Before You Came Along

Our first Reading Is a Lifestyle Christian subscription book pick!

Jill was the perfect mother. Tessa was the perfect student. At least until Toby came along, that is.

Forty-something pastor’s wife Jill and seventeen-year-old head cheerleader Tessa have more in common than they’d care to admit. Craving the acceptance they didn’t find in their mothers, they seek validation elsewhere—Jill through her flawless parenting and Tessa through her unmatched popularity. Both are putting on the show of a lifetime, too, out to prove to a watching world that life is playing out according to their perfectly manicured plans.
And then Jill’s son, Toby, enters both their lives, cracking their carefully constructed facades. When a single impulsive mistake plunges Tessa and Jill into a scandal that threatens to tear apart the church Jill has sacrificed her entire life to support—and with every eye in the congregation fixed squarely on them—Jill and Tessa are forced to confront the questions they’ve long avoided. Is Tessa’s image worth losing the chance at something real with someone who truly cares about her? And is Jill willing to surrender her tight grip on Toby so God can do the work He needs to do in his heart?

In this emotionally charged pro-life novel, follow Jill and Tessa as they navigate the wreckage of their plans and discover a faith that can weather any storm.