Customer Reviews

She's Out of Control (Ashley Stockingdale Series #1)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is a fun romp for those Post-Modern Generation women who know who Jimmy Choo and Lilly Pulitzer are, and want screwball comedy served with a bit of spiritual encouragement for single career women.

Heroine Ashley is highly intelligent and completely neurotic, in a giggling and endearing way. She reacts to the trials in her life out of fear--the same fears that many single Christian women face today and can relate to. She battles the safety of "the familiar," the temptation to compromise, the pull of self-pity, the pit of unworthiness. Ashley's bounce-back attitude and child-like, rock-hard faith in God is both encouraging and challenging. I wrestled with her over her control issues with God, and was reminded of the many times I've done the same thing.

The characters in this book, versus "What a Girl Wants," seem more rich, varied and distinct. The sparks that fly when different characters interact are hilarious and keep the pace moving smartly.

Much of the humor is very modern, for those of us with secret vices of subscriptions to Star and People Magazine in addition to our stash of Cosmopolitans. It may not appeal as strongly to the entire spectrum of readers as to the twenty-something and thirty-something urbanites, but it still zaps with humor reminiscent of old comedy films.

The novel captures the social and business atmosphere of Silicon Valley with its unique multiethnic aroma and science-heavy population. However, in defense of my own engineer husband, they are not all as absent-minded as some of the Reasons. ;-)

In all, a turbulent and ticklish look at the angst of singleness for Christian working women. An entertaining read I highly recommend.

This Ashley Stockingdale novel was the beginning of my new found love with Christian Chick Lit. Be forewarned that if you begin this book you will not only not be able to put this particular book down, but you will forever be addicted to Christian Chick Lit. Kristin Billerbeck is such a wonderful author and I absolutely can not wait for her to write another book. It seems as if her pen doesn't move as fast as I wish it did! :) I am a college student and these books were such an encouragement in my dating and even personal relationship with God. This is a must read, as well as the rest of Billerbeck's books.

When we last met our intrepid heroine Ashley Wilkes Stockingdale, she chose Seth Greenwood as the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Fast forward nine months, and not much has changed in their relationship, despite her best efforts. Seth is just not the commitment-type of guy.

Not much has changed in their relationship since they became a couple - they still hang out on Sunday afternoons with the Reasons - a singles group from their church. Ash is ready for the next step.

When he tells her that he has a special present for her and wants to present it to her in front of all her friends, she figures he is finally ready for matrimony. Imagine her surprise when it turns to be a precocious and incontinent puppy (who will grow much larger than they anticipated), who she immediately names "Rhett."

Meanwhile, Ash has to fight the advances of an older boss who likes to flirt with her. Dr. Kevin, he other love interest from the first book re-enters her life and joins her bible study group. He thinks that her relationship with Seth is just a diversion. After all, he has now found Christ, and wants to share his life with Ash. And Arin is back from Costa Rica, wreaking havoc on Ash's nerves, as she figures with Arin back, Seth is bound to wander.

When Seth receives a new job offer to India, he expects Ash to drop everything and follow him. But she is not so sure of her heart anymore. And meanwhile, that darned dog is chewing up her Jimmy Choo's!

"She's Out of Control" is a delightful romp, and manages to do something really difficult - improve on the original. This time around, author Billerbeck allows Ashley's sarcasm and wit allows her to survive in her chaotic world. I'm looking forward to the last installment for Ashley's happily ever after.

a fabulous and fun read, that had me up late into the night with laughter, intrigue, and happy tears... the book that renewed my faith in quality inspirational fiction!

Ashley Stockingdale is back with more of her drama-queen antics (aka whining) in this sequel to What a Girl Wants.

Ashley has been dating her boyfriend for 9 months, and there seems no end in sight. He won't commit to anything long-term, and he starts to squirm whenever the subject comes up. Ashley apparently loves him and wants to get married, but he won't commit, and at the age of 31 she is feeling her biological clock ticking. Back and forth Ashley goes on the subject, she loves him, but should she just cut ties because there seems no chance of long-term commitment? Then an old boyfriend enters the picture -- he's handsome, caring, affectionate, basically too-good-to-be-true, and he wants more than friendship with Ashley. And in true drama-queen form, this complicates matters even worse. Combine Ashley's boyfriend issues with her work issues, family issues, and her best friends baby issues, and Ashley's life is sent spinning "out of control!"

