Book Spotlight: Hope Even After

Hard topics, while it's good that they're mentioned in short shows and commercials, sometimes need a deeper dive for us to really appreciate everything they entail. My friend Heather Greer does an excellent job of showing the hard side of alcoholism in her new book, Hope Even After. But she does more than that too. Read on to see why she chose to deal with something so hard in her newest romance.

What I’ve seen and experienced in my life prompted Luke and Daisy’s story in Hope Even After. It’s a different story than I usually tell, but I hope you’ll stick with me for a few minutes as I share my heart about why their story is so important for those in our churches today.
I grew up in the era when Jessie got hooked on caffeine pills to cope with the pressures of Bayside High and DJ was wrongfully accused of drinking by her dad and uncles when a drink was spilled on her. In those days, a brain on drugs looked like a fried egg, and we all understood that kids who used drugs could learn it by watching parents who used them. Each of us went through the D.A.R.E. program at least one time in our middle to junior high years. 

​Featuring these topics on Friday night sitcom special episodes or in public service announcements was meant to open conversations and bring awareness of the problem of drug and alcohol use in teens. But a thirty-minute sitcom, no matter how hard it tries, can’t do anything more than paint the issue with broad strokes.
Often, we went away with the idea that the “good” kids stayed away from drugs. The “bad” kids were the ones who would end up in gangs or jail before they failed to graduate high school. We could look at each other in our classes and “know” which kids fell into which group.
Then, we grew up.
Those clearly drawn lines between the good kids and the bad ones became blurry. That neighbor, who was always a great guy, ended up addicted to pain medication after an injury. That person struggling with PTSD due to circumstances beyond her control, ended up fighting her demons at the bottom of a bottle. That teen from the youth group ended up addicted to drugs like marijuana to calm their anxiety or coke to keep going 24/7. And that doesn’t even cover the men and women we know who are fighting secret addictions like those to pornography.
That thing we always saw as something that wouldn’t affect us, does. It affects us in our neighborhoods, our churches, and our families. The statistics for addictions in Christian families is surprising. Google addiction statistics in the church. It might surprise you.
We grow up and learn not every addict is recognizable or unlikable. They aren’t all unkempt and unsuccessful. They aren’t all mean and violent. They aren’t all the product of abuse or even bad parenting. Though those situations do happen and happen more frequently when dealing with addictions, they don’t tell the whole story.
In almost thirty years of marriage to a drug and alcohol abuse counselor, over twenty years as a pastor’s wife, and over twenty-five years ministering to youth through camps and youth groups, I’ve seen the lines not only blur but erase. I’ve experienced dealing with addictions and recovery in my own relationships.
It isn’t as clear cut as the sitcoms would have had me believe. Like the rest of life, dealing with addictions is messy. It’s painful. And it definitely doesn’t get solved in half an hour. But those with addictions and those whose lives are impacted by addictions can find help and hope when we start seeing those struggling through the eyes of God.
When we stop limiting the person’s identity to their addiction and start seeing them as loved by their Creator, we take a step in the right direction. And doing so allows grace, mercy, and forgiveness their rightful place in our conversations about addiction.
It’s my prayer that Hope Even After offers hope to those in the middle of the mess. I hope those struggling with addiction come away knowing they are loved by God and worth the work of recovery. For those in any kind of relationship with someone in addiction or recovery, I pray they find strength, understanding of their role in the situation, and support for their journey. For those who haven’t had personal experience with these things, I pray you come away with more understanding of what your friends, neighbors, coworkers, and church members are facing and a desire to extend God’s love to those who are hurting so deeply.
Thank you for listening to the heart behind Hope Even After. I can’t wait for you to read Luke and Daisy’s story. 

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Hope Even After

In a small Illinois town, Daisy Taylor has loved her best friend Luke Masters since high school. But when grief drove Luke away from faith and into alcohol, Daisy learned an impossible truth: loving someone does not mean you can save them. Hoping for more than friendship felt risky, especially when the man she loved stopped believing in God and in himself.

Luke once trusted faith. After devastating loss, he decided it was nothing more than a crutch, and the bottle became his refuge. But when he crosses a line he cannot undo, Luke is forced to confront his addiction and begin the slow, humbling road toward sobriety.

As Luke fights for recovery, Daisy walks a razor’s edge, loving someone in recovery without rescuing him, supporting him without losing herself, and guarding a heart she buried years ago. Old feelings resurface. Faith is tested. And the future she once mourned threatens to reappear—fragile and uncertain.
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As the wife of a drug and alcohol addiction counselor and pastor and having worked in a mental health agency herself, Heather Greer has witnessed the effects of addiction on individuals and families. Addiction has touched many families she loves both inside and outside the church, including her own. It is subject Heather believes needs to be talked about honestly and with love and understanding in our churches.
 
While Hope Even After tackles the hard topic of addiction, not all of Heather’s stories dive quite so deep. Her novellas reflect her love of the lighthearted Christmas movies she enjoys, and her other novels always include some elements of the things she enjoys. Whether it’s through the setting, the theme, or activities like baking, candy making, or enjoying a favorite drink, Heather has woven a bit of herself into each story.
 
Even more important is the faith element threaded through each book. Heather’s belief that faith should be who we are not something we do on Sunday morning or during bedtime prayers is evident in each story she writes. Heather’s prayer is that each book she writes will provide hope, encouragement, and challenge to grow in faith for those who read them. 

Keep up with her and all her stories:

Website: https://www.heathergreer.com
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16924648.Heather_Greer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorHeatherGreer/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/1heather.greer/
Newsletter Sign Up with free short story, Frosting on Top: http://subscribepage.io/WcvI9Y

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