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Now playing: Mike Curb Congregation, The – Sweet Hour Of Prayer
via FoxyTunes   ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Rachel Hauck has multiple titles to her name. Her current release, Viva NashVegas is the second in a series which began with Lost in NashVegas. She is also a Blogger and a CFBA member! She lives in Florida with her husband.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Aubrey James ruled the charts as the queen of country for over a decade. She’d rocketed to fame in the shadow of her parents’ death-both of them pioneers in Gospel music. But while her public life, high profile romances, and fights with Music Row execs made for juicy tabloid headlines, the real Aubrey has remained a media mystery.
When a former band member betrays Aubrey’s trust and sells an “exclusive” to a tabloid, the star knows she must go public with her story. But Aubrey’s private world is rocked when the Inside NashVegas interviewer is someone from her past-someone she’d hoped to forget.
All the moxie in the world won’t let this Diva run any longer.
My review:
The book jacket synopsis pumps more into the “someone from her past” than there really was. She’d been out with the reporter once, and he abandoned her at the party, not realizing she didn’t have a way home. She slams a door in his face, but quickly forgives him after that. But over all, I found Diva NashVegas to be fairly well written, and an excellent example of multiple first person narration. Part of the story unfolds via interviews with the artist initials: interviewer initials: type format and other excerpts from media coverage and music-CD related items. This adds a riff chord that some may find a tad bumpy, but otherwise, the beat added that special something that sets a book apart, and it worked.
Theologically, the book tackles the territory of young girls with a solid Christian upbringing landing a secular recording contract, forgetting their roots as their fame grows, and getting swept away in the sexual immorality being practiced all around them. As in the classic CBA model, the ultimate story line centers on drawing Aubrey back to her roots and repentance, all fine and good.
Personally, I found the sexual purity message too understated–in my ears, it whispered, and had a hard time competing with Aubrey’s fiance shouting about the sin she takes her good time turning from. I admit, I likewise wasn’t sure what the author’s intentions were with including the “frozen chosen” lady, who had a strong prophetic sense of right and wrong, but also a serious lack of love that Paul says renders her a clanging gong. Still, it works in the story line; Aubrey’s finest moment is in humbly receiving the critique despite the harsh, unforgiving spirit it was given in.
My concern is predictable–the type who would not even receive her humble response like that often also tend to view fiction negatively to begin with. We have relatively few who have truth, but no love, at least compared to multitudes who have love, but not truth (a reference to the come as you are, stay as you are gospel that envisions a Christ who died on the cross so we could continue in sin and still go to a Holy Heaven many of these folks would actually hate.)
But that’s me. If you share my concerns, take it into consideration, though if you’re looking for a fast-paced, engaging read, this is one to consider, especially if you like engaged-to-the-wrong-guy romances.
As for the “frozen chosen” . . . well, as I said, you probably don’t read fiction anyway, and if you do, you probably already knew this won’t be your cup of tea from “queen of country,” or perhaps from, “Diva NashVegas.” After all, the word “diva” comes from the word “divine.” Celebrity worship is certainly seeping into enough Church basements today to be a concern. In my opinion, Hauck navigates that rapids pretty well. Give Aubrey a chance, and you might just like her. I did.
BTW, if you’re wondering why I’m so early . . . they loaded us with two tours this week. Diva’s on tour until Wednesday, and As I have Loved You starts there and runs through Friday. Pray that I actually get it read by Friday. 