Halfway to Forever

Forever Faithful #3

by Karen Kingsbury

Halfway to Forever brings back two of Karen Kingsbury's favorite couples -- Waiting for Morning's Matt and Hannah, and Jade and Tanner from A Moment of Weakness -- who once again face traumatic issues. Matt and Hannah risk losing another daughter as they invest their emotions in a risky adoption, and Tanner dreads losing Jade when brain cancer threatens her first pregnancy. Kingsbury's latest heart-wringing novel tells of two familiar, beloved couples learning to depend on God daily, regardless of trials and troubles that mark the path halfway to forever.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Christian, Fiction, Romance, Adult Fiction, Christian Romance, Contemporary

352 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2002

About the author

Karen Kingsbury, #1 New York Times bestselling novelist, is America’s favorite inspirational storyteller, with more than twenty-five million copies of her award-winning books in print. Her last dozen titles have topped bestseller lists and many of her novels are under development with Hallmark Films and as major motion pictures. Her Baxter Family books are being developed into a TV series slated for major network viewing sometime in the next year. Karen is also an adjunct professor of writing at Liberty University. In 2001 she and her husband, Don, adopted three boys from Haiti, doubling their family in a matter of months. Today the couple has joined the ranks of empty nesters, living in Tennessee near five of their adult children.

See more at: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/K...

Reviews

[Maria Elmvang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm glad I decided to give Karen Kingsbury a second chance, because I LOVED Halfway to Forever. It had all the good points of A Moment of Weakness and none (or only very few) of the bad ones. I do realize that this means I'll have to read more by her to figure out which is the rule and which is the exception ;-)

Halfway to Forever is a wonderful book about trusting God through adversity, and listening to Him, even when He seems far away. It's probably too in-your-face for a non-Christian, but an excellent reminder for a Christian. It's a sad book though. The adversity the main characters encounter is pretty severe, and I cried buckets while reading (good thing I was home alone!), but it was also very, very beautiful and reaffirming.

[ABookAddictHere · Rating 5 out of 5]

You laugh, you cry, and you say good-bye in this next book of Karen's. It is a must read ending to the trilogy.

[January · Rating 4 out of 5]

Halfway to Forever by Karen Kingsbury
Forever Faithful #3
11h 12m narrated by Barbara Caruso, 352 pages

Genre: Christian Fiction, Christian Romance, Legal Drama

Featuring: Blurb, Epigraphs, MCs from Books 1 & 2 as MCs in Book 3, Love After Loss, Adoption, Cancer, Infertility, Taking Away Happily Ever After Trope, Lawyers, Religious Freedom Activists, Colorado; Child Abuse, Santa Maria, California; Legal Battles, Divorce, Guilt, Abuse, Prayers, Triumphs, Blurbs for The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser and The Breaking Point by Karen Ball

Rating as a movie: PG-15 for adult content

Songs for the soundtrack: "Desperado" by Eagles, "Jesus Loves Me," "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" by Thomas Chisholm

Books and Authors mentioned: The Bible, William Shakespeare, The Way We Were by Arthur Laurents
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✝️ 👨🏼‍🍼🤰

My thoughts:📱 14% 1:31:09 Chapter 6 - This is giving me Getting To Happy vibes, hate when authors take away the happy ending they left you with and ruin everyone's life. Also, the timeline is all jumbled up. I'm going to enjoy it even though I know I'm being set up for heartbreak.
📱41% 4:34:37 Chapter 14 - The changes and inconsistencies!!! Okay, I feel better now. Why aren't they laying hands on these people?
📱67% 7:31:56 Chapter 23 I knew it! I need a book with no losses. Another Jenna? Is that why Jenna became Jenny? Is Tyler ever home? I'm definitely finishing this one next. I need to get to the ending, and it better be happy.

There were a lot of changes, Jenna to Jenny, Tanner's trip to South America became Europe, Alicia was a straight brunette but this book said the curly blonde Grace was identical to her, and Jenna/Jenny was a curly blonde but only got "looks alike." The years and ages have changed. I just gave up on it being consistent and hoped no one would die. The lack of continuity from the previous books, inconsistencies within this book, and the condensed underdeveloped drama kept it in the 4-star zone. I enjoyed it but it was frustrating for those reasons.

Recommend to others?: Yes! This is a great series, even though it's based around tragedies.

Forever Faithful
1. Waiting for Morning (1999)
2. A Moment of Weakness (2000)
3. Halfway to Forever (2002)

[Mareli Thalwitzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Proof that God grew fragrant flowers of hope in the ashes of loss

[LINDA BOURG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok this book was ok. There were parts that were super emotional and tears did flow. But a lot of this book was a recap of the characters in the first 2 books of this series. So i became a little bored because i was like yes i know this already, i read it in the first 2 books. But all in all it was a good read.

