If you haven’t read any of Karen’s books in the past you are missing out!! And if you have you definitely want to read this one!! Such a sweet beginning that came in the perfect timing of things. I’m really glad that she chose to go back to the beginning of it all and fill in this part of the story. With Karen’s writing you get some real, raw events but they are woven into the story so well that you are swept into it with the characters. Back in a simpler day that wasn’t for them very simple… I recommend that you check this one out!!
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was posted on Amazon, Barnes and nobles and CBD under "rkfall" although they are being excepted now and so there are no direct links.

I read the first and second series of the Baxters and LOVED it. I don’t think I ever cried so much while reading books. I kind of lost interest after that and haven’t read much more. But when I saw this book I had to hear John and Elizabeth’s story.
The cool thing Karen did in this book was interweave another love story into it as well. One full of disappointment and heartache as well.
I soon found myself full of emotion and holding back tears and of being deeply engrossed in this story.
There is no doubt that Karen Kingsbury is a very talented author and knows how to put together a story that is not only emotionally moving but spiritually as well. I love the faith of these characters. They have had trails like all of us but that hasn’t stopped them leaning on Jesus.
Even if you haven’t read the Baxter series you could read this one anyway, but for those of you who have read their story this is a MUST read.

A copy of this book was given to my through Netgalley.com. All opinions are my own.

This book is the best of what i have read from Karen Kingsbury. The way she write the story about John and Elisabeth is awesome. With Andi and Cody you can't wait to read how the story ends. I've read this book in two days, That for me is real fast.
For my review check the links.

If you love the Baxter books by Kingsbury you will love this book and if you haven't read the Baxter books you will love this book. The author once again wrote a book I could not put down and had me waking up in the morning wondering how the family was doing. Kingsbury did a fabulous job filling in the gaps for those who aren't familiar with the Baxter's and provides a great background story for the genesis of the family. Enjoy his story & be prepared to binge read her other Baxter family books right away!

Karen Kingsbury is one of my favorite authors. “Love Story” is a wonderful story of redemption in the lives of the Baxter family. Sometimes in our daily lives we look at families that seem to have it all and think that they have never had any problems or made any mistakes. In “Love Story” the Baxter families beginnings are retold. The story is beautiful because God took a young couple who made a mistake and even in the midst of these events God guided their lives in such a special way even before they knew him as Savior.

I have read almost all of Karen Kingsbury’s books and I think this one is even better because it allows us to have a special peek into Elizabeth and John’s life together from the beginning. It reminds me that God is always doing things in our lives if we will just be open up our hearts and minds to what he has in store for our lives.

Karen has brought back several of her characters and in the process has woven a very captivating, enjoyable and wonderful update on the lives of these past characters in her books. This inspiring story has several different facets and updates which provide a relaxing and encouraging read for Kingsbury's past readers and new readers as well.

This book is impassioned, gregarious, jubilant, and full of the LORD who leads - Amen? This is a good story that has a more teenage and up theme - about out of wedlock pregnancy. This is the story that everyone has been waiting for, if you have been reading the Baxter family series. If you haven't been reading it you still could read it as a stand alone. It is the story of the patriarch's., how they met, fell in love and how she got into a little trouble and was sent away. What happened when she was away? What did they do to the gift she was given when she was away? All these years later did they ever do anything with that gift? The one thing I love love love is when the author has GOD speaking to the characters - directly to them - just like I hear HIS still small voice. I know not everyone hears it but some do and It is an incredible feeling can I get an Amen?

Thoughts:

LOVE STORY: A Novel (The Baxter Family Book 1) by Karen Kingsbury introduces us to John Baxter and his current wife Elaine, but we fall with them into the beginning of another love story, at a different time, and in a place where the definition of family changes forever!

The passing down of family history, backgrounds, and traditions can be a wonderful bonding opportunity, but sometimes, revisiting the past will put love, secrets, and pain on display. Could a grandchild’s school project be the burden that brings needless pain into a widower’s second marriage?

Meanwhile, new relationships come with issues as two become one in marriage, but closeness may crash and burn before the wedding. Could a couple with a thorny past begin anew? Cody Coleman and Andi Ellison endure a broken engagement, insecurities of a past love, and a hard case of PTSD, but while pride can sabotage a relationship, Cody still has hope. Then, one day, Andi breaks his heart. Is it finally his time to let her go?

