Stronger than the Storm - Deena Adams

 

Book Stats:

Genre: Christian Women's Fiction                               Publication Date: 28 April 2026

Series:  The Holbrook Family, Book 1                        Pages: 390

My Review: 

   I knew going into this one it might be a little rough, because it begins with trigger warnings. In all honesty I completely appreciate when a book warns me about what might be coming so I can mentally be prepared. I am praising the Lord I was not triggered, but I am not sure this was the right book for me in this period of my life. I am dealing with the loss of a loved one, which has nothing to do with the book, but that grief has made books which are heavy and more realistic harder for me to read right now. As a result, I struggled to relate to the characters; in fact, they were annoying me for probably about two thirds of this book. Again, I think part of that is my head space and has nothing to do with the book itself. 

However, I absolutely loved the faith content in this book. I also adored the fact that we got to experience the life of a married couple and their family. By the end of the book, I did begin to like the characters a bit more, and I do love how we could see God's hand working on them and through their lives throughout the book. It was written well and I cruised through the book despite the hard topics, so the pacing was good. 

Overall, this book was good, and a three-star book for me. 

Quote Time: 

This quote was one I highlighted as I was reading: 

"God's not some angry cosmic deity in the sky waiting for His children to mess up so He can pounce on them. Jesus paid for our unrighteous actions, so we don't have to. The Lord loves you, Beth. Just like He loves Leesa and Kevin, despite their hurtful choices."

It was a great reminder of God's love and how that overcomes the poor choices we can make as part of being sinful humans who have free will.  

I want to thank the author and publisher for a copy of this book to read, with no expectations of a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Meet the Author: 

As a Jesus girl for more than thirty years, Deena Adams understands how important hope is to daily life, which fuels her passion to inspire others through hope-filled fiction based on true to life stories. 

She is a Certified Mental Health Coach, a multi-award-winning author, an active ACFW member, founder of the Marathon online writers group, and a six-year ACFW Virginia board member. 

Deena lives with her husband near the coast in beautiful Virginia. When she's not writing, reading, or serving in her church, you'll find her hanging out with family and friends, playing board games, and doting on her seven grandchildren. 

More from Deena: 

  Crafting a novel from authentic life experiences is a challenging task, but it's one I sensed God's call to undertake. If the Lord can encourage those facing heartbreaking situations through my struggles as the mother of a prodigal twenty years ago, I'm all in. 

Growing up, I tried my hardest to please my parents and teachers, but I always felt I didn't measure up. As a Type A person, I'm sure that mindset was my doing, not theirs.  

Fast forward to my season as a young mom, and my insecurities ramped up even more. When I became a Christian in my late twenties, I already had three small children and longed to be the world's best mother and do everything right. I saw my kids' mistakes as an indictment of my parenting abilities, leading me to believe myself a failure and to try harder to succeed.  

With that attitude, you can imagine how I reacted when our teenage daughter ran away from home and returned pregnant-especially since my husband is the pastor of our church. Let's just say it wasn't pretty. 

The emotional upheaval I endured while watching our child make one poor decision after another revealed my many shortcomings. Among the important lessons God taught me was what a shallow person I'd been and how much I wanted others' respect and for them to find me acceptable-no, exceptional. Sadly, I was at a place in life where other people's opinion seemed to carry more weight than my children's feelings, but I was blind to my faults. 

As I walked through the deep valley with a prodigal, God, in His great mercy, opened my eyes and showed me the truth about myself. 

My journey of healing and restoration with our daughter was the catalyst for my debut novel, Stronger than the Storm. I pray that the challenging themes I address will uplift those going through extreme difficulty and that the embedded truths inspire hope in Jesus. 

In my book, the Holbrook's crisis begins as ours did, with a teen runaway getting pregnant by a guy she barely knew. I incorporated some factual events from our lives and drew many of the characters' raw emotions from personal history. Although I gave Beth Holbrook, the mother in the story, a few of my personality traits, including the passion to be a supermom and failing miserably, the bulk of this family's journey is fictional. 

My experience as an adult daughter inspired the revelation of a long-kept secret in the latter part of the book. To avoid spoilers, I'll simply state that nothing prepares anyone for such devastating news. 

Yet, amid turmoil and unexpected aversity, God is still on the throne and has a perfect plan for our good and His glory. When we surrender everything to Him, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus through life's storms, we can gain true peace and cling to the truth that God is stronger than anything we face. 

In Stronger than the Storm, the Holbrook family must come to this understanding as well. As you read the book, I trust that this family's journey, and mind, will provide you with encouragement and hope. 

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28 (NLT)

 

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Deena is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card and a paperback copy of the book!

Commenting on the different blog stops earns you extra entries into the giveaway! 

Enter Here

Blog Stops

This book is on tour with Celebrate Lit so I encourage you to blog hop to see what others have to say about this book. 

Simple Harvest Reads

Artistic Nobody

Guild Master

Inspired by Fiction

Debbie's Dusty Deliberations

Fiction Book Lover

Tell Tale Book Reviews

Blossoms and Blessings

Texas Book-aholic

Stories by Gina

Jodie Wolfe - Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet

Happily Managing a Household of Boys

Books, Books, & More Books

For Him and My Family

Blogging with Carol

I want to thank you for taking the time to read my words and I hope you enjoy reading, and hearing about books as much as I do. 

I pray you have a blessed day!

Sincerely, 

Melanie