Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Review: Discovering Peace by Jennifer Ann Holt

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Author: Jennifer Ann Holt
Published: March 2014 by Cedar Fort Publishing and Media
Length: 240 pages



My Review: I often wonder what happens in a story after the book is finished. In this case, Ally placed her baby for adoption in Delivering Hope. In Discovering Peace, we are able to see what happens next. We see that it isn't just "sign the papers and move on without a care in the world." It's tough; it's real; it's a sacrifice.Watching Ally move on with her life was amazing. She was so strong. Not everyone was accepting of her choice--even her mom struggled with it, yet we can see the growth that happened to everyone involved because of her decision. I loved how the story went back and forth between Ally's life and the mother who adopted Hope--Olivia. Life is a journey and I loved how real this one was. There were hard times and struggles, yet there were times that were uplifting. I thought it was done in a very positive way that truly led to hope and peace.

Content: no language or violence; obviously, some talk of premarital relations, but no details given. Clean.

I loved reading more about her own personal story, which I'm sure played into some of her writing. What an amazing woman! Be sure to read more about her below.

**I received a copy from the author to read and review, but that didn't influence my opinion.**

About the Book: Placing her baby girl for adoption isn’t the mistake Ally is running away from, but everyone else seems to think it is. As Ally tries to move forward in her life, her past keeps pulling her back, and she wonders if she will ever find true love again. Only holding onto hope can help Ally find the peace she’s seeking.


About the Author:
Jennifer Ann Holt
 My name is Jennifer Ann Holt. I grew up as a farm girl in Enterprise, Utah, so I have lots of experience moving sprinkler pipe and mucking out calf pens. I can hold my own when handling a tractor as well. I have always loved reading and really like the power of the written word to heal, bring people together, provide comfort and understanding, and uplift.

I graduated Cum Laude from Brigham Young University in December 1998 with a degree in Physical Education / Physical Therapy Emphasis. In March of 1999 I married my wonderful husband and we started our life together.

After a couple years of marriage, and without having had a successful pregnancy, we began pursuing both adoption and increasingly aggressive fertility treatments. We were blessed to be chosen by an amazing birth mom, and we adopted our beautiful daughter as a newborn. Following several failed adoption attempts, and several more years of fertility treatments (including a couple of surgeries) I became pregnant with our youngest son. We were waiting to update our adoption portfolio until after the first trimester to make sure the pregnancy was going to stick, and when I was just about a week shy of that 12-week mark, a wonderful birth mom picked us as the family for her soon-to-be-born baby boy.

She didn't mind that I was pregnant, she felt strongly that her baby boy was to join our family, and he did! We were excited at the prospect of our two boys only being 6 months apart. Then, my pregnancy took a nose dive. I developed severe toxemia almost overnight and had a small stroke. In addition, we discovered that the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck 3 times. So, in order to save both of our lives, my doctor performed an emergency c-section and delivered our 2 lb. 8 oz. son about 3 months early. I was very blessed to recover with only some slight numbness on the left side of my face. And after spending 8 1/2 weeks in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit, and undergoing numerous blood transfusions, a surgery, and many scary moments, our youngest was able to come home and join his big brother and sister.

Today, my husband and I have three wonderfully healthy, happy children (including our two boys who are 3 months apart), and we feel at peace that all of the members of our family are here.

Besides reading and writing, I love to take my kids to the zoo and to just about any kind of museum, spend time volunteering in their classrooms at school, and during the summer we spend every possible moment on the lake, wakeboarding and wakesurfing.

I love to speak about adoption and infertility, particularly about adopting and raising a multi-racial family and how to find hope and healing through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I must say that my family and life has not turned out the way I always thought it would...it is even better than I could have possibly imagined. Visit her website.

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