Shades of Blue [Paperback]

Karen Kingsbury (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 2009

In between a checkered past and a fairytale future, a decision awaits. Brad Cutler, twenty-eight, is a rising star at his New York ad agency, about to marry the girl of his dreams. Anyone would agree he has it all---a great career, a beautiful and loving fiancee, and a fairy tale life ahead of him ... when memories of a high school girlfriend begin to torment him. Lost innocence and one very difficult choice flood his conscience, and he is no longer sure what the future will bring except for this: He must go back to the shores of Holden Beach in search of his first love, and a forgiveness neither of them has ever known. Three people must work through the repercussions of a decision made long ago before any of them can look toward a new future.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author of more than 40 bestselling fiction titles whose combined sales hover near 15 million, Kingsbury takes her loyal faith-based fans on an exploration of the emotional and spiritual effects of abortion. Interestingly, the author frames the story through a young adult male character, Brad Cutler, an up-and-coming ad agency executive; he revisits a former relationship in which he encouraged his pregnant girlfriend to have an abortion. Years later, Brad continues to feel guilty, and as he readies to marry his fiancée, a new ad campaign for baby clothes has immobilized him. Emma, the former girlfriend, also cannot move past what happened. As the pressure mounts, Brad travels home and reunites with Emma to find closure, but what he discovers in the encounter is far more different than he hoped or expected. Kingsbury tackles a touchy, difficult topic, yet in her characteristic style, her gentle approach wins the day. It will also overcome any reader resistance, no matter what position one takes on this volatile issue. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

The author of more than 40 bestselling fiction titles whose combined sales hover near 15 million, Kingsbury takes her loyal faith-based fans on an exploration of the emotional and spiritual effects of abortion. Interestingly, the author frames the story through a young adult male character, Brad Cutler, an up-and-coming ad agency executive; he revisits a former relationship in which he encouraged his pregnant girlfriend to have an abortion. Years later, Brad continues to feel guilty, and as he readies to marry his fiancee, a new ad campaign for baby clothes has immobilized him. Emma, the former girlfriend, also cannot move past what happened. As the pressure mounts, Brad travels home and reunites with Emma to find closure, but what he discovers in the encounter is far more different than he hoped or expected. Kingsbury tackles a touchy, difficult topic, yet in her characteristic style, her gentle approach wins the day. It will also overcome any reader resistance, no matter what position one takes on this volatile issue. (Nov.) -- Publisher's Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan; 2 edition (October 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031026622X
• ISBN-13: 978-0310266228
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury is America's #1 inspirational novelist. There are nearly 20 million copies of her award-winning books in print, including several million copies sold in the past year. Karen has written more than 50 novels, ten of which have hit #1 on national lists.

Karen's newest novel, Unlocked, released Oct. 12 and has stayed in Amazon's top fifty for the past few weeks. Unlocked debuted at No. 3 on the New York Times Bestsellers list. Another recent and popular title of Karen's is Shades of Blue - the story of a 28-year-old ad executive who is six weeks away from marrying the girl he loves. But as he prepares for his wedding, something brings up his past girlfriend - a girl he dated in high school. He realizes he can't go forward and say, "I do," until he goes back to Holden Beach, finds the girl he loved back then, and tell her he's sorry.

Karen's novel Like Dandelion Dust is the subject of a major motion picture currently in theaters. Like Dandelion Dust stars Academy Award winning Mira Sorvino and Barry Pepper, along with Cole Hauser and Maxwell Perry Cotton. The film has received more than 30 awards in the Film Festival Circuit including numerous Best Picture awards. Several of Karen's books are currently under theatrical development.

Karen's most recent series - the Above the Line Series, which began with Take One, in March, 2009 and wrapped up in June, 2010 with Take Four. The series is about two producers looking to change the world with the power of film. The Above the Line series also includes Karen's popular characters from the fictitious Baxter Family. The Baxters were first introduced to readers through the five-book Redemption series, and then the five-book Firstborn series, and finally the four-book Sunrise series.

Dubbed by Time Magazine as the Queen of Christian Fiction, Karen has also been a featured guest on the Today Show, Fox News, USA Today, and numerous other television programs and magazines. Her fiction has made her one of the country's favorite storytellers. Others of her emotionally gripping titles include the 9-11 Series, Even Now, Ever After, and Between Sundays.

Karen is also a public speaker, reaching more than 100,000 women annually through various national events. Karen and her husband, Don, live in the Pacific Northwest with their six children, three of whom are adopted from Haiti.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, October 20, 2009

By 

LMS "Book worm" (WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Shades of Blue (Paperback)

(What's this?)

I love to read. I like books of all stripes. There is not one particular genre that I favor. I just love the written word. I love reading Christian fiction and Karen Kingsbury has long been one of my favorite authors. Her stories are real. She is not afraid to deal with difficult issues like depression, drunk driving, cancer and addiction. The characters in her books could be real people. They have real and complex problems. For the most part, Karen refrains from offering pat answers and easy solutions.