[Liane Almeida]

leitura arrastada, mas o final compensa!

[Carole Worboys · Rating 2 out of 5]

Christian cringe that was predictable and wholesome. I can't believe I read it to the end (and held back tears at points)...

According to Cameron: "This book was written for people like you"

[Jennifer Brown-Flavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. This entire series truthfully. If you haven't read the Forever Faithful series by Karen Kingsbury add it to your list to pick up immediately. This book is very emotionally tolling. It's a just a great read with a rollercoaster ride for your emotions. Please note those that have lost a loved one to cancer may have a hard time reading this story as it can be really difficult for those individuals to read. I really enjoyed the characters in this series. They are among some of my very favorites that she has written.

Karen Kingsbury is an author that I will read anything she puts out. No need to know what the book is about beforehand. Her stories always touches my heart and delivers messages that I need to hear.

The book synopsis is taken from Amazon.

You wept with them as they were Waiting for Morning
You shared their Moment of Weakness
Now they face the greatest struggles of their lives.

Matt and Hannah Bronzan have found a new life in the face of devastating loss. Together with Hannah’s daughter, Jenny, they are finally moving forward—toward the adoption of a little girl. A younger sister for Jenny, a daughter for them to love and raise together. But just when the dream seems to be coming true, disaster strikes. Can Hannah survive the loss of another daughter?

Jade and Tanner Eastman love the Bronzans. Matt and Tanner are partners in a successful religious freedom law firm, and the two couples share a great deal. Not the least of which has been Jade and Tanner’s struggle to have children. When they discover Jade is pregnant, their joy is boundless. Until the joyous event becomes a threat to Jade’s very life. Will Tanner come through decades of loneliness only to face losing Jade one final time?

Caught in a desperate battle against all that threatens to derail their faith and sideline their futures, these four struggle together to depend daily on God, regardless of what comes against them, as they journey halfway to forever.

[ClaraBelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve never been a fan of Karen Kingsbury but I loved this book! It was breathtaking and amazing! It is the trilogy finale of the Forever Faithful series....
Rating:10.5 stars 🌟
Concerns:before the main characters, Tanner and Jade, were Christians, they had a baby boy(now 13 yo)while they were high school sweethearts. Also, their friends, Matthew and Hannah’s adopted daughters’ birthmoms were drug addicts and prostututes in CA. No graphic details about it but still a mildly shocking reference.
Recommended]]for teens and adults, aged 17+
Plot:Matthew and Hannah have been married for 4 years and still are infertile, except for Hannah’s 18 yo daughter, Jennie, from her previous marriage that ended when her husband, Tom, and eldest daughter, Alicia, were killed in a car accident by a drunk man. Will their adoption of a baby girl ever take place?Will Hannah or Jennie ever recover from the trauma of seeing the accident happen?
Also, their friends and coworkers in a religious freedom law firm, Tanner and Jade, along with their teenage son Ty, are excited about Jade’s unexpected pregnancy after 4 years of infertility! But will their faith sustain them when jade is diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer that causes her doctor to suggest a abortion? And what about Mathew and Hannnah when caseworkers take away their newly adopted daughter, Grace, after her allegedly dead grandmother is found to be alive?
Interest level:total engrossing

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really tore at my heartstrings. Tanner and Jade seemed to have a perfect life and so did Hannah and Matt. Both had overcome obstacles, but life was good. But trouble sets in on both fronts. Adoption issues for Hannah and Matt and Jade's cancer for Tanner and Jade. But I don't think I could have made it through the story without all the Christian references. Tanner and Matt doing battle in court over rights to worship God freely was a tale all itself. But the rest - God is always with us through the trials, and they will come. The prayer chain was a great addition to the story. But just all the bible versus' throughout the story were so faith fulfilling. It really gives you something to think about. I cried before the book was done. Karen takes you into this story and I felt like it was happening to friends of mine and I was invested in the outcome. God has a plan for each of us. Sometimes, it is hard to see what the plan is when going through a trial but there is always a bright side waiting on the other side of the trial. Can't say enough good about this book. It was awesome and amazing!!

[Carolyn Wylie-mcelroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT A HEART WARMING SERIES!!!!

