Losing Hope

Written by Leslie J. Sherrod

Narrated by Patricia R. Floyd

Having earned starred reviews and a fervent following for her urban Christian fiction, Leslie J. Sherrod delivers the first in a riveting new series. In Losing Hope, Sienna St. James thinks she's finally close to getting over her long-lost, globetrotting husband. Or so she thinks. One Tuesday, everything begins to come apart when a succession of strange events-including the mystery surrounding a girl named Hope-brings her past, present, and future into question.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781470327804

Reviews for Losing Hope

[maydacat_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sienna St. James is one determined woman. Whether it pertains to her job or her personal life, she will go to extreme measures and that extra mile for answers. When she is blocked from doing her job as a social worker for a private agency, she demands to know why, and she begins her own investigation. Though warned away by anonymous threats, she faces the dangers head on without qualms. But when the subject is the supposed death of her estranged husband, she questions the legitimacy of the facts, especially since it affects her son. This novel is part suspense thriller and part romance, but it's all entertainment, with an interesting plot and characters that seem real.

[brokebookbank · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I won this in a First Reads Giveaway.I liked this book well enough and wish I could give 3 ½ . It's intriguing, captivating, mysterious and suspenseful. It's well written and beautifully so. There's some quotes and moments that I loved that I will included below, but it's hard with context . The characters and setting were realistic, and came alive. I love how this book stays true to the diversity of Baltimore and didn't shy away from including people of all shapes, sizes, backgrounds and colors. That was a breath of fresh air considering how prominent having an all lily white cast with a token of color is across all kinds of media. I found the social work aspect really pull me since I have experience in this area and many friends in it as well. That was the best part for me. I did identify well with the struggle to separate yourself from your partner, and how things get all twisted. I think the book is well done and I enjoyed the quick read. I was torn through between breezing through it and getting annoyed with boredom for relatively minor things. I think I might be coming back to the next book in the series because it's solid, has more things I like than didn't and the chance of disappointment is low, not for the nagging need to continue that comes with 5 star books. I'm not trying to be harsh. I understand that for other this book will rank higher and for good reason. I just found it to be solid, a bit annoying yet a bit above average. The main character, Sienna, and indeed every person in the cast is Christian. That's all fine and dandy. I mean really, my culture is dominantly Christian, including a lot of my family and friends. It's not the mere mention of it that deduces from the book. I do respect her for keeping religion apart from her work and clients. I hate how case workers sometimes push or feel religion is necessary. It was mainly how much scripture there is in this book. I found myself yawning and rolling my eyes at such passages since I'm not Christian, nor religious. I just couldn't connect with that aspect of Sienna. I understand and have grappled with faith before, so I get what she was going through, I just didn't find these parts compelling. However, I was able to connect and like Sienna for other things and aspects in her character. I just didn't like having to read all those psalms and such. I know it was important to Sienna and her character to detail the bible verses, even paragraphs at a time, but I skimmed those. The only part of Sienna I didn't really get was her issues and struggles with social justice. I get her struggles with her husband being gone for his work in social justice but she seemed to have issues with the very meaning of social justice and it's purpose. During one of these pondering flashback moments, she talks about a service in a remote village she went to with her husband, RiChard, for his work. RiChard brings up a good point about Christians coming into places to settle, civilize and preach. True, that service was peaceful and the people participating willing but that's not always the case, even today. It felt odd that she brought up the crusades being instances of this in the past but not slavery. It's not just ancient history either, that was rather dismissive and you'd think she'd keep up with current events all things considered. There are plenty of people who cling Christian ideology to justify their bigotry and persecution complex. There are also plenty of places to look at right now today if you want to see what would happen should the Right Wing Christians got what they want in regards to women rights, gay rights, etc. It's not a pretty picture. This instance is really minor though, a mere moment in this 400 page book that doesn't detract much, just illustrates why I was disconnected from Sienna in regards to faith. I liked the mystery part of the book. I think it was done well, though it didn't really knock my socks off. I saw some of it coming and was leaning toward other explanations. There were a couple of things that bugged me, that I will duly put behind a spoiler tag in my Goodreads review.

[alekee_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a page turning fast read! Once I started the words literally flew off the pages.There is a lot of mystery in this well written story. Sienna St. James is a Social Worker in Baltimore, MD. She lives with her son Ramon, and has not seen her husband in years, and actually does not know if he is even alive.One mystery flies to another when she tries to help on of Clients, Dayonna. You begin to think the girl is one big Mental case, but in some ways Sienna believes her, and begins her task to find Hope. You will love the Bible verses just popping into her head at the right time.You will wonder if she is going to end up with the Policeman Leon, the Church Music Director Tremont, or will her husband RiChard reappear? As the book goes along, you begin to wonder what is happening, and things are not always as they appear. If you like a good mystery, this is really a book for you! Also there is another book to come!!! Enjoy!I received this book through Tywebbin Virtual Book Tours, and was not required to give a positive review.