Passing Through Perfect by Bette Lee Crosby and a Giveaway!

Passing Through Perfect

Passing Through Perfect by Bette Lee Crosby
Series: The Wyattsville Series #3
Print and ebook, 256 pages
Expected publication: January 14th 2015 by Bent Pine Publishing

It's 1946. The war is over. Millions of American soldiers are coming home and Benjamin Church is one of them. After four years of being away he thought things in Alabama would have changed, but they haven't. Grinder's Corner is as it's always been--a hardscrabble burp in the road. It's not much, but it's home.

When Benjamin attends a harvest festival in Twin Pines, he catches sight of Delia. Before their first dance ends, he knows for certain she's the one. They fall madly in love: happily, impatiently, imprudently, in love. It doesn't matter that her daddy is staunchly opposed to the thought of his daughter marrying a cotton farmer, never mind a poor one.

It's true Benjamin has little to offer; he's a sharecropper who will spend his whole life sweating and slaving to do little more than put food on the table. But that's how things are in Alabama. Benjamin is better off than most; he has a wife, a boy he adores, and a house that doesn't leak rain. Yes, Benjamin considers himself a lucky man until the fateful night that changes everything.

My thoughts about Passing Through Perfect ~~ 

Passing Through Perfect is book #3 in The Wyattsville Series and introduces us to new characters as well as takes us back to Wyattsville to revisit some wonderful characters who we have already come to know and love. I have been a huge fan of Bette's since the very first book of hers that I read and I am always so excited when she has a new book out.

This story takes us to the very hard times of the south during the 40's and 50's when it wasn't easy to live as a black person in the white man's world. Benjamin and his family stuggle day to day and try to live the best that they can. But some things are just out of their control.

Even though it is hard to read about the unfair way blacks were treated back then, it happened and it is part of our history. Bette is able to use her talent of writing to weave a story that shows us both the good times and the bad times of that era. She fills her stories with such great characters and in such a way that they become our friends. We really care about what happens to them and it is always a pleasure to see them pop up again in another story.

Bette's stories are written in a gentle, loving way but with so much emotion. I know I am going to have a wonderful story floating around in my head when I am immersed in one of her worlds. She continually takes the reader on an emotional ride, but trust me, that is a good thing.

I love to highlight sentences as I am reading a book; thoughts and phrases that jump off of the pages and touch me in some way. Bette's stories are always filled with these and there are so many amazing lines that I just want to savor. Here are a few of them that I love but there are so many more just waiting for you to discover when you read Passing Through Perfect.

'Unfortunately time is the master of all; it takes what it will, and often there are no words to ease the emptiness of what is gone.' 

'The odd thing about happiness is that it doesn't make a big show of leaving. It just slips away silently. You continue moving through the days expecting it to be there, but it isn't.' 

'Crying is a lot easier than not crying. Crying cleans out the misery in your soul and pulls the knife stuck in your heart.' 

"I wish we could a' stayed there," he said. "The place was perfect."
"Perfect ain't a place," he said. "It's a time when everything's good and we're happy. Folks don't live in perfect, they just get to pass through every so often."

About the author

Bette Lee Crosby

USA Today Bestselling and Award-winning novelist Bette Lee Crosby's books are "Well-crafted storytelling populated by memorable characters caught up in equally memorable circumstances." - Midwest Book Review

The Seattle Post Intelligencer says Crosby's writing is, "A quirky mix of Southern flair, serious thoughts about important things in life and madcap adventures."

Samantha from Reader's Favorite raves, "Crosby writes the type of book you can’t stop thinking about long after you put it down."

"Storytelling is in my blood," Crosby laughingly admits, "My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write."

It is the wit and wisdom of that Southern Mama Crosby brings to her works of fiction; the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance along with a cast of quirky charters who will steal your heart away. Her work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. She has since gone on to win twenty awards for her work; these include: The Royal Palm Literary Award, the FPA President's Book Award Gold Medal, Reader's Favorite Award Gold Medal, and the Reviewer's Choice Award.

Crosby's published works to date are: Blueberry Hill (2014), Previously Loved Treasures (2014), Jubilee's Journey (2013), What Matters Most (2013), The Twelfth Child (2012), Life in the Land of IS (2012), Cracks in the Sidewalk (2011), Spare Change (2011). A Cupid inspired romance, Wishing for Wonderful, was released in November 2014 and Book Three of The Wyattsville Series, Passing through Perfect, will be be available in January 2015.

Connect with Bette

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon

The Wyattsville Series e-book box set
 which is books one and two plus the short story A Home in Hopeful.

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