Sweet Bye-Bye

From Booklist
Chantell has deceived herself into believing happiness comes from material possessions, job perks, and a poster-perfect fiance. Yet, with all the trappings of success, she is still unsatisfied. Her quest for happiness leads her to attend church and seek professional therapy. After losing three important people early in her life, Chantell learned to suppress her emotions. First, her mother died when she was five, then her grandmother passed, and during junior high school her best friend, Keith Talbit, left town. So, when her father has a heart attack, she is again confronted with painful thoughts of losing another loved one. Then Keith reenters her life and causes her more uncertainty. Overwhelmed with nostalgia but unable to reciprocate his expressions of love, Chantell realizes she will have to let go of her shallow past by confronting her father about her mother and look to the future by acknowledging her feelings for Keith. Good characterizations and a compelling plot make this a fine read. Lillian Lewis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


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Chantell Meyers figures she's got her life together. After all, she's envied for her successful, high-paying executive job; spending all the money and wearing all the clothes she could ever want; and a just-too-perfect fiance, Eric. Sure, she'd be the first to admit she's never really at peace with herself. And she knows it's been way too long since she set foot in church -- or thought much about her relationship with God. But Chantell learned long ago, when her beloved mother died, that if you can't forget your pain, the very next best thing to do is to hide it. Little by little, she has started to believe that looking and living good counts more -- and hurts a lot less -- than being real. Then suddenly her father has a near-fatal heart attack -- and Chantell gets a major reality check. She promises God she will try to be a better person if her father pulls through. Yet it isn't long before her good intentions begin unraveling her "good life" in the worst way. Before she knows it, she's facing big-time betrayal in her personal life and a major meltdown at work. And when Keith Talbit, a childhood acquaintance, unexpectedly comes back into her life, she finds herself looking longingly at a successful, good-looking Christian man secure in himself and his walk -- just the kind of man she's sure she's not worthy to love. Reeling from mega-drama and more bad news, this dedicated shopper must now look to God -- and back into her past -- to find out how she wants to spend the rest of her life. It will take everything she didn't think she had to put her life in God's hands ... and truly "have it all."


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