About the Book
Book: Wish Upon a Star
Author: Jennifer Sienes
Genre: Christmas Christian Women’s Fiction
Release date: November 9, 2021
Fairy tales and wishing upon stars are for those who still believe in romance.
Sometimes misplaced trust injures more than ourselves, and doesn’t Elaina Hensley know it. When her oldest daughter is left suffering the consequences, Elaina vows to protect her girls at any cost. Nothing, not even her own happiness, will sway her again.
Or will it?
She’s got this protective self-denial down pat–right up to the moment her best friend’s brother arrives on the scene like a fairytale knight, vowing to slay all her dragons. She must—she will resist.
However, when her worst nightmare comes back to haunt her, Elaina has to admit she needs that white knight on her side.
MY THOUGHTS: When you trust the wrong person, it can have lasting consequences. Elaina learned this lesson, and she’s spent the rest of her life trying to make up for it. As a mother, her instinct is to protect her children at all cost. Overprotecting becomes a way of life.
When the chance at love comes around again, memories of her past mistakes haunt her worse than ever. With the past intruding in the present, Elaina fights against what her heart and her family want. The only way to move forward is to learn to forgive.
Whether romantically or not, I think most of us have experienced placing our trust in the wrong person on some level. Our situations may not have resulted in the same disastrous consequences as Elaina’s, but we can understand her hurt and her desire to protect herself. And if we happen to be parents too, we can also understand her strong desire for her children to avoid being hurt.
Wish Upon a Star touches on all this with a healthy dose of romance woven in. It’s a story I believe many of us can relate to and enjoy. I give it four stars.
Click here to get your copy!
About the Author
Jennifer Sienes holds a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in education, but discovered life-experience is the best teacher. She loves Jesus, romance and writing–and puts it altogether in inspirational contemporary fiction. Her daughter’s TBI and brother’s suicide inspired two of her three novels. Although fiction writing is her real love, she’s had several non-fiction pieces published in anthologies–two in Chicken Soup for the Soul. She has two grown children and one very spoiled Maltese. California born and raised, she recently took a step of faith with her real-life hero and relocated to Tennessee.
More from Jennifer
Do you remember what Christmas was like as a child? I do. Some of my fondest memories come that holiday when I was growing up. There was a deep sense of family and tradition that I desperately wanted to instill in my own children. No small part of that was the innocence that came from being protected by the harsh realities of life. I envisioned growing old with the grands and great-grands gathered around a Christmas tree bursting with ornaments and sharing the customary Christmas dinner.
My future didn’t quite pan out the way I’d envisioned it. What was it John Lennon said? “Life is what happens when you’re busy making plans.” Or if you want to keep with the Biblical viewpoint: In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps (Proverbs 16:9)
Although my innocence went by the wayside as I became an adult, I held onto that dream until the Christmas morning my first husband announced he was leaving me. It was then I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. He anchored me in the following months along with my full-time teaching job, two teenage children, and a mother who was dying of leukemia. It wasn’t until October rolled around when my then seventeen-year-old son burst into my bedroom early one morning and said, “I just realized, Christmas will never be the same” that it hit me. I wasn’t the only one affected. For him, the dream died much too early. He was right—when splitting time between divorced parents, things get rather disjointed and complicated. Christmas was never the same for any of us.
But our God is a God of redemption. He takes our brokenness and disappointments and uses them for our good and His glory. Wish Upon A Star isn’t the traditional Christmas story you might find on the Hallmark channel. It’s about a broken family in need of a merciful Savior, and one woman in need of a white knight.
Just like Elaina Hensley, the main character, God had a more perfect plan for my life, too. Without the brokenness we cannot be made whole through Him to be who He calls us to be. In the years since that fateful Christmas morning, He’s given me my own white knight, a godly husband who loves to serve, and the opportunity to follow another childhood dream—to write the stories He’s laid on my heart.
Blog Stops
lakesidelivingsite, December 17
Texas Book-aholic, December 18
Stephanie’s life of Determination, December 18
Inklings and notions, December 19
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, December 20
For Him and My Family, December 21
deb’s Book Review, December 22
Locks, Hooks and Books, December 23
By the Book, December 24
Splashes of Joy, December 25
Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, December 26
Older & Smarter?, December 27
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, December 28
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, December 28
Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, December 29
Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, December 30
Genesis 5020, December 30
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Jennifer is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card & a copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/14f20/wish-upon-a-star-celebration-tour-giveaway
The Conversation
Heather, Thank you for sharing your wonderful review! Wish Upon a Star sounds delightful!
It is, and I think you’re going to enjoy it. Even if it is a little past Christmas!
Thank you so much for reading and reviewing Wish Upon a Star. I truly appreciate your thoughtful review. Merry Christmas!
It’s a good story, and I hope everyone will check it out. I know they will enjoy it!