An Unlikely Blessing by Judy Baer

An Unlikely Blessing is a heartfelt story about a new pastor and life-long city dweller Alex Armstrong, who reluctantly accepts his first assignment, a two-point parish in the wilds of North Dakota . Hilltop Township , a farming community, blooms from the prairie like a wild pink rose—lovely and prickly all at once, much like the people who live there.



Alex quickly finds that this lovely place is in quiet peril. Farmers are struggling to make ends meet: Jonas Owens, a faithful member of Hilltop parish, is on the brink of losing the farm. Alex believes that part of why God called him to Hilltop was to help turn things around, and steps in with ideas for saving the Owens' land. But can even God's minister help save this rural community?

My review:
I signed up to review this book, but admit when I got it, I wasn't that excited to read it. It just didn't look like my kind of book. I was wrong. Maybe it is because I identified with the main character: a 42-year-old single guy starting out new. Whatever the reason - I loved it. It was a fun book to read.

I believe one characteristic of a great novel is when the author writes the story in such a way that you want to step into the pages and experience what the characters are exploring. To see and be where they are. This book does just that. It isn't suspenseful as in the mystery way, though I found myself wondering what Alex would experience next.

The book is humorous. It was destined to be so. A single city guy starting his first pastorate out in the middle of nowhere, pastoring two churches, one of which does not like the other church. The book is full of colorful characters, and I found myself anticipating what crazy thing some of them would do or say next.

Another great characteristic of a novel is finding yourself sorry that the end of it has come, and find yourself wishing the next book would come out soon. And yes, that is the situation I found myself in. I am highly recommending this book, and series. It is a great book to curl up with on a cold, snowy day, which is exactly what I did.

My only complaint about the book, is there were a lot of characters to keep up with, but I eventually caught on, and cannot wait for the sequel.

About the author:

Judy Baer is the author of over seventy-five books for adults and teens. She has won the Romance Writer of America Bronze Medallion and has been a RITA finalist twice. She lives in Elk River , Minnesota with her husband. Follow the Hilltop characters on Judy’s blog and find out more about Judy and her books at http://www.judykbaer.com/


Kindle contest details:

Prolific author of over 75 novels, Judy Baer, is launching her new Guideposts series, Forever Hilltop, with a KINDLE giveaway! The first book in the series, An Unlikely Blessing is available now wherever fine books are sold.


Read the reviews here.

In celebration of the release of An Unlikely Blessing, Judy is giving away a KINDLE prize package worth over $175.

One lucky winner will receive:

• Brand New KINDLE with Wi-Fi
• A $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com
Thanks to Guideposts and Litfuse for the review copy.

Check out more reviews on the blog tour here.