This novel tells the story of Emma, Brad, and Laura. Brad and Emma were in a relationship 10 years ago, and Laura is Brad's fiancee. Brad comes to realize that he has a lot of unresolved issues with Emma and can't move forward in his life with Laura until they are resolved.

The people in this novel suffer deeply and are hurting. They all react differently to the situation. Ultimately, this is a book about forgiveness, redemption, and healing. But those things do not come easily. All 3 characters are surprised at how the story turns out. Karen Kingsbury's books have a way of grabbing your heart and refuse to let go until the last page is turned. I read this book in one sitting. I just couldn't wait to find out how the story would end. Her stories are well-written with engaging, realistic characters.

If I have one complaint about Kingbury's writing it is this: A lot of the time, I think things end up resolved a little too neatly at the end of her books. This book is no exception. I just don't think it's possible for such profound pain, anger, and shame to be faced and processed in a single weekend. Real life doesn't work that way. Healing and restoration take time. Can God heal completely in a single weekend? Absolutely! He is all powerful and can do anything! But I have found that often, healing is not that quick. I have come to realize that healing is a process, not an event. It's kind of like peeling an onion. The layers might be thin, but there are a lot of them. God brings healing one layer at a time.

But that said, this is a truly wonderful book. I highly recommend it and others by Karen Kingsbury. I especially recommend "The Redemption Series" by this author. This book is a thoroughly enjoyable read. I think that it also has the potential to be life-changing. I know my life has been changed by her books.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, December 26, 2009

By 

Jennifer Arrington "trusting for tomorrow" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shades of Blue (Paperback)

I usually love Karen Kingsbury's stand-alone books, and that is why I was so excited to read her latest book. With beautiful stories such as A Thousand Tomorrows and Between Sundays, I couldn't wait for my copy of Shades of Blue! The book deals with the abortion issue very sympathetically, and I applaud her treatment thereof. However, the book itself was a disappointment -more so because I actually bought it as opposed to getting it from the library. Other than the crisis issue - Brad coming home to apologize to Emma for their mistakes of a decade ago - everything else was too neat and tidy. Brad's parents are loving and understanding, Laura's parents are loving and understanding, Laura (after her initial shock) is loving and understanding, Brad's counselor is available (for free!) and loving and understanding. Who in life could possibly receive so much support? That would be more than ideal, but I suspect that the majority of readers could only dream of such a supportive scenario. And, as a Christian book, I think this depiction makes the book flawed. Yes, God often uses the encouragement and support of others to get us through difficulties, but how many times do we find ourselves in situations where people fail us and God is truly our ONLY Counselor and Confidant? I will continue to read Karen's books, but I'll make sure that the next one is from the library!

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Shades of Dullness, February 16, 2010

By 

Julie (NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Shades of Blue (Paperback)

(What's this?)

This is my first Karen Kingsbury book, and it might well be my last. I'm usually not a negative person, though you might not know it to read some of my reviews. This book was downright unbelievable in many regards. I am a Christian, and I do believe in the basic premise she was promoting in the book. Several things irked me (spoilers ahead)...

1. The characters are flat - Brad is Mr. Wonderful, handsome, charming, successful; Laura is Ms. Reese Witherspoon lookalike, Christian Bible study princess; Emma is Ms. gorgeous, alluring, untouchable, teacher lady; Gavin is low-key Mr. super-Christian who will go out of his way to befriend the lonely teacher lady; Mom and Pop James are rich doting parents who totally support the young princess and spared no expense on her wedding

2. The story's not realistic - Brad and Emma grow up together, date in high school, become sexually active soon after he graduates high school, she ends up pregnant; things get weird b/t them; he takes her an abortion clinic and even pays for the procedure. Her mom dies soon after; he shows up for funeral then leaves her life for 9 years. Why does he return? Because he's about to get married and now he's feeling guilty and needs to apologize in person; Brad returns; Emma who pretty much gave up on God is swept up again by Brad but this time she finds her way back to God and peace. Did I mention, her miraculous heart-healing took place in the space of 3 days? Let me run that by you again - 9 years of running from her pain; 3 days - boom, heart on the way to healing. I'm not saying a miracle couldn't happen, but I highly doubt having the guy who abandoned her so soon after 2 traumatic life experiences would send her sailing down the river of peace. And another thing, Laura's supposed to be Ms. SuperChristian and all we get to see her do is pine over Brad, attend Bible study, and go to a play. Maybe I'm just used to books where the heroine actually does something. For that matter, all we see Brad do is pine after Laura, hold Emma, apologize, and cry. Oy, where's Dee Henderson when you need her?

3. Did we ever find out the name of Randy James's company?

4. Preaching to the choir - I almost feel sorry for anyone who is not a Christian who happens to pick up the book and think that Christians might actually be like this. We're not! Promise. This is equivalent to using a fire hose to blow out a birthday candle.

5. I'm having doubts the author has ever stepped foot in an elementary school. Each time we see these darling children, they're quietly doing their work that "teacher" asked them to. Not saying kids can't be good, but every time?

Get it from a library if you must read it. Some will actually like it, obviously, judging by the reviews. But you might just regret dropping money on it.