Cherry Cobbler

Blackberry County Chronicles #2

by JoHannah Reardon

Quirky, funny, lighthearted Cherry is starting to panic. She's pushing 30 and has a bit of a weight problem. But most of all, she is looking for love in all the wrong places. For her, the wrong place is thinking she could handle missionary life with a young Indiana Jones look alike. Her complete failure to understand herself unfolds as she realizes the treasure she has been missing is right under her nose.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Christian, Contemporary Romance, Chick Lit, Contemporary

332 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 2011

About the author

JoHannah is a former Christianity Today editor. She has written numerous novels, a family devotional guide, and an adult devotional. She has written content for the Couples’ Devotional Bible and the Everyday Matters Bible.

JoHannah is married to Brad, who was a pastor for 27 years. He now trains pastors in third-world countries. Read more about how you can be involved with ReachGlobal:

Brad Reardon is a full-time missionary with ReachGlobal. He and his colleagues pass on three things to pastors who have little or no training:

1. How to study the Bible: They train pastors in basic Bible study skills so they can preach truth and disciple their churches.

2. How to obey the Bible: They help pastors to see that the goal of studying the Bible is obedience, as well as to exercise humble servant leadership and loving pastoral care.

3. How to teach the Bible: They equip pastors to proclaim God’s truths with power, conviction, and clarity, and to pass on the training they are receiving to other pastors they know.

Where they are currently training: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, India, and Southeast Asia. They are also setting up training in Liberia, Burundi, Zambia, Congo, Costa Rica, Philippines, Brazil, and Mexico.

Go to johannahreardon.com and contact JoHannah if you would like to help support Brad in this global mission or to ask any questions.

Reviews

[Tabitha Ormiston-Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was sorry only to be able to give this book one star, because it's well written, funny and has some great Christian messages. A professional piece of work and I would have enjoyed it except for one thing. Several incidents in the book and the way they were handled seemed to show that the author is quite OK with cruelty to animals and perhaps even finds it rather amusing. This was so offensive to me that I really couldn't enjoy the book.

[Melissa Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a refreshing read!!! It was so nice to read something that I didn't have to censor but was still able to get the romance!!!

[Joan]

Amazon Blurb: Quirky, funny, lighthearted Cherry is starting to panic. She's pushing 30 and has a bit of a weight problem. But most of all, she is looking for love in all the wrong places. For her, the wrong place is thinking she could handle missionary life with a young Indiana Jones look alike. Her complete failure to understand herself unfolds as she realizes the treasure she has been missing is right under her nose.

I was expecting light-hearted, frothy chick-lit set in some far away place. Instead I got a god-filled (no.. make that god-packed) churchy-preachy story with little conflict or tension, turgid dialogue and far too many pointless scenes that did nothing to enhance the characters or move the story on.

There were several moments when I felt most uncomfortable reading: e.g:

One of the customers was an elderly African-American woman who'd been in before. = WHY. What purpose did that serve? It has no relevance to the story, or to what happens next, apart from emphasising that she is 'different'. I had real disquiet about that for some reason.

I won't rate because I gave up reading with any serious intent when Cherry (talking about her dream man) says:

'Oh he is. He's dreamy ... my ideal man. Not only gorgeous but helps others. He works with AIDS patients. That has to be so meaningful.'

Major saccharine overload with a slightly unpleasant aftertaste.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cherry Cobbler is a quick and predictable read, but it is still a worthwhile expenditure of a few hours. I found the stereotypical adolescent dialog a little disconcerting since it seemed a little ridiculous for characters in their late twenties (not that it would have been very realistic even for teenagers.)I also found the narration and the book as a whole to be extremely low-vocabulary. More precise word choices would have helped draw the characters more realistically and would have made the plot seem more sophisticated. All that said, I enjoyed the experience of reading the book.

[Kathleen Downey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read

This was a really fun read. The author did a really good job with this book. I laughed and cried. It had my emotions all over the place. It also was an easy read. Read in one sitting.

[Lori Mitchell Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Fair warning though, it talks a lot about church and missionaries. Love the story

[Barbara S. Lukat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Merry Cherry!