Does protecting someone put him or her at risk through unintended consequences? Ashley and Landon cope with married life well, but her father’s story, her past, and her son’s heritage brings tender emotions to the surface. Ashley realizes the present will become daunting inside her blended family.

As we visit with the Baxters, we’ll marvel at just how real they are and how true to life their difficulties can be, but you will feel the deepness of their authentic faith through both painful and happy situations.

You can visit and connect with this enchanting family, their neighbors, and their friends through books, and they will be coming to the television near you. Take a seat, have coffee or tea, place tissues nearby, and you will uncover true joy inside the Baxter family.

Karen Kingsbury is one of my favorite authors, and LOVE STORY is just one of her stories that I highly recommend!

***This opinion is my own.***

Preview:

Karen Kingsbury is a #1 New York Times best-selling author showing the newest story of the Baxter family, and she is going back to where it all begins….

In LOVE STORY: A Novel (The Baxter Family Book 1), the interview is about how John and Elizabeth Baxter first fell in love, but this leads to current times in the life of the Baxter family and how those moments in history still infiltrate family life. John and his bride lived out their marriage for thirty years until her death, but John is enjoying retirement with his second wife, Elaine.

However, to relive his past brings his heart back to another. Is this fair to his wife? Will his past cause her distress? Would the pain of Elizabeth’s death from cancer bring the storied doctor to his knees, again?

A grandson’s heritage project has the power to create an impact. His grandmother loved him, and he knew Elizabeth before she died. Would John be able to live with Cole learning all about their story? From his love of their grandson, he agrees, but he knows the pain that he may cause them all. In this tale, his adult children do not yet know all of the details.

Now, John can see it is best to tell all.

Current times do not stand still for anyone as the story unfolds. Cole wants to know more about his life from his mother as his grandfather causes, even more, questions to come to mind, and Andi Ellison and Cody Coleman’s relationship wasn’t ever on the solid ground. As Cody gets a wake-up call on live television, he is either going to revive it or finally let it die.

If you have yet to meet the Baxters or if you have visited with them before, come visit them, now. Inside LOVE STORY, you will discover where it all begins and where your heart will meld with them.

How great it is to return to Bloomington, Indiana and catch up on what’s going on with the Baxter family! I’m so thankful Karen Kingsbury has now told the story that started it all. The Baxters may be fictional characters but I feel that I personally know each of them through all of her books. Elizabeth Baxter has always seemed to me to be the sweetest woman who was taken home by God far too soon. She was the rock of the family and her love and affection reflects in the wonderful job she did raising her own children. I would love to sit down with John Baxter on the porch of Landon and Ashley’s home and just talk about life in general, the struggles we all have, and the love of spending time with grandchildren! We have all read as Bailey has grown up and matured into a loving wife. I’m so happy that she and Brandon are now parents! Now I look forward to more about Cody Coleman and his new bride, Andi. Such a blessing that they worked things out and now have a life together to look forward to! Karen never disappoints me in her writing and I look forward to more novels from her!

I have only read a few of the Baxter family books, but loved that this one gave the backstory of John & Elizabeth Baxter. At first I was a bit bummed when I realized the book was going back in time for their story, I was more interested in Andi & Cody, but after the first interview, I could not wait to hear more. What a story they had to share, heartbreaking at times, but also so beautiful. I highly recommend this book for fans that have read all or most of the books to this point and even for newer fans like me, I personally do not think it will disappoint.

Cody and Andi have had their up and downs in the relationship and it seems that Andi is ready to see whats next for her. She heads to Louisiana to help with the flood victims and hopes thats going to be far enough away for her to think. John Baxter is approached by Cole to find out his and Elizabeth's love story and it brings back so many memories he feels like he's not going to be able to justice to the story.
I have read all but two of the Baxter series this book makes me want to go back and re-read them all it's like coming home again. You really don't have to read the whole series to know what's going on the author has done a good job and making sure you know each person and some back story, all while catching up. The book is packed with and amazing storyline not just details. If I had never known about this family I believe in my heart after reading this book I would want to. I loved how in this book the that even though you were find out John and Elizabeth's love story we were finally getting Cody and Andi's story. I have fallen in love with Cody Coleman and Ashley Baxter in previous books and I am hopeful there is more to come for Cody and Andi. If you have been following this family or if this is your first chance encounter with the Baxter's you won't regret it, grab this book and make some time to read this amazing read you won't regret it.