Maybe it's because I'm younger than Ashley (she's 31 and I'm 22), maybe it's because she lives on a $150K salary and I don't, or maybe it's because her personality is just totally different from mine.....whatever the reason, I just can't "click" with her. She takes everything and really just over analyzes it, rehashes things over and over, and basically blows things out of proportion -- hence her 'drama-queen' nickname. In my mind, I tend to just sum this all up as "whining". She is also rather vain about her appearance...not her face or hair or things like that, but about her clothes. She is always wearing some big name brand, and she likes to mention it. (Amazingly, I actually think I've learned a valuable lesson from Ashley Stockingdale, and it is this: Since I've been reading about her, I've been alot more careful about what I say, I'm really trying to think before I speak, because I really don't want to come off sounding the way Ashley does.)

One last note: I do think Ashley has grown as a person a little bit since the first book, What a Girl Wants. In this second book her life does spin out of control (mostly from her own doing), but towards the end of the book she does get her priorities straightened out; although she is still a big-name clothes loving gal with that drama flair, and she probably always will be. I've already bought the third/last book in the series, With This Ring, I'm Confused, so it will be interesting to see if she keeps her priorities mostly straight or if she dramatically spins "out of control" again.

This little jewel of a book is the follow-up to "What A Girl Wants", the continuing adventures of Ashley Stockingdale as she deals with the men in her life, a new job, and her best friend's growing family. You'll love the characters and will appreciate the storyline which really shows Ashley's growth through this new stage in her life. The spiritual side of the book is skillfully woven through the book and is in no way heavey-handed; it's simply a part of Ashley's life and the reason for her growth and the ultimate happiness as she seeks to find steady ground and her place in the world. This book is a keeper!

This book annoyed me slightly because the girl is a complainer. I don't know if I just maybe didn't get the humor, was it supposed to be funny? I just thought it impractical that she was so insane about getting engaged after only dating 9 months!

I already posted a review of "What a Girl Wants" that covers most of my concerns about these books. This book was actually not too horibble and I probably enjoyed it more than the other two in the series. There were some funny parts to this book. I even felt bad when (SPOILER) Ashely got a dog instead of an engagement ring. Knowing engineers, I was not entirely happy with how they came off in this book or the other two. I wish that Ashley was not as "modern" and obsessed with expensive clothes and jewelry as she is. That would make her much more likable. Plus, really, what Christian girl in her right mind turns down a guy like Dr. Kevin? Really? None. This is the best book of the Ashley books, but not a good book.

I am a single, successful, intelligent, Christian woman and I should have liked this book, but I could not have been more disappointed (unless you count books 1 and 3 or this series). Please read books by Trish Perry, Erynn Mangum (SO GOOD!), Denise Hildreth, Noah's Ark by Judy Baer, Rachel Hauck and Dee Henderson instead.

I honestly don't believe this qualifies as a Christian book. It seems to be an afterthought to the main charcter's personality. (she does go to a Bible study). I read about 30 pages into the book & have no desire to pick it up again. Ashley's main hobby is shopping for designer clothes-nothing wrong with that I guess, but-ugh, could you buy her a personality to go with her Prada purse? If you like chick lit, try Erynn Mangum instead.

I recently discovered Christian chick-lit. I was psyched to find fiction that was witty, funny, and contemporary; however, when I encountered this book, I was severely disappointed.

Ashley is THAT girl - the one so obsessed with finding Mr. Right that she doesn't know which way is up. I've met plenty of them throughout my life and they're generally the girls I try to avoid. All I wanted to do was smack Ashley and scream "Grow up!" She's immature and shallow and definitely someone I would never want to meet. If we were at a party, she would be the girl I tried to avoid at all costs. And it's incredibly draining to read a book about a person like that.

Overall, there's nothing unique or surprising about this book. It's just another girl freaking out about being single and hunting men like they're rabbits. To be honest, I think it does a disservice to women who recognize that there's more to life. As a woman, I'm disappointed.