of the synopses on the back extremely well-written, not to mention misleading.

Here is a snippet of what it says on the back of this book: But he [speaking of Jack Harmon] and his little boy are teaching her more about beauty--and reality--than any TV show ever would!

What DID they teach her?

I don't think the people who write these summaries (or design the covers) even read the book. These kinds of books are churned out as fast as those made-for-TV movies, which are just as vapid.

This was my first Steeple Hill Cafe novel, and though it isn't my last, it is my last by ANY book written by this woman.