Tempest Tossed

by Josi S. Kilpack

Janet has spent her whole life proving herself. She’s on the fast track in her career and nothing will slow her down, not even falling in love with a man who holds the key to helping her find the peace she’s searched for all her life. With two failed marriages behind her it’s easy to be skeptical, but there is something about Tally that’s impossible to ignore. Janet decides to join her life to his, hoping the complications will work themselves out. But despite Tally’s determination to make their marriage work, Janet has secrets she is desperate to protect. Soon, she finds herself helplessly trapped within a prison of her own making. Overwhelmed by the harsh consequences of her decisions, she sees no point in trying any longer as Tally turns his back on her too. By the grace of God Janet is given a second chance, one more opportunity to resolve her past and develop faith for the future. Can she find her way back to the family she once had? Can she forgive herself for all she’s done? And most importantly, will the man she loves be able to trust her one last time?

Genres: Lds Fiction, Lds, Realistic Fiction, Christian Fiction, Own

292 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

I wrote my first book while on bed rest with my third child in 1998 and haven't stopped. My most recent books have been Historical Romance through the Proper Romance line with Shadow Mountain Publishing.

I currently live in Willard, Utah with my husband, and children.

Reviews

[Emeline Bliss · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning of this book really bothered me. The prologue started off at a certain time, then went back in time. This threw me because I knew what was going to happen. However, once I got past the part that the prologue started with, it got really interesting and thought-provoking.

[Josi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my third published novel and it deals with a woman struggling with prescription drug abuse. It's one of my favorites and I felt like I learned a lot just in the writing and researching of this book. Several people have taken the time to tell me they absolutely hated my main character, I'm okay with that. She didn't necessarily like herself all that much either but since most of my books deal with imperfect women I don't expect anyone to fall in love with her, only, perhaps, to gain a bit more understanding. It seems that those readers who know and love someone with an addiction enjoy the book much more than readers that can't relate to the circumstance.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about prescrition drug use and the roller coaster life it takes the main character on. Interesting and enlightening. I like the way this author really does her research on any given subject in order to capture it's true emotion.

Some good quotes from this book:

"A pickle can never be a cucumber again" ~Dr. Paulson pg. 258

"If you were to break down the word 'honesty' to it's latin roots, you would have two words- hone and est. The meaning of the word hone is to be one. Est means what is. So the literal meaning is 'to be one with what is'". ~Dr. Paulson pg. 255

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kilpack is trying to address a serious health issue in the world today, particularly Utah. I think she struggled to put the story together though. I might have to stop reading the author's books, they frustrate me too much. This is why...

When books are poorly edited, I have a very difficult time reading them. The author has several characters, but Kim and Allen were the most difficult as I was never sure if Kim was a "he" or "she". Editing was constantly making Kim a "he".

On pg. 232 we are told that "they were close", but then a few lines later says "and you barely knew her". On pg. 242 she said she learned she wasn't alone in her battle, but hasn't she already learned that in her therapy and NA groups. She is in an entire rehab facility where everyone has the problem she has so how could she be 'alone'. Pg. 243 "It allowed me to believe that I was an important part of my life, it wasn't about everybody else." This sentence had to be re-read several times. Perhaps, "It allowed me to understand that everyone else was not trying to control my life, it was how I was perceiving things. I needed to understand myself first, and then I could try to understand my relationship with others."

The Dr. in the rehab facility broke all kinds of HIPA rules by disclosing the life trials of her former roommate. She is not allowed to tell someone the life history and health of another person.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read this author's more "fluffy" mysteries centered around food and enjoyed them so I thought I would give this one a try. I enjoyed the book and appreciated the difficult nature of the topic - prescription drug addiction. Not an easy thing to write about. The characters felt real and relatable. I enjoyed the book.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with others who said the prologue gave the first half of the book away. I enjoyed the book but wanted to get past what the prologue already spelled out. I enjoy this author though. It made me so sad to read about Janet's addiction and how she didn't realize she had a problem and she nearly lost everything she loved.

[Marcie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't end up finishing it. After the first few pages I decided it was just too depressing. With the prologue giving so much of the story away I just couldn't get myself to read it.

[Brooke]

This was giving me anxiety. Had to set it aside.

[Kari · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author's prologue ruined the first half of the book for me. It let me know what was going to happen too soon and then I just wanted to speed read to get back to that point. Instead of being interested in Janet and Tally's meeting I just wanted to get to Janet's downward spiral. Without the prologue, the book would be much better because I would become so much more involved with Tally and Janet in the beginning, allowing me to be that much more invested in the middle and end when things are coming to a point and resolve. As it is now, I missed that involvement and it fell a little flat.

However, I will say, after making it past the first half, the book addressed interesting issues with prescription drug abuse and addiction, marriage problems, unresolved childhood issues, and growing in the Gospel - all the things a psychology graduate loves. I also liked that the characters had true emotions and questions that weren't played down or softened.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting look at drug addition and how it can be so easy to get into this kind of a trap. Janet starts out the book as a headstrong, determined woman. However, she comes to rely on pills as a way of coping with her everyday life. She meets and marries a young man, Tally, and tries to hide her drug addition from him. Eventually, she is 'found out' and tries to take her own life. She is found unconscious in her kitchen before being taken to the hospital. She does recover, but it is a long and painful process for her. Eventually, she does figure out how to handle and enjoy her life, drug free!