Love Story
A Novel

by Karen Kingsbury
Howard Books

Christian

Pub Date 06 Jun 2017




I am voluntarily reviewing a copy of Love Story through Howard Books and Netgalley:
Cody Coleman is continuing to work through the break up of his complicated relationship with Andi Ellison trying to rebuild a life for himself when an unexpected sighting leads to the possibility of a second chance? Is it meant to be, or is the relationship over for good?
Cody is the local high school football coach, who wants his players to see they have value, as players,but also as people and in God.
Andi Ellison is helping out at the temporary shelter set up for flood victims. She was sharing God's love with those in there weakest moments, showing them that God loved them, a long way from where she had been when she knew Cody.
John Baxter is the patriarch of the family, a former doctor, who had lost his first wife to Cancer, bow remarried he finds himself having to face the old wounds as Ashley and Blake's oldest son now in high school is given a family history project.
He learns of the hardships both his Grandfather and Grandmother faced even before they met.
This is the story of a love that was almost not allowed to blossom, but against all odds it did, and a family was built on that.
I give Love Story five out of five stars.
Happy Reading!!!

Karen Kingsbury never disappoints me! I have loved reading about the Baxter family for half my life and I will continue to read about them for as long as she writes about them. I feel like I know them at this point.

I have read about the Baxter Family from the very first book and have enjoyed every one of them. I have cried with them and I have laughed with them, but more importantly they have taught me how to love as a family.

I loved the way John and Elizabeth's story was woven together with present day stories. This was a perfect way of pulling everything together. Highly recommended.

Although the book's back-cover promises the story between John and Elizabeth Baxter, this only takes up a rather small part of the novel. Cole Paul, a grandson of the Baxter's has to write a heritage project for school, and this is what starts it all. This story line ramifies and other sub-plots are created. About four love stories are touched upon in this book, but not in depth. For those familiar with the Baxters and their friends, this is like a get-together.

For those not familiar with the Baxters and their friends, it may seem overwhelming, what with all the character names. But take heart - they are all presented at the beginning of the book. I haven't read the other Baxter family books in the previous series, but I was given enough details throughout the novel to figure everything out. This novel can read as a stand alone, a good starting point for who wants to read the next books in the series. *raises hand*

It read surprisingly quick. It is a Christian novel, so keep that in mind. The focus is on the plot, mostly, not something necessarily deep in the sense of literature class. There was the potential for more depth (PTSD, out of wedlock talk, past mistakes and consequences), but all the characters seemed to be calm and accepting, and in the know. Maybe it's just me coming to this novel without a background on the characters.

What irked me at one point was all the tears. These characters have no trouble kissing their spouse/ significant other and showing emotion through tears. But I liked the strong relationship this gave the characters, especially the married couples. Another thing that I thought unnecessary were all the isolated sentences to draw attention on them, making sure you, the reader, understand that they are important. Let the sentences live in a paragraph.

One aspect that surprised me in a good way was the openness with which the author showed the characters' faith and their connection to God. It makes them more endearing. I even liked the way they hear from God, "as if He spoke audibly", but this has the potential to be misunderstood, especially for someone not used to the "Christian lingo".

