Between Sundays by Karen Kingsbury

After losing his beloved mum to illness, eight year old Cory Briggs has two great loves in his young life, his foster mum, Megan Gunn and the San Francisco 49ers. When the opportunity arises for Cory to meet some of the 49ers players through a foster kids’ pizza night at a local youth centre, Cory believes God has answered his prayers, especially the one about the father he has never met.

Derrick Anderson is a man with a big heart and a bigger faith, coming to the end of his career as a 49ers quarterback. A commitment made to his little boy when tragedy struck, keeps him going despite the damage to his body and the frustration of trying to reach out to the arrogant and reckless new kid on the block, explosive quarterback, Aaron Hill.

Aaron Hill loves the adulation his career has given him and indulges in all the trappings his celebrity and good looks afford him including women at his beck and call. With an agent willing to protect his client no matter what the cost to others. Forced to improve his bad boy image by helping Derrick with his foster kids’ projects, Aaron reluctantly acknowledges the futility of his lifestyle but does he have the strength or inclination to change his ways?

Between Sundays is a fascinating insight in to the desperate plight of many foster children, the responsibilities and temptations that come with fame through sporting success and the beauty of a life given over to God and his plans.

Karen Kingsbury skilfully engages the reader in to the lives of two highly successful athletes in Derrick and Aaron, revealing one to be self absorbed and enamoured with his own celebrity leading to a life of excess and the other, a man of faith, using his fame to effect change in the lives of foster children. The contrast is obvious and her message clear but is not judgemental, another tribute to her talent as a writer.

A further contrast to these men is the sacrificial love of one woman, Megan Gunn, who has little in the way of financial means but her love has transformed a young boy and positively impacted the lives of many other lonely and directionless children. Pleasingly the road to friendship and romance for Megan is not all smooth sailing nor is Aaron’s investigation of faith. As always, however, with any Karen Kingsbury novel, the transforming power of God’s love is revealed and the final pages bring joy and hope to your heart.

As seen at TitleTrakk.com