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you have pose pardum depression today you go talk to the doctor and get a little pill to help you through the adjustment period, but this book tell of a single mother who took that little pill to the limit and brought the walls of reality crashing down on her when she became additcted and thought the she had the ability to stop any time she chose. Her son and new husband, Tally were the ones that got the back lash when she went back on her promises and became a whole different person. Janet tries to take her life and ends up taking another. Will she have the will to want to live and try for a future and forgiveness or will she give up?

[Mommywest]

I just found this book on Amazon, and it deals with one of the characters from Josi Kilpack's first novel whom I didn't like very much. She shows up in "To Have Or To Hold" as a very likeable character--in fact, as one of the most helpful characters to the main character, Emma. I couldn't reconcile the two representations; having to make up what might have happened in my mind so that I could handle the 180-degree difference. I was excited to find this book because it will complete the bridge for me, and because the author can obviously do a better job at telling the stories of her own characters. I read that it talks about prescription drug abuse; it should be an interesting read.

[Kristyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to read because you know what's going to happen in this downward spiral. Even medication we think is harmless, can get out of control. It's easy to start justifying our actions when we see good results, but it all builds up to a big challenge in the end.

A good reminder that if we say we 'have' to take something, then we need to look at the reason why we 'have' to have it; because a doctor said so, or because we said so. Addiction is bad, no matter what form it comes in. Eye opening book.

[Dorry Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book but I am not into drugs and people on them. Janet has had a troublesome life so she depended on pills to help her coop. When she finally meets a guy going thru' his own set of problems, she lies to keep him from knowing her secret drug life. They marry and their life is nothing but problems from the word go. Things come to a head when she tries to kill herself by overdosing. She almost succeeds. The road back for them is very hard and long and her husband wonders if he will ever be able to trust her again.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really went on a rollor coster on this book. I really didn't think they should get together, then when they did I thought she really doens't deserve him. Then I thought maybe he can help her, then agian....no she is just mean. I went back and forth. Now that I am done I still think she doesn't deserve him, hope that doesn't give anything away.

[Tami Lowe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciated this book because of the addiction factor. At times it really taught me a little about my own struggles, and I felt for the characters. As with many LDS novels, it was a little (little?) predictable. But I don't usually mind that too much, as long as the ride is good. This was a good ride for me.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel deals with prescription (and other) drug abuse and addiction. It reminded me in many ways of the documentary "Happy Valley". The story opens with the main character about to commit suicide via overdosing, and then it takes quite awhile to get back to that point. Overall, it was an enjoyable story, with just a few parts that were slow.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like this author. This book, however, was somewhat hard for me to read. I had a hard time identifying with the main character. At the same time, I think the whole issue of addiction is so important for everyone to understand better, not only so we can avoid addictions, but so that we can have compassion on those who struggle daily with those monsters.

[Tanis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very well written and I liked it. I guess the issues addressed in the book were a little disturbing. It's about a woman who struggles with an addiction to prescription drugs. It's kind of scary to think about how you can let something like that take control of your life.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book. You didn't know how it would end and the ending really is wonderful. The power of answered prayers is truly amazing and you see this in the book though the character questions it because of the events that have happened.

[Sheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye-opening story about a woman struggling with prescription drug use. I read this about the time a family member was going through the same thing, so it really hit home. One of my favorite Josi Kilpack books!

[Erin Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

This started out as a difficult read, I generally don't like books about addictions because they are overwhelming and painful. Once I pushed through the hard parts, this was a very sweet and tender story, and the recovery made the book very worth it. I would recommend it.

[Maree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this story--if you can "enjoy" a story about drug dependence. It was skillfully written and I think really brough to light just how easy it would be to be in Janet's (main character's) shoes. Hits home because we ALL know someone like Janet.

[Heather]

Realistic, entertaining, and educational all wrapped in one--without coming across the least preachy. Story of a woman's struggle with prescription drug addiction. I loved learning what happened to this character from Earning Eternity. Dh loved it too.

[Cheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book opens up the terrifying and very real life of a prescription drug addict, and the affects her addiction has on the people who love her. The reader sees first hand how quickly a life can spiral out of control, even when it seems perfect.

[Nadine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drug addiction is a nasty topic, but Ms Kilpack handles this novel very well. The storyline has no surprises, but her insights into the way an addiction could happen and how it could also get under control are very interesting.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense at moments and yet sad to realize that this is such a common addiction. Good book to make you want to be better in life.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. The beginning I was rather annoyed by Janet. I scanned some of the middle of the book but the last third I really liked.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Addiction is scary! I liked this book, and it was nice to follow up with some previous characters, but it got a little long.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down! Makes you understand people with addictions. I LOVE Josi Kilpacks' books...so amazing! I can never just put them down! Such a good author!