Stray Affections by Charlene Ann Baumbich

I have a confession to make – I missed a deadline. I had in my mind that this particular book review was due next Friday, but it was not. It was due today. I have read two chapters of Stray Affections by Charlene Ann Baumbich, so I am obviously not equipped to give an adequate review.

I will say that I am intrigued. As I have read through the first few chapters of background I see a young woman who has much in her life that has caused strain on her character and personality. Although she is striving to be a strong, well-balanced wife and mother, there are many thought patterns and behaviors that clearly reflect the struggles she has endured.

Here are a basic overview of the book and a little information about the author...

In Stray Affections , the last thing that Cassandra expects out of her Sunday is to be mesmerized at a collectors’ convention by a snowglobe. She’s enjoying some shopping time, with husband Ken at home tending their brood of four young boys, when she’s utterly charmed by the one-of-a kind globe containing figures of three dogs and a little girl with hair the color of her own. She can’t resist taking the unique globe home—e ven if means wrestling another shopper for it!

The beautiful snowglobe sparks long-dormant memories for Cassie, of her beloved Grandpa Wonky, the stray she rescued as a child, and the painful roots of her combative relationship with her mother, “Bad Betty” Kamrowski. Life in Wanonishaw, Minnesota is never dull, though, and Cassie keeps the recollections at bay, busy balancing her boys, her home daycare operation, and being a good friend to best pal Margret. But after a strange— flurrious,as Cassie deems it—moment happens with the remarkable snowglobe, Cassie and the people she loves are swirled into a tumultuous, yet grace-filled, and life-changing journey.

“As a believer, I know the power of forgiveness and new beginnings, and of a God, and family and friends, who love me the way I am,” Charlene Ann Baumbich says." The heartbeat of change flows through those wonderful gifts.”

With the quirky, close-knit Midwestern small-town feel that made Charlene Ann Baumbich’s acclaimed Dearest Dorothy novels so popular, Stray Affections invites readers to experience the laughter and the healing of second chances.

Charlene Ann Baumbich is a popular author and speaker and an award-winning journalist. In addition to her Dearest Dorothy series of novels, she has written seven nonfiction books of humor and inspiration. A bungee-jumping, once motorcycle-owning grandma and unabashed dog lover, Charlene lives with her husband and rescued dog Kornflake in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She loves telling stories, laughing whenever possible, and considers herself a Wild Child of God.

Here is a clip of the author sharing a portion of the book.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=101927788491

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWwya52SkjU