Book Description
Life has taught Miska Tomlinson that there are no honorable men. Her womanizing brothers, her absentee father, and Mark, the married baseball player who claims to love her—all have proven undependable. But Miska has life under control. She runs her editing business from her luxury condo, stays fit with daily jogs along Chicago’s lakefront, and in her free time blogs anonymously about life as a kept woman.
Enter new neighbor Dillan Foster. Between his unexpected friendship and her father’s sudden reappearance, Miska loses control of her orderly life. Her relationship with Mark deteriorates, and Miska can’t help comparing him to Dillan. His religious views are so foreign, yet the way he treats her is something she’s longed for. But Dillan discovers exactly who she is and what she has done. Too late she finds herself longing for a man who is determined to never look her way again.
When her blog receives unexpected national press, Miska realizes that her anonymity was an illusion. Caught in a scandal about to break across the nation, Miska wonders if the God Dillan talks about would bother with a woman like her—a woman who’s gone too far and done too much.
Narelle’s Thoughts
I bumped ‘Kept’ up to the top of my ‘to be read’ pile after my Aussie and NZ writer friends raved about the book on the Australasian Christian Writers blog. You can read Ian Acheson’s review of ‘Kept’ here. My dear friend Andrea Grigg, who knows my reading tastes, assured me that I’d love ‘Kept’. She was dead right (thanks, Andrea!). If I had to describe this book in only one word, I would choose brilliant. I read the book in less than a day because I just couldn’t put it down.
What was it about ‘Kept’, by Inspy Romance author Sally Bradley, that grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let me go? It was different to the typical Christian romance. I will confess that I didn’t particularly like Miska, the heroine and main character, for a large part of the story. It’s unusual for me to enjoy a romance when I’m not fully engaged with the heroine and comfortable spending time in her head.
Miska was real and flawed and her life was very messy. When Dillan and Garrett move into the apartment next door and Garrett’s fiance, Tracy, befriends Miska, she interacts with Christians for the first time. Miska’s dysfunctional family and upbringing contributed to her making a series of decisions that would have big and hard consequences down the track. Miska was closest to her half sister, Adrienne. Their father’s reappearance created additional problems in Miska’s already complex relationship with Adrienne.
Dillan was an assistant pastor who struggled with his strong physical attraction to his wild child neighbor. Miska was initially very scathing of all things Christian. I loved Dillan’s strength of character and his integrity when confronted with temptation and Miska’s lifestyle choices that were so very different to his own.
I really liked the realism in the story. The character’s motivations and actions weren’t sugar coated and the minor characters added significant value to the story. Tracy was a fascinating character and her unconditional love and acceptance of Miska was a highlight in the story. The faith element in ‘Kept’ was more overt than in many Christian romances, but it worked and the story didn’t feel preachy.
In many ways ‘Kept’ was all about sex. Miska believed she was in love with Mark, a married professional baseball player who gifted her with large amounts of money when he was in town and warming her bed. Miska was a romance editor who worked from home and lived in a luxurious Chicago apartment with a mortgage she couldn’t afford on her salary alone. There was sexual tension in the story and off-stage bedroom scenes that were tastefully handled. The duplicitous and hedonistic behavior of a few of the characters in the story was well done and a reflection of our society.
I highly recommend ‘Kept’ to mature readers who are looking for a cutting edge contemporary Christian romance that tackles real to life issues.
A fun loving Aussie girl at heart, Narelle Atkins was born and raised on the beautiful northern beaches in Sydney, Australia. She has settled in Canberra with her husband and children. A lifelong romance reader, she found the perfect genre to write when she discovered inspirational romance. Narelle's contemporary stories of faith and romance are set in Australia and international locations.
Narelle, thanks so much for your review! I always love hearing readers’ thoughts on it–who they loved, didn’t love, connected with, etc. I’m amazed at how often people say they love Tracy! I really didn’t expect that. Might have to write the girl her own book… :)
You’re totally correct that this is a book for a more mature audience–as in my thirteen-year-old daughter is not reading KEPT until she’s probably in college. I wanted to deal with the reality of our society–a promiscuous society, yet one God is still working in. And I’m thrilled with how readers are responding.
Thanks again! And am I right in that this is your anniversary month too? Happy anniversary!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Narelle! I am adding KEPT to my TBR list!
Thank you, Britney! Hope you love it. :)
Hi Sally, You’re very welcome :) Yay! I hope you will give Tracy her own story, and I won’t say why because it will reveal spoilers from Kept.
My anniversary was in January. Ours was a summer wedding in Australia, and we kind of take our time and celebrate during the year. Next year, for our twentieth, we’re hoping to visit our US relatives in Oregon via Hawaii!
Thanks, Britney :) I hope you’ll have an opportunity to read Kept very soon!
Yikes, maybe it’s just me, but I’m not sure I’d be interested in this book! Yes, I can see from your review it tackles real life issues & I know there are those things in the world. But for me, I tend to steer away from certain subjects & boundary pushing Christian fiction. I get that these things happen, I get that life’s messy, I get all that & I am sure that this is a wonderful story of redemption, God’s grace & mercy on one woman’s life. This is in no way a bad reflection on Sally as the author, just my personal taste in books. Not every book is for every one. Thank you Narelle, I really appreciate your honest review. Blessings on your week :-)
P.S. My intent isn’t to offend anyone here, please forgive me if I did!
Hi Trixi, Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and perspective :) I love the diversity of books available in the Christian contemporary romance genre and among the Inspy Romance authors. It sounds like this book isn’t for you, and that’s perfectly fine. I’m glad my review has helped you to know that you’re not the target audience for Kept. I’m sure there are many readers who will read my review, and the reviews of Kept by others, and discover that Kept is the type of book they’d love to read. If Sally was a less talented and skilled author, I may well have put the book aside because I struggled at times to identify with Miska and her lifestyle choices. Blessings to you :)
Great review, Narelle. I second Tracy getting her own novel.
Thanks, Ian :) Tracy’s story would be an auto-buy for me!
We were making plans for our twentieth next year today. :) And we might end up in the same neck of the woods. How interesting is that? A much longer trip for you, though. That plane flight/flights… ugh!
Trixi, absolutely no offense taken! No book will please everyone. So no trouble here. :)
You have a wonderful week too!
Must come up with idea… !!!!
And Tracy’s the kind of girl that Trixi might love to read about. :)