Truly, Madly, Deeply

Starred review from September 14, 2020
Kingsbury’s solid latest Baxter Family outing (following Someone Like You) focuses on the power of faith when hope is hard to find. Tommy Baxter and Annalee Miller are in their senior year of high school when their lives are forever altered. After returning from a mission trip to Thailand, where they meet an American ex-pat who runs an orphanage for victims of human trafficking, Annalee and Tommy feel God calling them to do something about it. When Tommy announces that he is gong to be a police officer, his mother doesn’t take it well, but his dad, a lawyer, arranges for Tommy to go on ride alongs with local police so he can see what the life and job of a cop looks like. Then Annalee is diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, and she chooses to lean into her faith to find a peace that comes only from God. At first, Tommy keeps faith that God will heal Annalee, but when it appears God is not answering his prayers and a police friend is shot, Tommy begins to question God. Longtime fans of the Baxter family dramas will enjoy seeing the spiritual and physical growth in the younger characters. Kingsbury again delivers a touching, emotional tale about the strength of faith.