Million Dollar Dilemma

July 25, 2005
When Cassia Carr's office mates take up a collection to buy a joint lottery ticket, Cassia, a Scripture-spouting pastor's daughter who hates gambling and would never dream of playing Lotto, ponies up five bucks, mistakenly thinking she is contributing to a present for a colleague's baby shower. When she and her co-workers actually win, our leading lady determines to give away her share—a staggering $20 million. Charitable organizations, and a few hucksters posing as such, queue up for her handouts, and Cassia must figure out where God would have her donate her ill-gotten gains. Meanwhile, there's the matter of Cassia's heart, as a trio of suitors vie for her affections. This subplot yields no surprises: Cassia falls for Adam, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who just happens to have fallen away from Christianity. Predictably, Adam finds his way back to the faith, and the two pair off happily. Although this is standard-formula Christian chick lit, Baer's reputation—bolstered by the popular novel The Whitney Chronicles
—means that this new novel is likely to sell briskly, especially since the eponymous Whitney makes an appearance among its cast of supporting characters.

September 1, 2005
Raised under the influence of a Bible-believing, penny-wise grandfather, Cassia Carr does not know what to do when she accidentally wins over $20 million dollars in a lottery -she thinks of it as "ill-gotten gain." Her neighbor, a young journalist and lapsed Christian named Adam Cavanaugh, would like to convince her to donate her money to help impoverished people in Africa, but first he will have to find a way to earn her trust. Baer ("The Whitney Chronicles") delivers a girl-friendly, contemporary romance with possible crossover appeal for readers who enjoy chick lit, but a sprinkling of Bible verses may keep interest mostly in the CBA market. Baer lives near Minneapolis.

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.