Alex

Sisters by Design, Book 6

By: Sharon Srock

Narrated by: Becky Doughty

Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

A last ditch effort to save her marriage

Fresh out of college, Alexandra Conklin said "I do" to a handsome young minister. They filed for divorce less than a year later, proceedings they halted when Alex learned she was pregnant. Twenty years later, Hunter’s ministry is thriving while Alex struggles to put a happy face on her husband’s daily neglect. What choice does she have? None until those forgotten divorce papers surface — valid, filed, and legal.

A man on a mission

Throughout the twenty years of his ministry, Hunter Conklin has given everything — his time, his attention, his passion — to the pursuit of what God called him to do, leaving nothing but the leftovers for the most important people in his life. When his wife moves out, he’s forced to examine his life. What he finds is a home where he’s more visitor than occupant, children who rarely see him outside the church, and a wife who smiles to hide her loneliness. Is this what God had in mind for him…for his family?

Pastors are people, too.

With a youthful misunderstanding hanging over their heads and pressure from their congregation mounting, Alex and Hunter scramble to find a balance between her expectations and his priorities before everything they’ve worked for crumbles to dust at their feet.

©2019 Sharon L Srock (P)2020 Sharon L Srock

Awesome life lesson

Wonderful listening experience. I'll say it again - I love this narrator. Just wow.
Alex & Hunter's story is one I would make mandatory for every couple in ministry - on how to prevent your marriage from crashing and burning slowly and on finding a good balance between family and work (church) responsibilities. Whether a couple is considering going into ministry, has started their pastoral carrier or has been in ministry for more than 2 decades as pastor, this would be a good warning/reminder to be humble, communicate clearly and avoid more problems by not having secrets and working on surprises (not everyone likes surprises).
I'll be listening to this story - and 4 other installments of this authors in this series - again. And again. Audio books make good companions throughout the day - whether you are going for a walk, puttering around the kitchen or patio/garden, driving... etc. Grateful for modern technology.

I've never been more emotionally connected.

As I started Alex I already knew it would be great. That's because I'd already read all in the collection before. But I was unprepared for the emotional journey I was about to go through. I've never felt more emotionally connected to a story. I wept as the Story of Alex unfolded. The timing of this story in my life was God ordained to say the least. I was challenged encouraged and reminded of God's faithfulness! Sharon writes in such a way that you feel like your part of the story and now I feel like I'm going to miss a Group of fictional friends! 😁

Good

It is a fine line when one is called to be a minister, serving and guiding a congregation and not seeing the needs of family when he is needed. The story was well done,and the narration was good. Given audio for my voluntary review

Great book

I have really enjoyed this series and watching these "sisters"grow. They were there for each other even when they could not share exactly what was going on. Alex had to work around her hurt and take the love and caring from her friends even though she could not share all what was going on. I was glad to see that it was not all good and that they still worked around things instead of giving up.
I received a copy to listen to , the review is mine.

Are pastors too busy to be the support needed?

I LOVE the candid view of what can easily happen to a marriage of those in ministry. Trying to juggle family life along with the needs of a growing church make it extremely hard to draw a boundary line. This looks at the issue from a Biblical base. It's a part of a series where loyal Christian friends have stood together as each encounters a life changing event. They are friends and will make every effort to support each other. Each book is well written and easily held my attention.
I like it when an author uses the same narrator throughout the entire series. That makes it easier to slip back into the series even after time passes and new books are added. She does a wonderful job bringing the story to life.
I requested a review copy of this title and am willingly posting my thoughts of the story.