Leaving

A sweet, contemporary Christian romance

De: Karen Kingsbury

Narrado por: Judy Young, Stefan Rudnicki, Amanda Carin, Gabrielle de Cuir

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury, known for her heart-stirring stories of faith and family comes the first book in the Bailey Flanigan series. Praised by Library Journal as "emotionally charged" with "well-drawn characters struggling with their faith," Leaving is perfect for fans of Janette Oke.

Bailey Flanigan has spent her life dreaming of the stage, and now, she finally has her chance--a role in a Broadway musical that could launch her career. But chasing her dreams means leaving behind everything she's ever known: her close-knit family, her hometown of Bloomington, Indiana . . . and Cody Coleman, the only man she's ever truly loved.

Cody has been struggling with his own problems. In order to be closer to his mother, who's in prison for a drug charge, Cody takes a coaching job in a small community outside Indianapolis. New friends, distance, and circumstances expose cracks in his relationship with Bailey. Love, loneliness, big opportunities, and even bigger decisions put these two young people to the test.

Can love survive when dreams pull you in different directions? And when is holding on an act of faith . . . and when is it time to let go?

CBA Retailers and Resources calls Leaving "another Kingsbury hit" filled with "hometown stories and the different kinds of 'leaving' that occur in life."

Leaving is the first book in the beloved Bailey Flanigan series, featuring members of the popular Baxter family from Kingsbury's Redemption series, now streaming online.

Great Book!!!!!

I can't wait to start her next book. I really enjoy how God works through their lives in her books. Great lesson for everyone too!!!

the readers have grown-up with the series!

I wasn't as sure of the readers when I started the above the line series, especially Bailey...but she has grown a lot in her skill and is engaging! She is delightful and brings tears too! Well done to All!

Love, love, LOVE the series, but…

I absolutely LOVE this series and the Baxter Family Series overall. I read the first few sets in the series yearrrrs ago when they first came out. Now, I decided to purchase them all on Audible and listen to them from the beginning.

I love doing this, but in doing so you easily pick up on errors. There are just a few, but they stick out like a sore thumb: the gentleman reading now pronounces Kari’s name like Car—ee and in the later books, Tara like Tar—uh sometimes and Tara other times. Consistency should have been key. The one that really stood out was in the beginning of book 1 and, I think, book 3 (maybe book 4?) they say the same incorrect line, “Kari, the oldest Baxter daughter.” Brooke is the oldest Baxter daughter. The second time they say this line, later in the book they then talk about Brooke being the oldest daughter.

These criticisms should not deter anyone from reading these fabulous books. Again, they probably stand out a lot more to me because I’m reading all 30 books straight through.

I LOVE the way the author wraps up each story line she has going and doesn’t leave anything undone. Other than the tiny Baxter daughter error, there is great attention to detail given to every character and every storyline —which is quite impressive!

Leaving

Like all of Karen's books can't put down or turn off... And the long wait till the next one comes out. Although Unlocked is a awesome way to wait.

It's Real Life

Great Book. If only people would look to God with everyday struggles. it's much easier.

Love this author and Bailey

I have been a big fan of the Baxter family story. This book series focuses more on Bailey Flanagan‘s life. But it does bring in some of the baxters here and there. It mainly focuses on her story with Brandon and Kody, along with her exploring career options in the musical theatre world. This book particularly frustrated me with regard to her love interests, as I was always rooting for her to get together with one of the characters and that never happened at least in this book

I love Karen Kingsbury but…

This wasn’t my favorite. I wouldn’t suggest skipping it, but know it’s probably not going to give you the same feeling the normal Baxter books give you. The Bailey and Brandon story feels like a repeat of Katie and Dane. Also, I don’t know if it was just me but the voices of the children parts drove me nuts. I just found it very annoying. With all that said if I was going through the whole series again I wouldn’t skip this one I would listen to it again.

Summary does not say this is Christian literature

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

The summary gave no hint that this story focuses on people's relationship with the Christian God. If I had known, I would not have bought it.

over-worked

This could've been a sweet story but the internal dialogues are so over-worked, over-done, too long! I wanted to like it but I just didn't and wanted the characters to just make a choice!

Not for Me!

What would have made Leaving better?

It was just too simple. I think it was meant for a young adult.

What do you think your next listen will be?

A mystery.

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator was fine -- it just wasn't for me.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Like I said, probably a good story for someone much younger than me.

Any additional comments?

I do like Karen Kingsbury -- I have read a lot of her books/series and have enjoyed most of them. This is the first one that I actually didn't finish.