Book Review: At Every Turn

Author: Anne Mateer
Publication Date: September 4, 2012
Publisher: Bethany House

She's off to the races!

Caught up in a whirlwind of religious enthusiasm, Alyce Benson impetuously pledges three thousand dollars to mission work in Africa. Now she just has to find a way to get the money.

Alyce harbors a secret passion for speed and automobiles, and she's spent many an afternoon driving around the rustic track in the field behind her home. When she discovers that her father's company has sponsored a racing car that will compete in several upcoming events--races in which the driver will be paid and could win as much as five thousand dollars in prize money--she conspires with her father's mechanic, Webster, to train and compete.

But when her friends cast aspersions on Webster's past, she realizes she may have trusted the wrong person with her secret. Will Alyce come up with the money in time, or will she have to choose between her hasty promise and the man who holds a piece of her heart?

I love dominant female characters. You can almost guarantee that I will at least give a book a try if it portrays a dominant female role. I also like to switch up my genres every now and again. This book is Christian Fiction and I love reading them every so often because they are usually so light-hearted and just plain fun. I can almost always connect to the characters and they are usually very likeable. I love the cover of this book. I love the obvious brave and courageous woman that stands front and center, but I also love the background that is surrounding her as well. It really sets the mood for a great historical fiction novel!

If you are prepared for an adventure at all costs then you need to hang out with Alyce Benson for awhile! Alyce is fun, free, and fearless! All that makes her my kind of girl! I loved Alyce and I loved her story. She definitely made this book for me. From the first page I could tell that she had many passions in life and she was certainly a dreamer. But aren’t those the best characters to read about? She seems like the kind of character that gets herself in a lot of messes, but not on purpose!

 

What I loved most about this story was its time period, which was the early 1900’s. This was a time when women were still testing the waters and not yet sure of their place in society. So what makes that all the more interesting is that in At Every Turn we are given a woman like Alyce who defies every standard placed upon her. She wants to race cars, and we all know that a lot of women in the early 1900’s were not participating in activities like this one. But that’s why I love Alyce Benson! She was not your average girl, but she sure did have a big heart! I loved reading about her love and passion for racing and how she used the sport to her advantage.

 

This book has a little bit of everything mixed in. There is romance and adventure and a race for the ultimate prize! This book only took me a short time to read and I thought it was the perfect book to kick off the Fall season. I was even fortunate enough to receive a signed copy!

 

***A huge thanks to Anne Mateer for my autographed copy of this book***