For fans of Karen Kingsbury, this will be a sweet and darling read. For those who don't normally read this genre, nothing to lose. For those who like Christian book series, this is a good choice.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30834957-love-story" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Love Story (The Baxter Family #1)" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1480886693m/30834957.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30834957-love-story">Love Story</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3159984.Karen_Kingsbury">Karen Kingsbury</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1931524557">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
What's your love story? Is it worthy of writing a paper about it? <br /><br />In <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3159984.Karen_Kingsbury" title="Karen Kingsbury" rel="nofollow">Karen Kingsbury</a>'s newest release, the reader is reconnected to the Baxter Family. Or, maybe like in my case, the reader is meeting them for the first time. The Baxter's are a fairly decent sized family with many facets. John and Elizabeth Baxter are the cornerstone of their family. When their grandson, Cole, asks John to share his love story with his former (now deceased) wife, Elizabeth, John finds himself reliving the life he shared with Elizabeth. Their love story is unique, yet shares patterns that many find in their lives today. <br /><br />Cody Coleman, long time family friend of the Baxters, is in utter romantic chaos. He's sick without the love of his life, Andi Ellison. However, how do you repair a relationship after two failed engagements? Can Cody come to grips with his feelings and explain to Andi why he's acted the way he has? Will Andi be accepting and welcome Cody back into her life for a third time? <br /><br />There are a lot of tender moments shared in this love story of the Baxter family. I read this book in about 4 hours straight and found that I could not put it down until it was completed. I look forward to reading more about the Baxter family (there are multiple books in different series about them) in the near future. <br /><br />Many thank to the author and publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book on NetGalley. These are my personal thoughts on the book.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/736648-julie">View all my reviews</a>

I am always thrilled to spend time with the Baxter's, so when I heard Karen Kingsbury was writing Love Story, i was over the moon with a excitement. That being said it wasn't a exactly all I was hoping for.
First, there were way to many sub stories going on. I had hoped it to focus more Cole's project about John and Elizabeth's early years, and their romance. And while that was there, it seemed to be more in the background.
Second, I wish they had left Bailey and Brandon out altogether.. just my personal opinion, I would have rather seen them in another book, maybe one focused just on Bailey and Brandon and their life together.

Overall I enjoyed Love Story, and would recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed The Baxter Family series.
If you have never read The Baxter family books, this book can still be enjoyed as enough back information is given to follow along

This was A fantastic book. I loved it I got emotional and I felt like I was in the story and got lost in the book and lost track of time..as if this series can get any better fantastic work

After reading the several series with the Baxter family as the foundation it was a joy to catch up with these characters to see where they are at now and I loved reading about how it all began with John and Elizabeth's love story. Karen is a very talented writer and always has me reading her books in a sitting or 2 and this was the same! Although this could be a stand alone I think readers familiar with any of the Baxter series novels will really enjoy it!!

Publisher's Description:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury comes a new book featuring everyone’s favorite family—the Baxters.

Decades ago, John and Elizabeth Baxter lived a love story that is still playing out in the lives of their adult children and grandchildren. But few of them know the exact details of that story or the heartbreak that brought the two together.

Now in high school, Ashley Baxter Blake’s oldest son, Cole, must write a family history paper for a freshman English class. He decides to interview his grandfather about that long ago love story.

John is hesitant, not sure if he can take the sorrow of reliving his love story with Elizabeth—especially now that he is remarried. But he agrees and allows his heart to go places it hasn’t gone in decades.

At the same time, Baxter family friend Cody Coleman is working through the breakup of his complicated relationship with Andi Ellison. He is determined to move on when a chance sighting changes his plans—and heart. Can Cody convince Andi to give their love another try or is it time for them to say goodbye, for good?

As school ends, Cole presents his report on the love story between his grandparents John and Elizabeth Baxter. It is a tale that touches the hearts of the entire family, and one that causes Cole to better understand his own beginning.

Whether you’re meeting the Baxter family for the first time or finding them all over again, Love Story will stir your heart and remind you of the generational impact of love and the eternal bond of family.

My Thoughts:

This is only the second book of Karen Kingsbury's that I have had the pleasure of reading thru NetGalley and reviewing. I am a longtime fan of her novels that have been turned into wonderful Hallmark Channel movies.


This is another of the many books about the Baxter Family, although it goes backwards in time, back to the beginning of it all with the remembrance of John's love story with Elizabeth, his first wife and the mother of all the Baxter siblings. There is also a secondary love story about the on and off relationship of Andi and Cody.
There are many layers to this series which includes twenty plus books.

As always when I read a book like this the innate sadness behind the story is touching but gives you hope.
As per usual with Karen's stories there is a feeling of family that always stirs the hearts and lives of her readers.

I gave this book 4.5 of 5 stars for storyline. Since the characters are old friends to readers of this series character development is not really involved in my rating.

I received a complimentary digital ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley to read. This in no way affected my opinion and review of this title which is given voluntarily.