This was a positive read for people going after their own plan versus what God has planned for them. It is amusing as well.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. Cherry was a sweet young lady (she turns 29 in the story, that's young to me). I thought she was a bit hung up on her weight, though she says she accepts how she is, she mentions being overweight too many times. Other people tell her she is beautiful but she brushes it off.
I liked that she finally figured out what she wanted and enjoyed how the story ended. Yes, it was a bit predictable and I thought it was wrapped up a little too quickly but still, it was a quick fun read.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little predictable, but still a good read. When I found out this book was part of a series, I almost rolled my eyes. Coming into a series in the middle in always a cow. But even though this wasn't the first book in the series, it didn't tie in other books in the series, or not finish the story, thus making you read the next one. It was an independent story line, which I LOVED. And what sort of parents name their child Cherry? A pretty good book over all.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute Christian novel that deals with how a person (namely Cherry) can build up a man's attributes and convince herself "that he's the one." Now and then, I read a Christian themed novel - although I sometimes find constant mention of faith to be distracting. This read smoothly, mostly because Cherry wasn't questioning her faith, but instead, was questioning whether or not she had what it took to be a missionary in Africa.

[Ogz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an interesting piece but the missionary trip to Nigeria came with so many flaws about the country I know do not exist. Nigeria has garden centres unlike JoHannah wrote about. Besides that, I enjoyed the interwoven pictures stemming from the first book but I still think the early character was missed out in the connection with Cherry Cobbler. If it hadn't been initially mentioned in the first book then it wouldn't have mattered.

[Gwendolyn Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical storyline with a small twist

This book was the typical girl falls in love with the diamond in the rough best friend, who has been in love with her the whole time. I did like how the girl and the original crush made the other person to be someone they made in their mind. I also liked that the relationship with the original crush went full circle where they both realized that they were not right for each other.

[Julie Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

A far more enjoyable book than the first one in the series though I still think the writing is simplistic and full of stereotypes. It wouldn't surprise me to hear that the author had never traveled outside of America when she wrote this, I certainly didn't feel like she could have ever been anywhere near Nigeria.

Cherry seemed quite young and silly for a 29 year old but she does improve a little as we go through the book.

[Lillie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cherry wanted to get married more than anything. She even decided to become a missionary without any call to missions just to marry a cute missionary. All the time she was missing the love right beside her. I got a little impatient with her focus on marriage and in a shallow way--noticing looks first--rather than serving God in a "Christian" novel.

[Janice Dick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this easy, funny read. At first it seemed like a light story, but there were deeper issues within the lightheartedness like being true to yourself, accepting yourself, serving God in the way he designed you to do, accepting others as they are, realization that people are not always what they seem. I'll read more of JoHannah's writing.

[Sheila Siler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book, enjoyable read

This was a fun book to read. The main character, Cherry, was believable and delightful. Her journey was a little predictable, but told so well that it didn't matter. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a clean, honest, chick lit story.

[Laura Bon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desperate Cherry

The book is ok and Cherry is desperate about marriage. Well written and practical to the teeth. Come on, let's face it, a lot of girls are like Cherry. A relaxing read. The book is ok.

[Karen Baney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story and very clean romance. Loved Cherry's personality.

[Skeeter Jorgensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good clean romance and lots of fun! I liked it.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really 3.5 but I highlighted some passages as they made me think about my faith and I consider that worth something.

[Linda Denison · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author definitely injected some humor into the book. It was an enjoyable read. It also shows us how we can be so focused on what WE want that we can miss seeing what GOD has in store for us.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked the book and like the author. Read 3 of Ms. Reardon's books and looking forward to more.

[Cici · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written

This is a Christian romance story. The plot is straightforward, some twists. But, the characters are interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Marla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the first in the series

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute Christian romance!

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really love her writing style, on to book 3.

[Beth Arocha]

A lovely read with well defined characters-looking forward to reading more in this series

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good one

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked Crispin's Point better than this one. Although it is in the same series, it's not tied very tightly to the first book and reads like a stand-alone. It was a middle-of-the-road Christian romance that was sweet enough if not exactly memorable. I expected something different after reading the Amazon summary, perhaps a little more about her weight struggles and a little less about her "gotta get a man" struggles, but it was all in fun anyway. I wasn't surprised to see all the emphasis on modern worship, but it got a little heavy-handed even with my expectation. The books were recommended to me because I like Jan Karon's Mitford. That's a weak comparison, but also a high hurdle. Yes, like Mitford, Reardon's characters act naturally and faith is a part of that, but that is where the comparison ends.

[Sarah Tummey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cherry was only an extra in the first book, so I bought this to get into her story. I didn't like the style as much because it was written in the first person, from Cherry's point-of-view. I'd rather make up my own mind about characters than see them through another character's eyes. It was ok, but nowhere near as good as book 1, and I was disappointed that the main character from the first book wasn't even mentioned.