Penny Wise by Neta & Dave Jackson #bookreview

A Rup Life received a copy of this book for review purposes.  All opinions are my own.  This post contains affiliate links. 

Penny Wise is the latest book in the Windy City Neighbors series by Neta & Dave Jackson.  I was privileged to be part of the blog tour / review team for this book.

Book Teaser:

Penny Wise introduces us to yet another family in "the neighborhood"---the Jaspers, busy with demanding jobs, busy with church, busy volunteering, parents of three active teenagers, juggling sometimes crazy schedules. All good things. Until all those "good things" feed into a series of crises that affects the whole family. Something's gotta change!

The third in the Windy City Neighbors series, Penny Wise is a contemporary peek at an urban family wrestling with the spiritual and practical challenges of real life. The series employs the innovating storytelling technique of "parallel novels," each with its own drama and story arc, but whose characters' lives become intertwined with their neighbors and affect one another. Welcome to Beecham Street---a typical, isolated American neighborhood that is beginning to come out of its shell . . . for better or worse.


About the authors: Dave and Neta Jackson are award-winning authors living in the Chicago area where their parallel novels from the Yada Yada House of Hope and Harry Bentley series are set. As a husband/wife writing team, Dave and Neta Jackson are enthusiastic about books, kids, walking with God, gospel music, and each other! Together they are the authors or coauthors of over 100 books.

Find Neta and Dave online: website

My Thoughts:

I was committed to read  this book for the blog tour.  About twenty pages in I wasn't so sure I was a fan.  It was moving slow for me because the Jackson's give a lot of detail.  They really put a lot of work into building a solid story.  If I'm being honest I haven't read many books like that in a long time and I had become a lazy reader!  I wanted the plot just thrown at me!  Not the case with this book and I'm so happy I stuck past the beginning!

The story is told from the mother Michelle Jasper's point of view.  She is a busy working mom of three kids, who is active in her church and additional volunteer work.  She is passionate and realizes that she is just too busy to have much quality in any area of her life.  Her husband - Jared- is equally busy with his full-time job that has crazy hours and ministry work.  Most of the plot resolves around them trying to work out a better schedule.  It was something every parent can relate too.  

Through out the story Michelle is looking to God for answers in what to change in her life to give it quality.  Through some extreme events (which brought me to tears!) Michelle and her husband come to realize what they truly want in life and what they have to give up.  She asks God for a small miracle - a penny- and He uses that to really change her whole life around!

This story is very relevant to today's times.  We are all struggling with our daily commitments.  I know myself I want to be more active serving in our local church but I have to keep the balance between blogging/homeschooling (my work), keeping the home (my struggle) and quality time with my family (my heart).  It gave a nice reminder on what we need to focus on all while being a great story!  I'm so happy I stuck it out because by the tenth chapter I wanted to know how the book would end. 

You can purchase your copy of Penny Wise at your local book retailer and online book retailers like Amazon. 

Be sure to visit Penny Wise's landing page  to see additional reviews and information about this book.