It Never Occurred to Her by Michelle Jester Blog Tour

About the Book

Book: It Never Occurred to Her

Author: Michelle Jester

Genre: Contemporary Religious Fiction, Women’s Religious Fiction, Contemporary Christian Fiction

Release date: November 28, 2021

For two years Gabriel has followed every lead, no matter how small, in the hope of finding his wife who has been kidnapped. He and the police always seem to be one step behind, until investigators give him information that helps him launch the plan to find her.

When Lena looks up into the eyes of her husband, who she hasn’t seen in two years, she is humiliated and wants nothing more than to run before he recognizes her. And so she does. It’s only when she faces a desperate situation that she is forced to return and ask for his help.

As fate twists its way through both of their lives, they realize it doesn’t matter how much they have prepared to face the realities of losing someone, or finding them again, redemption is in letting go of the past and finding a future just off the beaten path.

Click here to get your copy!

My Review

This is a heart wrenching novel centering on human trafficking. Parts of it were hard to read as it described quite clearly the horrible torture women received. Potential readers who have experienced sexual trauma should be aware of many trigger situations in the novel. While the scenes are not overly descriptive, they were still hard to read and it seemed like it was pages and pages.

The narrative includes back story so we see how women are taken into the trafficked situation and forced to remain there. That historical aspect is revealed in a timely fashion so we understand the present behavior of the trafficked women. The present narrative is a detailed exploration of the loving patience required to integrate previously trafficked women into a life free of sexual oppression. There are also so good theological explorations of trying to understand God's love after experiencing such horror.

One aspect of the novel that made it harder to read was the use of the present tense in the narrative. There were times when Jester mixed tense usage and that was a bit irritating. An example are these two sentences appearing in the same paragraph. “Then again, she thought...” “She walks along...” (746/4491)

This is a long book at nearly five hundred pages. I did feel there was too much description of the trafficked experiences. I would have liked better editing of the tense in the narrative.  Nonetheless, this is a good novel exploring the heartbreak of human trafficking, the love and patience required for healing, and the life changing power of the gospel.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author

Michelle Jester is the bestselling author of fiction novels, as well as contributing author to the nonfiction #1 bestseller, My Labor Pains Were Worse than Yours. She also writes nonfiction and children’s books. Michelle lives in Louisiana with her husband, high school sweetheart and retired Master Sergeant. She wears a bracelet with a single yellow, rubber duckie charm on it to remind her to enjoy the fun and happy things of life!

You can follow Michelle Jester:

http://michellejester.net

facebook: /authormichellejester

Instagram: @michellejester

TikTok: @michelle_jester

Twitter: @michelle_jester

More from Michelle

When I first started writing this novel, it was because of a dream I had. I woke in the middle of the night crying, sweating, and praising God. I immediately got up, went to my computer and started writing about the dream. I was weeping the entire time and barely able to see through my tears.

In the dream, I was homeless, alone, and had drifted from God. I was hungry and went into a food kitchen to eat. I was dirty, smelled terrible, and missed Larry so much, only I knew I could never go home. I had done too much and had too much done to me to ever make it back to him.

After the person in the food kitchen put the food on my plate, I looked up and it was my husband, Larry. I was humiliated and desperately didn’t want him to recognize me. I was about to leave when in the dream Larry’s face turned to Jesus and He said, “I have been looking for you.”

That dream became the cornerstone of this novel.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, August 11

Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, August 12 (Author Interview)

Debbie's Dusty Deliberations, August 12

Inklings and notions, August 13

For Him and My Family, August 14

Texas Book-aholic, August 15

Spoken from the Heart, August 16

deb's Book Review, August 16

Locks, Hooks and Books, August 17

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, August 18

Because I said so -- and other adventures in Parenting, August 19

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, August 20

Rebecca Tews, August 21

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, August 22

Blogging With Carol, August 23

Pause for Tales, August 24

 

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Celebrate Lit. My comments are an independent and honest review. The rest of the copy of this post was provided by Celebrate Lit.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)