Loving: Bailey Flanigan, Book 4

The last book in the Bailey Flanigan series is a disappointment for me. Kingsbury spent a lot of time building up the relationship between Cody and Bailey only to let it die in the end. If she was going to finish the book the way that she did, then I don't fee that she should have let the listener have so many feelings about Cody and Bailey being together. I am not sure if I am going to listen to any more books by Kingsbury for awhile. I have listened to or read all of her books until this point, however, I think this series has spoiled that for me for awhile. While I think she is an amazing author, she did not do this seried justice and left many of her fans disappointed with this latest installment of the Bailey Flanigan series.

The narrators in the book were great and portrayed a miriad of emotions, it was just the story that was disappointing.

The message, it's clean sweet story of love & heart.

yes, this one is just as great as the rest!

I've read almost all of Karen Kingsbury's books so I hate to write a bad review. I don't think I'll listen to one of her books again. Having different voices to each character is a real turnoff for me. The tipping point for me though was the way that they read the book. To me, how the narrators read the book made is sound cheesy and made the spiritual parts of the book sound silly and unbelievable. The only reason I finished listening was because I paid for it.

I think next time I will actually read a hard copy of a Karen Kingsbury book instead of listening to it. The narration really ruined this book for me.

As I mentioned earlier, I disliked that each character had a different voice. The way that the narrators read the book really made it sound cheesy and unrealistic. They sounded as if they were more making fun of Christianity and hearing from God than sincere about it.

Good performer who was able to make each character stand out.

Tying up loose ends.

Yes, and done well.

Bailey's mom. She's just full of wisdom and I want her to adopt me (even if I am in my 30's).

I've seen reveiws where people were disapointed. Maybe that prepped me to be ready for something different than I was expecting. However, I feel maturity is being able to move from 1 chapter in life to the next. I enjoyed this last book in the series very much.

Yes, I will listen to Loving again. It was very moving and I like to remind myself of the lessons learned.

I'm not sure of another book that I have read that compares to Loving.

This was my first Audio book but I felt comfortable with the different voices. I especially liked the male/female voices for Brandon/Bailey during the wedding and exchange of vows. It helped me feel I was right there.

Brandon's realization that instead of Bailey changing and giving up her privacy that he needed to give up a part of himself too. They both realized a compromise was necessary and that's the way it should be.

I feel Loving is a great ending to the series and it defines what loving is about, figuring out who you are and making sure you are listening to God and letting Him be your guide and not your own desires. Loving is about compromise and accepting each other for who God wants them to be and not who you or others think they should be. Loving is about honesty and standing up for your beliefs even if it would be easier or more profitable to do otherwise. I also like the fact that Karen Kingsbury gave us front row seats at the wedding and didn't just have it end with the engagement or as Bailey began her walk down the isle!

I have read almost every book that Karen Kingsbury has ever written. I was really looking forward to listening to this last book in the series. Even though I was disappointed at who Bailey ended up with, my review does not focus on that. My two thoughts when I finished this book were: 1) did I miss a book in the series? (which I didn't) and 2) did Karen Kingsbury really write this book? It just didn't seem like her style and also, there was such a 180 turnaround from Book 3 to Book 4 on people's feelings. I really feel like Karen Kingsbury let us down in this book - maybe she didn't care how it ended, just that it did?? I don't know.