This is the last of 3 in the Forever Faithful Series. It is a tremendous series and this final one ever bit as good as the others!!!! Some have complained they knew how it would end right away and that spoiled it them. I don't agree!!! In a great deal of stories u do have a really good idea how it will end, but don't know the roads travelled, attitudes, or how they reach the conclusions they come to. Those are the parts that draw the reader in and touch their hearts!!! This one is no different!!! The roads travelled and how taken are heart stirring!! Don't miss this conclusion to Hannah, Matt, Jenny, Jade, Tanner and Ty!!! U will treasure every page and like the author be sad when it ends!!!!! C:o)

[Lupe Kollasch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trials are part of life but God has our back.

Daily life is not always a bed of roses. There will be trials. With God all things are possible. Living life is so much easier with God in charge. The bible gives us all we need to live life. This book showed us the kind of life we all live and how we face it is what matters.





Rose

[Paige Clerke · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few inconsistencies in this one that contradicted the first book in the trilogy, or changed the timeline. There was nothing too major but I noticed because I read the series in a omnibus from start to finish. If that doesn't bother you, you might be fine. But inconsistencies in books drive me crazy.

[Charlene - Coffee and a Book · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like with some of her other books that I've read recently, this was felt as though it was written with very broad strokes and didn't go into as much depth or detail as I would have liked.

Also, I felt at times like there could have been more research done or better applied when writing this book because there were a number of times that I read about a situation I'm fairly familiar with and thinking, "that's not how things work." For example, one of the characters is pregnant and when she goes in for her ultrasound at 21 weeks, the technician starts talking about the baby saying "she" even though this is the first time the mother could have found out what she's having. When she asks if the tech. is telling her she's having a girl he says, "Oh, I thought you knew." First, any ultrasound tech. who's been working in that field for any amount of time should know that this is about the earliest time she could find out. Second, some parents want to be surprised, so it would be really unprofessional for a tech. to announce the gender without asking the mother if she wants to know first. There are other parts that I'm not as familiar with that don't seem like they would be completely accurate to the way things are done, things regarding court trials and adoptions/foster care particularly, and when I've found other things in the book that are inaccurate, it makes me wonder if these are as well.

Overall, it wasn't a terrible story, but I felt like I just wanted more from it. One thing in particular would be for the main characters to meet people who aren't Christians, and more than just knowing they're in room. Pretty much all of the characters that we meet are devout Christians or they become Christians throughout the course of the book, and it just feels like her characters live in a near-perfect world where Christians only meet other Christians or those they can convert. This is just not accurate to real life and I would like to see what her characters would do if they were constantly coming into contact with characters who are harder to convince or outright don't want to be Christians. Even a number of the minor characters that we meet for one chapter turn out to be Christians and, sorry, but not every random person you meet on the streets is a Christian, as nice as that would be.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This is a tear jerker! This is a culmination of both stories from the first 2 books (Hannah and Matthew and Jade and Tanner). Hannah lost her husband and daughter in book 1, Jade and Tanner got were reunited childhood sweethearts when she was about to lose her son in a custody battle because she was a christian. The 2 men work together as lawyers who defend a persons right to religion in whatever context. In this one, both couples are wanting to have babies. Hannah and Matthew want to adopt and Jade and Tanner want to conceive and give their son a sibling. Hannah and Matthew are given the opportunity to foster to adopt a 4 year old girl because her mom is going to jail. They're hesitant but then say okay, just for the kid to get taken from them by the maternal grandmother. That created trauma for sure. Then Jade gets diagnosed with brain cancer. She is pregnant, but her body is not doing well. It all ends well enough. Hannah gets to adopt a son and then they also get the daughter they wanted. Jade lives and its all okay. The story is very cheesy and convenient, but also comforting to hear faith filled people getting a full HEA.

[Jennifer Robb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I no longer remember where I got this book. I have read Karen Kingsbury before--in fact, she used to be one of my "go to"authors. But I felt like her books got repetitive (Baxter Family and related books). This book is the third in the Forever Faithful series. I can't remember if I read other books in this series.

This book started out okay for me. I liked the idea of God using what we think of as "bad" or "catastrophic" events--to teach us, to make us better appreciate the "good" times, to prepare us for something else that's coming. God is faithful--and that is a good lesson to remember. It's a lesson I needed to be reminded of right now.

I enjoyed the friendship between the two couples.

But then the book took a crazy (emotional) turn and I ended up skipping large chunks of it because I just couldn't cope with that level of emotion. It was actually feeding into my anxiety feelings and sadness feelings.

I would normally pass this on to a friend but I am not sure with this book if I want to do that.

