The Choice by Robert Whitlow (Book Review / Nook Color Giveaway)

In association with Litfuse Publicity, Jersey Girl Book Reviews welcomes Robert Whitlow, author of The Choice!

The Choice by Robert Whitlow
Published By: Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Format: Paperback - 432 pages / Kindle - 938 KB / Nook - 1 MB
ISBN: 1401685617
ASIN: B007N427KW
Genre: Christian Fiction

About The Author:

Robert Whitlow is the best-selling author of legal novels set in the South and winner of the prestigious Christy Award for Contemporary Fiction. A Furman University graduate, Whitlow received his J.D. with honors from the University of Georgia School of Law where he served on the staff of the Georgia Law Review. A practicing attorney, Whitlow and his wife, Kathy, have four children. They make their home in North Carolina.


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Thomas Whitlow's The Choice Virtual Book Tour Page On Litfuse Publicity

Virtual Book Tour Contest Giveaway

Win A Nook Color 

& 

Facebook Chat Party

Celebrate with Robert by entering to win a Nook Color with GlowLight!

One "choice" winner will receive:

A Nook Color with GlowLight
A four book Robert Whitlow library (winner's choice)

Enter today by clicking one of author Robert Whitlow's The Choice virtual book tour page on Litfuse Publicity. But hurry, the giveaway ends on August 27th.

Winner will be announced at the The Choice Author Chat Facebook Party on 8/28. Meet Robert, get a sneak peek of his next book, try your hand at a trivia contest, and more. There will also be gift certificates, books and a Book Club Prize Pack to be won (10 copies for your book club or small group.)!

Robert Whitlow's The Choice Virtual Book Tour Page On Litfuse Publicity

The Choice Author Chat Facebook Party


                     Click Below To Enter: Contest Runs 8/7-8/27!

The Choice Book Trailer

Book Review

BUY THE BOOK: The Choice

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Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Litfuse Publicity.

Book Description:

One young woman. Two very different roads. The choice will change everything.

Even as a pregnant, unwed teen in 1974, Sandy Lincoln wanted to do the right thing. But when an ageless woman approached her in a convenience store with a mysterious prophecy and a warning, doing the right thing became even more unclear. She made the best choice she could . . . and has lived with the consequences.

More than thirty years later, a pregnant teen has come into her life, and Sandy’s long-ago decision has come back to haunt her. The stakes rise quickly, leaving Sandy with split seconds to choose once more. But will her choice decision bring life . . . or death?


Book Excerpt:

It's 1974 and abortion is newly legal---but that doesn't make it an easy decision for 17-year-old Sandy, whose boyfriend and family want her pregnancy to "go away."

Torn, she meets a stranger who prophesies that she's carrying twins---and that if these brothers ever meet, one will die.

What can it mean? And what should she do?

My Book Review:

One young girl made a sacrificial choice only to have it come back full circle more than thirty years later when her past choice comes back to haunt her.

The story is told in two parts:

Seventeen year old Sandy Lincoln is a popular straight A student in her senior year of high school in Rutland, Georgia. One careless night with her boyfriend Brad Donnelly will change her life forever. When Sandy finds out that she is pregnant, she is faced with the responsibility of making a decision from the options available to her. The year is 1974 and the U.S. Supreme Court has just made the ruling that abortions are legal. Sandy's football hero boyfriend and his family wants her to get an abortion. Sandy's parents wants her to go stay with her Aunt Linda in Atlanta until she has the baby and put him/her up for adoption. There is also the option to keep  the baby and raise him/her on her own with or without the help of her parents. Sandy decides to go to Atlanta and stay with her aunt and put the baby up for adoption. Halfway to her aunt's house, Sandy stops at a convenience store/gas station, where she meets a mysterious old woman, who tells her a prophesy that haunts her: she is like Rebekah and is carrying twin sons, that she must separate them at birth, and if they ever should meet, one of them is going to die. Believing in this mysterious prophesy, Sandy finds out that she is in fact carrying twins, and when her sons are born, she requests to have them adopted by separate families. While in Atlanta, Aunt Linda treats Sandy like an adult and teaches her life lessons that will result in Sandy becoming a responsible and mature young woman.

Thirty-four years later, it is now 2008 and Sandy has become a high school teacher. Maria Alvarez, a pregnant teenage student seeks out Sandy for advice. While the school has a counselor to assist Maria, she feels more comfortable with Sandy, which sets off a firestorm that will lead to legal consequences for Sandy, and ultimately will bring back full circle her past choices and the long ago mysterious prophesy.

The Choice is a powerful and compelling story of the life lessons learned from choices made. This sobering and thought provoking story is masterfully written in the third person narrative, with the reader following along with the two part life story of Sandy Lincoln. This story engages the reader with controversial topics that deals with the social issues of teen pregnancy, abortion, adoption, and pro life vs. pro choice beliefs in an inspiring Christian fashion that is not preachy. This is a story that will evoke the full gamut of emotions, you can't help but walk in Sandy's shoes with her as she makes her decision, and then again when the ramification of her past choice comes full circle thirty-four years later. Rich in details and vivid descriptions, the author takes from his legal experience as an attorney and weaves a powerful tale with compassion and sensitivity to the controversial social issues that are still present in today's society.

The author provides a cast of characters who are realistic, down-to-earth and complex people that the reader can relate to. I think that the author did a wonderful job of writing from the perspective of a teen mother. I did not find the characters to be stereotypical as other reviewers did, I thought that they were written in a believable and realistic fashion, to me they were simply human like we are. The dialogues and interactions flowed smoothly between the characters, their individual personalities come through in a way that the reader gets to know each of them. I admired the strength and dignity of Sandy as she made her decision, and I also admired Aunt Linda for providing life lessons and teaching Sandy to become a mature, independent and educated woman.

The Choice is an amazing story that looks at the sacrificial choices that people make in their lives, and the impact and ramifications that may come from them. This story will pull at your heartstrings, it will make you think and feel, and most of all it will resonate with you long after you have read the last page.


RATING: 5 STARS *****