[Margo Berendsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book about fostering and adoption. But what stuck with me more was how important closeness with loved ones is in facilitating healing. I already knew that it's believed that people in a coma are more likely to recover if someone is with them talking; in this book it's implied that closeness both in talk and touch can keep tumors from growing and cancer from spreading. Not that I believe it's a cure-all. But I do believe it makes a difference.

Also loved rediscovering a great quote from Shakespeare: "Give sorrow words: the grief that does not speak whispers the o'er-fraught- heart and bids it break."

[Shirley Lidik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this series. The first book pulled me in right away and when I wasn’t reading I was constantly thinking about the characters and the story line. When I finished Book 1, I couldn’t wait to pick up Book 2. Book 3 brought the families together and oh how they came together and the bond’s between them and their faith that brought them through the remarkable circumstances were nothing short of a miracle that only God can accomplish.

Thank you to the author and publisher for such an amazing journey through these books.

[kat♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow wow wow WOW. again, another great novel. an amazing, tear-jerking ending to one of my favorite book series. i honestly did not have a dry eye once while turning every page of each book. each book offered hard lessons but powerful truths. i cant believe its already time to say goodbye to good friends who have taken up root in my heart. but thats the thing about good stories. they're just that... stories... but the impact stays with readers for a long time if not forever. and halfway to forever and the two novels before it were no exception.

[Beverly Brimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

God is Always Faithful!

Another gem from Karen! She packs so much into every book. I can’t put it down. This one hit home because my brother, Mark, died as a child of 8 years with a brain tumor. There was nothing they could do to save him. I cannot imagine the agony my parents went through! I was 3 years older than him and I still miss him 60 years later. This book tells the good, the bad and the ugly along with God’s mercy and grace. It is real and raw! It draws you in like you are right in the middle of the story! Karen’s characters are always so real! I love that!

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third (but I seriously doubt final) book in the Forever Faithful Series, and it was my favorite.

There are spiritual struggles, marital struggles, and fertility issues, and all are from a view of someone who has really faced trouble in life while faithfully serving the Lord.

A Christian's walk is not always rainbows and sunshine, and the book reminds you of that.

The ending wraps up the main stories in the book but also gives enough detail to lay the framework for a fourth book.

Karen is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful love story of romance and faith. The characters were beautiful, the story amazing, and Gods Love was Forever. It was a wonderful read that I could not put down and I read it in 1 day! Karen never lets me down, her stories are real life, real issues, real romance, and Faith always wins out. I feel good reading her books and they inspire me to be a better person and they make my faith stronger.

[marcy peck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this series, but this one was definitely my favorite. Kingsbury did an amazing job tying the three together and saved the best for last. Love the scripture throughout the book along with Christ centered lessons, a true testimont to God's miraculous power, and what putting your faith in him can do sad this series is over but looking forward to reading more by this author hope there's more five star reads like this one ahead.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing series - we can get through anything that life throws at us if we let God control our lies. He knows us best and we never challenge us more than we can endure (although it sometimes may seem that He does.) All things will work for the good if we have God in control.

This series is certainly not a relaxing one but is an inspiring one.

[Leigh Hargett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waiting for Morning's Matt and Hannah, and Jade and Tanner from A Moment of Weakness -- who once again face traumatic issues. Matt and Hannah risk losing another daughter as they invest their emotions in a risky adoption, and Tanner dreads losing Jade when brain cancer threatens her first pregnancy.

[Glenda Teeter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just what I needed!

Great is Thy Faithfulness has always been one of my favorites. This story has helped me while I am grieving the recent loss of my husband and plans to move into a retirement home. I am again reminded that God is always faithful to give us what we need at just the right time.

[Lizenbyl]

In this 3rd novel of the group, Jade and Tanner encounter a very difficult time in their marriage as Jade battles a life-threatening illness to also give birth to their daughter. Matt and Hannah work through trying to adopt Grace, but find out that she has to be returned to her Grandmother. Ultimately, Matt and Hannah adopt a baby boy and Grace returns to live with them.

[carol duffey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Faithfulness

I don't know how I missed these books for so long. I can' t say enough about them. Book three was culmination of all three books. So full of suspence , heartache, love, promise and .more heartache but in the end the Lord and his faithfulness won and two couples celebrated this love and faithfulness together in prayer, thanksgiving, and joy.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a WONDERFUL ending to this 3 book series! It had me on the edge of my seat and in tears a couple times but I knew God would pull through for both families! "Great is Thy Faithfulness" for sure! :)

[Sharon Rudolph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book

This series has been wonderful! I have laughed and cried with these families! I have been reminded of God's great love for us! He is there for us through every joy and every sorrow. He has carried us and will always love and care for us!